tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77795551466642980232024-03-14T14:49:40.909-04:00Saving Greys, by GREY2K USA WorldwideA blog by greyhound protection group GREY2K USA Worldwide.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger224125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-21973908763942416302019-10-15T15:34:00.000-04:002019-10-15T17:32:28.555-04:00A word from Mark Twain<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/2019-oct-ireland-rebel-greyhound.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rebel the greyhound from Ireland" border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/2019-oct-ireland-rebel-greyhound.jpg" title="" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i><u><sub><sup><strike><br /></strike></sup></sub></u></i></b><span style="color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "roboto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">By Fred Barton, GREY2K USA Worldwide Secretary
</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><i>“Never argue with stupid people, they will
drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience</i>.” – Mark Twain</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">When
Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland made the recent decision to stop promoting dog
racing, you might think that greyhound breeders would engage in a wee bit of
introspection. But oh no, not that! Instead they launched a vulgar campaign of
harassment against a hotel that was set to host a </span><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/worldwide/greyglobe/index.php" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">greyhound
welfare conference</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">. More on this strange
turn of events in a moment.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
suppose this is the kind of belligerent behavior that one can expect from delusional
dog breeders who think that treating dogs like garbage is a selling point, or that
the frequent news stories about cocaine-positive greyhounds is somehow a promotional draw? But the truth is that dog racing has been exposed as cruel
and inhumane, and the public is responding.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Take Tourism
Minister Shane Ross for instance. When he learned of the Irish Greyhound
Board’s cover-up of its own </span><a href="https://www.igb.ie/globalassets/talking-dogs/pr/preferred-results---igb-organisation-restructuring-report---pages-1---65-compressed.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">report</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> showing an
industry wracked with debt, he put his foot down. Like millions of viewers
across the globe, he had just seen RTÉ’s damning </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">documentary, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0R2bNG9Vn8" target="_blank">Running For Their Lives</a>.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> But unlike
most others, he was in a position to do something about it. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Minister
Ross had been saddened to learn that the IGB overbreeds dogs on a massive scale
and as a result, </span><a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/greyhound-racing-promotion-stopped-due-to-disgusting-behaviour-in-sector-ross-1.4039470" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">breeders and
owners send 6,000 greyhounds to die, many in slaughterhouses, each year</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">.
Legislators even reward this cruelty with more than €16
million in annual handouts! Stunned and appalled, Ross immediately removed all
dog racing-related information from the Tourism Board’s website and materials. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">“It
seems to me there was absolutely no anxiety on the board of directors to make
public the information which is now found to be utterly unacceptable,” said
Ross. He wanted nothing more to do with
“the utterly revolting activities that were going on” and stated that these
revelations had “<span style="color: #222222;">cast a dark cloud over the entire
industry.” </span>Umm...yeah. Agreed, but if you’re just noticing the "dark
cloud" over racing, you haven’t been paying attention. There’s been a dark cloud
over racing since before Mr. Guinness decided he’d like to try his hand at
brewing beer.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By
contrast, Minister Ross’ Deputy, Martin Ferris, joined the deniers, blaming any
cruelty that <i>could</i> be happening on “a
few bad apples.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With
all due respect to the Honorable Mr. Ferris, that would depend on what your
definition of “a few” is. See, when you’ve got more bad actors in an industry </span><a href="https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/greyhound-racing-industrys-16m-annual-state-funding-is-galling-951839.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">than people at a cricket match in
Malahide</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
that’s a problem. All I’m saying is that
it takes a lot of people to kill 6,000 greyhounds a year ...</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ferris
even went on to claim that “many people would feel that the small boys and the
small girls of the industry are being victimized.” Wait, what? Victimized?
Because they won’t have the opportunity to grow up and kill innocent
greyhounds? Mister, you sure have a strange definition of “vocational education.”
