Earlier this year, Beauty Without Cruelty India submitted a petition signed by people all across the world to the Chief Minister of Punjab, asking him not to legalize dog racing. This petition demonstrated overwhelming opposition to greyhound racing, and according to Beauty Without Cruelty represented more than four million individuals. Sadly, it seems that this opposition has not yet deterred those who are trying to bring the cruelty of greyhound racing to yet another country.
If greyhound racing is legalized in Punjab, thousands of greyhounds will suffer and die. As a global community, let's join together and do everything in our power to defeat this harmful proposal.
When GREY2K USA was formed a decade ago its founders, including myself, had just suffered a heartbreaking defeat in our home state of Massachusetts. Despite our best efforts, a November 2000 ballot question to end greyhound racing had been defeated by the narrowest of margins, 51% to 49%.
Despite this setback, we were committed to moving forward and fighting for greyhounds. We also believed in the need for a global view, and wanted to help greyhounds in other states and countries. It would have been easy to only care about the greyhounds in our community, but we knew that was a shortsighted view.
To start with, the dogs in our community were not more worthy of our efforts than greyhounds elsewhere. Further, having a global view was particularly important because the greyhound racing industry is not a local industry. In the United States, for example, racing dogs will often be born in one part of the country, shipped to several states to race, and then end up being adopted out or discarded in yet another part of the country. Also, the greyhound racing industry is increasingly becoming a global entity. Because this cruel industry is multinational, a multinational solution is called for.
That is why I am so proud to support the efforts of groups like Greytexploitations. Based in Britain, this all-volunteer organization is leading the way for greyhounds in the United Kingdom and has already won many important victories.
This morning, Greytexploitations launched a new campaign to prevent the return of dog racing at Walthamstow Stadium, and needs your help. The Stow, as it was more commonly known, was an iconic racetrack in East London that closed in August 2008. When greyhound racing ended at the Stow, it's owners cited falling attendance and said that dog racing "simply became unsustainable." The land was then purchased by an association named London and Quadrant, which specializes in quality, affordable housing. L&Q has submitted plans to develop the site, and those plans are being considered now.
Unfortunately, greyhound breeders have not given up on the Stow, and are pushing for greyhound racing to return. They have tried to force L&Q to sell the property to a dog track owner named Bob Morton, at a price that is far below market value. Their reckless campaign has been helped by a few local politicians, including Member of Parliament Stella Creasy. These politicians are resorting to the worst kind of political opportunism, putting the interests of a handful of greyhound breeders ahead of the interests of the community as a whole.
Most importantly, if this dangerous campaign succeeds, greyhounds will pay a heavy price. This morning, Greytexploitations released powerful video footage taken at Walthamstow before the track closed. Please watch this footage, and forward it to everyone you know.
Then, take action. To help this important campaign, please do the following:
Submit a comment to the Waltham Forest Planning Explorer in favor of L&Q's plan to build affordable housing at the site of Walthamstow Stadium.
Send e-mails to the local officials who represent Walthamstow, asking them to oppose the reintroduction of greyhound racing. To find the e-mails of these local officials, visit Greytexploitation's website.
Together, we can make sure that no greyhound ever suffers at Walthamstow Stadium again. That would be a victory for greyhounds everywhere.
At the same time that greyhound racing is slowly ending in the United States and Britain, it is trying to expand in other parts of the world. Sadly, this expansion is already resulting in the suffering and death of thousands of dogs.
One terrible example is the Canidrome in Macau. As the only operational greyhound racetrack in Asia, it exists by importing dogs from Australia. The dogs race for a short period of time, and are killed when they are no longer profitable. According to a former director of Macau's Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau, the track does not allow greyhounds to be put up for adoption because it doesn't want "complaints about the dogs causing problems or damage." Reporting by the South China Morning Post indicates that 383 greyhounds were euthanized in Macau in 2010, and 45 dogs died at the track in a single month earlier this year.
This is not a new problem, and the greyhound racing industry has been aware of severe humane issues at the Canidrome since at least 2008, when rampant euthanasia was reported by Time Magazine. Despite this reporting, Australian greyhound breeders and regulators have turned a blind eye to Macau, and allowed this cycle of death to continue.
