Greyhounds Lose Vote in New Hampshire, But Fight Goes On

Yesterday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives defeated a proposal to limit simulcast gambling to racetracks that report greyhound injuries to the public.

We strongly supported this bill, and were proud to join State Representatives Steve Vaillancourt and Mary Cooney in fighting for this humane law. Other notable supporters included State Representative Catherine Mulholland, State Senator John Reagan, the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the New Hampshire Animal Rights League.

Representative Vaillancourt was absolutely right when he said on the House floor that this bill was about New Hampshire's values, and that greyhound injury reporting saves lives.  In part, he told his colleagues:

"Suffice it to say that injury reporting, while not eliminating pain and death for dogs, reduces it dramatically. That's why we enacted the law for reporting here in New Hampshire a decade ago. We care about senseless cruelty; that's a New Hampshire value. All this bill does is mandate that simulcast signals we allow into New Hampshire are from states which have similar injury reporting requirements to those we passed a decade ago."

We are disappointed by the defeat of his humane proposal, but are resolved to continue fighting for the dogs. This bill is also a reminder that greyhound protection issues are not only limited to states with active dog tracks. States that let local gamblers bet on greyhound races via simulcast are also participating in this cruel industry, and share some of the responsibility for it.

Finally, we are thankful to the 108 New Hampshire State Representatives who voted for the dogs. We appreciate their vote, and look forward to working with them in the years ahead.