But, OK, OK. Let’s give the devil his due. Let’s give this imagined majority of
peaceful greyhound breeders and racers another chance. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
turns out that a contingent of greyhound advocates from around the world is coming to Dublin for a conference next month. So here’s your chance to set the
record straight, to speak truth to power, and to get out the whole story about just
how great racing is for the greyhounds! What do you say?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Sadly,
instead of taking the high road or attempting to dialogue with greyhound
rescuers, racing interests showed their true colors once more. As reported in <i>The Journal</i>, a well-known </span><a href="https://www.thejournal.ie/greyhounds-around-the-globe-cancelled-dublin-threats-4833679-Oct2019/?utm_source=shortlink&utm_campaign=email_share" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Dublin Hotel</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> was forced
to turn away an </span><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/worldwide/greyglobe/index.php" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">international
meeting of greyhound advocates</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> after being “inundated with crank and
abusive phone calls.” In a public statement, management said that its staff members were
repeatedly threatened, placing the establishment, its guests and workers in “an
extraordinary situation which cannot be justified.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
wonder how many of those poor “victimized” boys and small girls were in on
those calls? Job shadowing you know …</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 100%;">________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The Greyhounds Around the Globe conference has been relocated. Learn more and join us at <a href="http://grey2kusa.org/greyglobe" target="_blank">grey2kusa.org/greyglobe</a>.</span></span></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-78865879735491040162019-06-06T16:36:00.000-04:002019-06-06T16:38:57.839-04:00Baghdad Bob Redux?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;"><b> </b></span></span><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/2019-june-blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/2019-june-blog.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;"><b><span id="docs-internal-guid-30fa33df-7fff-7fe5-a22b-fb210f6afb54" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">
By Fred Barton, Secretary, GREY2K USA Worldwide </span></span></b></span></span><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Throughout
the campaign to pass Amendment 13, the humane ballot question that will
soon phase out greyhound racing in Florida, I was always amazed at the
lengths to which industry mouthpieces would go to avoid addressing the
real issue.</b> Was greyhound racing humane? That was the question. <b>But
greyhound breeders chose to embark on a crusade of distortion and
distraction, talking about hunting, fishing -- anything but dog racing!</b>
They focused on attacking the messengers and even bullied voters who
were honestly just looking for information. This curious "strategy" was
self-defeating and only served to alienate them further with the
electorate. As a result, <b>almost seven of ten voters cast their ballots to end greyhound racing by December 2020.</b> Greyhound breeders lost and they lost big time.<br /><br /><b>You
would think that as pro-racers now look back upon their 2018 campaign, they might have gained some self-awareness, taken pause and
would now be ready to move in a new direction. You would be wrong. </b><br /><br />I
recently ran across a new video called "The Purpose of Life is a Life
of Purpose" put out by the National Greyhound Association. It amounts to two minutes of dogs racing in slow motion, with philosophical
quotes and New Age music playing in the background. <b>It seems that in
the minds of greyhound breeders, commercial racing is literally the
purpose of life for greyhounds. But as the people of Florida said loudly
and definitively, dog racing is not about life, it is about death.
According to state records, a greyhound dies every three days at a
Florida track.</b> If you just flew in from Mars and saw this video, you
would never know Amendment 13 had passed overwhelmingly in November,
that five tracks have shut down early and the seven remaining will soon
be closed!<br /><br />I’ve noticed this denial in other interactions I’ve
had with industry representatives as well. During the campaign, one of
my tasks was to comment on articles and news reports about Amendment 13.
I found myself constantly needing to call out the deceptions,
unsupported allegations and outright lies put forth by the pro-racing
side. The responses to my clarifications by racing supporters were
either personal attacks, attacks on GREY2K, or insults about animal
advocates in general. <b>Now, seven months later, as news about Florida
greyhounds being released for adoption is coming out and tracks begin
moving away from antiquated dog racing, its defenders are still singing
the same old song.</b> In their comments online and in print, greyhound
breeders continue to make ad hominem attacks. They are even threatening
to sue the state in some quixotic waste of time and money because they
say "it just isn't fair" to stop dog racing?<br /><br />As if in a time
warp, nothing seems to have changed on the pro-racing side. There is no
change in approach, no dawning realization that times have changed. No
growth, no nothing.<br /><br />It seems to me that the industry is totally
clueless and completely out of step and this latest video by the NGA
only confirms my point. This cruel industry goes on talking about how
wonderful racing is and how happy the dogs are -- all the while
sugarcoating its commodification of gentle greyhounds.<br /><br />This
reminds me of Baghdad Bob, the Iraqi "Information Minister" who would