"There is no way out for the Canidrome greyhounds, as they cannot be adopted and cannot leave Macau. Out of touch with 21st century mores, Macau lacks licensed veterinarians and lacks current animal welfare laws, instead relying on statutes dating back to the 19th century. The result is that the unfortunate pawns in this scenario, the Canidrome greyhounds face a bleak prospect and are routinely killed."
I agree wholeheartedly with Caryn's sentiments, and am hopeful that we will soon see greyhound racing end at this cruel racetrack.
There is nothing my adopted greyhound Zoe likes more than treats covered in peanut butter. On behalf of Zoe, here are a few greyhound news treats to end the week.
The fantastic blog by GREY2K USA Vice President Jennifer Krebs, Living the Greyt Life, has been nominated for a DogTime Pettie Award in the category of Best Cause Related Blog. Jennifer's blog is one of the best greyhound sites on the internet, and I am hopeful she will take take home the prize. Please take a moment to vote for Living the Greyt Life today, and ask your friends to do the same. Voting ends on July 29, and it is my understanding that DogTime allows readers to vote daily.
Thanks to the hard work of greyhound advocate Trudy Baker and her group, Greyt Exploitations, one of the most notorious greyhound breeders in the United Kingdom has been forced out of the industry. Bravo!
An Australian dog track plans on handing out a "free pack of lollies" and other candy to patrons as part of a "family fun" promotion event. Free gambling vouchers will be handed out, and the track will have "plenty of activities organised to keep the children entertained" while their parents gamble. This misguided promotion underlines the profit-first perspective of the dog racing industry.
If you haven't already, please check out the funniest greyhound blog I have come across, Ironicus Maximus. This site is also a good place to look if you are considering adopting a greyhound. Each week, Ironicus Maximus highlights a greyhound that needs a home, like Jetta.
Finally, two notable greyhound advocates lost dog companions this week. My heart goes out to Tom Grady and Nancy Wellar. Losing a dog companion is always hard, and there is never a good time for them to leave us.
"As the owner of rescued greyhounds, I have seen the devastating effect the racing industry has had on these dogs. They make fine pets and it is gratifying to me to know that Pennsylvania will not be supporting an industry that abuses and neglects these sweet and gentle animals."
The fight for greyhound protection is primarily a grassroots effort, and this effort was a shining example of people power. With the signing of HB 67, the humane community is one step closer to the day when greyhound racing is completely prohibited in the United States.
In the past few years, more information about greyhound injuries has been made available to the public than ever before. For the first time, the full scope of this problem is starting to come into view:
At two dog tracks in Texas, 342 greyhound injuries were reported in 2008.
Sadly, these injury reports also tell the story of greyhounds who suffered and died. Dogs like Oxbow Savage, a one-year-old brindle greyhound who died after suffering a broken skull during a race at Tucson Greyhound Park on April 11, 2009.
In an effort to minimize these injuries, greyhound breeders have begun to compare the rate of injuries to the number of "starts," the total number of times a greyhound "starts" a race. The problem with using this as a metric is that a greyhound will "start" a race every few days, and over a career can "start" hundreds of times.
Additionally, in using "starts" as a metric, greyhound breeders are asking the wrong question. While it may be true that the risk a greyhound faces in any given race is relatively small, that is really not the point. The real question is: what is the risk of a greyhound suffering a serious injury at some point during his or her career? If a greyhound races 99 times, and then suffers a broken skull in his or her 100th race, it is no consolation that the dog wasn't injured the first 99 times.
The fact is, greyhound injuries are the great equalizer.
Not only are champion greyhounds at risk of injury, they are more at risk of injury than other greyhounds, because they race more times. As evidence of this, take a look at the Greyhound Hall of Fame.
Finally, while it should be true that champion greyhounds are more often rehabilitated, due to the fact that they can continue to generate a profit for breeders, that is not always the case. Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about the tragic story of Crispin's Place, the champion greyhound who was euthanized in Texas earlier this year after suffering a broken leg.
When greyhound breeders race their dogs for profit, they do so with the knowledge that many of the dogs will suffer injuries, and some will die on the track. To these breeders, this is simply a cost of doing business.
Yesterday, the Times of India reported that plans are underway to build a large greyhound racetrack in Punjab, India. The state government appears ready to move forward with this harmful proposal, despite the strong objections of Beauty Without Cruelty India, a charitable trust dedicated to helping animals.
