Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Greyhounds Win Major Victory With New Florida Rule

Greyhounds quietly won a major victory last week, when the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering filed a new Animal Welfare Rule with the Department of State. This new rule carries the full weight of law, and will take effect on May 21.

Although this new Florida rule is not perfect, it does contain several important greyhound protections.  For example:
  • For the first time, greyhound trainers will be required to notify state regulators every time a dog dies on the grounds of a racetrack or greyhound kennel. This notification must be in writing, and must occur within 18 hours of the dog's death. This is an important provision that will increase transparency in the dog race industry.
  • Greyhound trainers will now be required to maintain a "roster" which identifies each dog in their kennel. This roster must include the dog's name and tattoo number, the owner's name, the trainer's name, the dog's date of arrival and departure, and the name and license number of the person transporting the dog.
  • Greyhound trainers will now be prohibited from keeping more than one dog in a racetrack cage.
These requirements are the end result of the passage of legislation we supported, followed by a long phase of administrative hearings. Throughout this process, we have fought hard for the greyhounds and encouraged the state to implement the strongest possible regulations.

We are very grateful to the Division and its Director, Leon Biegalski, for demonstrating leadership in adopting this new rule. Thanks to their work, these protections will improve the lives of thousands of greyhounds.

Finally, it's important to remember that every law is only as good as its enforcement, so it will now be incumbent on Florida regulators to ensure that these new greyhound requirements are adhered to. We must also remember that even with this historic victory, our job is far from complete. As humane advocates, we must continue working until the cruelty of dog racing ends completely. You can bet that at GREY2K USA, we will do exactly that.

11 comments:

  1. so will I need a license to haul greyhounds that are going to adoption from a Florida track back to our adoption kennel?

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    1. You should contact the Division directly and ask them for clarification on this point. This part of the rule specifically applies to "racing animals" only.

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  2. FL has made some progress, but sadly, both racing and abuse continue in this state, esp. in W Palm.

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  3. I worked for that Division for several years and was constantly met with "brick walls" when requesting tougher rules be written (including documenting greyhound fatalities and euthanization; I am very grateful that they have finally decided to do their jobs.

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  4. Greys smiles are growing wider and wider with each new victory. While so many thousends of these gentle souls will still die at the hands of greedy owners, they at least know that their offspring will have better laws protecting them, until the industry finally collapses of its own abusive weight. Thank You and Christine, and everyone who has supported and/or worked with you, to make these victories happen. It is truly fantastic work you do.

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  5. This is great news, Carey. Thank you! Proud to be associated with Grey2K and dreaming of more progress soon.

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  6. Thank you Christine and Carey. I now live in Florida and am ashamed and disgusted by what's happening here to these beautiful dogs, but thanks to you guys things are happening. Wouldn't happen without your dedication and hard work

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  7. To Bad it's not Enough . The Greyhound Industry still has way to many Horrible people involved . Why does Florida still not have Drug and Alcohol Testing for Everyone actually working in the Kennels ? I have Video and Audio from every Compound in the State of Florida what it tells you when watching it like a movie is all any of the kennel Owners or Trainers or Helpers care about is Money and no matter how much they get in the point system it's never enough ( $ 137.00 a point at Hollywood / $ 300.00+ at Southland ) . What happened to it actually being The Sport Of Kings ? What about every track in Florida having kids working as leadouts ( Acting like idiots and talking on cellphones / Dancing behind the starting box before the race ) ? What about actually having people who know something about the racing surface taking care of the racing surface ( Injuries would go way down / Kennel Owners and Trainers actually spending some of the money made by the dog on the dog as in Trainers Choice to take care of sore muscles instead of just running them hurt so they become yet another statistic ) ? What about the Horrible condition of the Dog Trucks used to carry the dogs to and from the races ( Open 1 crate door and you have actually opened the whole side because the wire in between keeping them seperate is gone ) ? What about the Horrible Dog Fights they have at the kennels ( Usually do to the lack of attention being given to the Greyhounds / Which goes back to the Kennel Owner or Trainer not wanting to give up any money to have a better situation for the Greyhounds ) ? Do the Gamblers realize some of the kennels they are betting on dont have enough staff to properly take care of the Greyhounds ( I bet if they knew the Facts the current money being bet would all but Dry Up and be Gone ) ? What about all the Greyhound Farms where Horrible things happen to the Greyhounds every day because they are being mishandled by people who are under paid and over worked ( Greyhounds are paying for there own keep why not put the money back into them as would be done with any other form of business instead of buying a new Lexus or eating that T-Bone the Greyhound actually bought but you got to eat / Did you even spend $ 4.00 on a Bag of Bones at Tractor Supply as a reward for your Syeak or Lexus or did you use that to buy a new cellphone cover ) ? Ill check back on this comment section to see what kind of Trash Talking you think you can do about either me or what ive been talking about but just remember You Cant handle The Truth ( Videos are currently Private on Youtube Audio is currently Private on Soundcloud but could easily be made Public and there is no Lying or Hiding from the Truth when it comes out / Only Regret about having run your Trash Talking mouth when you didnt realize how serious this Comment Poster is .... ) Bring It On ....

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  8. YES_YES_YES_---good for you . you go. you need to make this all public, people need to know. please if there is anyway it can be done do it. I know nothing about youtube or Soundcloud, but I do know a little of what goes on at the tracks, just from greyhound rescue and grey2k and what happened at ebrow 3 years ago and all the dead dogs that were found on a man's property as he was getting paid to kill them and they found some were still alive when the jerk buried them after shooting them. this was all over the news for all the good it did. get it out there for the grey's sake, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  9. The ONLY thing that these "people" care about re this sham of a "sport" is money - all I hope is that karma bites all these people right in the buns asap!

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