stand at his official podium and make absurd pronouncements during
Desert Storm, insisting for example that American soldiers were
committing suicide "by the hundreds" outside the city. He would even
deny that there were American tanks in Baghdad, when in fact they could
actually be heard in the background of his very broadcasts! Denial,
anyone? <br /><br /><b>Things did not end well for Baghdad Bob</b> (whose
real name was Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf). After the war, he was captured
by coalition forces, interrogated and released. After that, he simply
faded away. <b>The same will certainly happen to greyhound racing.</b></span></div>
<br /></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-40181289168261200262018-11-14T16:58:00.000-05:002018-11-14T17:01:00.354-05:00Florida Racing Ban: Facts and Fiction<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/protect-dogs-happy-greyhound.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/protect-dogs-happy-greyhound.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-30fa33df-7fff-7fe5-a22b-fb210f6afb54" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">
By Fred Barton, GREY2K USA Worldwide Board Member</span></b><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The voting is over. </b>The ballots have been counted and the<b>
<a href="https://www.wsmv.com/news/us_world_news/florida-votes-to-ban-dog-racing-now-illegal-in-states/article_a69a126a-5754-5324-8510-2c89e636f4fa.html" target="_blank">overwhelming majority of people in Florida have decided to free innocent greyhounds from exploitation, needless injuries and painful deaths</a></b>. <span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When Amendment 13 was first approved
for the ballot in April, there were 12 operating dog tracks in the Sunshine State.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A track in Miami decided to close before the
vote was even taken. Four more tracks have likely run their last seasons this year and will simply not reopen for live racing ever again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The number of
dogs in Florida racing kennels is always in flux, but there were 3,700 active, registered racers as of October and they will continue racing over the two year phase-out triggered by Amendment 13. Some dogs</span><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> will be sent to tracks outside the state and others will be sent to farms in the Midwest as breeding stock. <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/quotes.php" target="_blank"><b>Let's face it, this is an industry that will always look to make the last dollar it can off the backs of innocent greyhounds</b></a>.<b> That reality will never change</b>. It is notable
that racing proponents continue to claim that 8,000-10,000
greyhounds will become “homeless” with the end of dog racing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, those of us who have been to the concrete warehouses known as racing kennels know that these greyhounds have never had a home to begin with.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During the campaign to pass Amendment 13, greyhound breeders <a target="_blank" href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/audience/george-diaz/os-ae-greyhound-racing-amendment-marion-hammer-nra-20181003-story.html"><b>relied on a strategy of dissembling, denying and distracting</b></a> to hide the cruelty at
the center of their business. It didn’t work. Amendment 13 passed with 69% of
the vote, a vote that cut across party lines, geographic areas and income
levels. It seems the one thing the people of Florida could agree on this
election cycle was that greyhound racing had to go.</span></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">None of this appears to have had an effect on the racing
industry, however, as racing apologists are still trying to sell the same
tired distortions, half truths and outright fantasies that got them nowhere on
Election Day. Let’s take a look at some of the more popular ones:</span></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Claim #1.</b> <b>The greyhound breed
will die out</b>. This is just silly. Greyhounds are among the<a href="https://www.grey2kusaedu.org/pdf/history.pdf" target="_blank"> <b>most ancient breeds</b></a>, the only dogs named in the Bible. Commercial dog racing has existed for just 87 years. Additionally, most dog breeds today don’t do what they were
originally bred for. Most Border Collies don’t herd; most Terriers don’t chase
rats; most Poodles don’t hunt ducks or sniff out truffles and yet they all seem
to be doing quite well. Expecting greyhounds to disappear because racing ends
is like expecting horses to disappear because the internal combustion engine
was invented. Greyhounds make wonderful companions. There’s no reason to expect
that their transition to full time pets would be any different than any of the
other breeds whose original jobs became obsolete.</span></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Claim #2</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>Thousands of greyhounds
will be euthanized because they can’t find homes</b>. Simply, no. There will be an
influx of greyhounds coming into the adoption system, but it <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/article/20181110/ARTICLE/311109998/1071" target="_blank"><b>won’t be until the end of 2020</b></a>. Until then the stream of dogs coming off the tracks is likely to
be somewhat less than what it always was, because five tracks are already off the table. In addition, the industry boasts 102 adoption groups
approved and ready to take dogs as they become available. <a href="http://blog.grey2kusa.org/2018/11/let-greyhounds-go-home.html" target="_blank"><b>This list does not include the large number of adoption groups that have been blacklisted</b></a> because
of their anti-racing stance, but who are ready, willing and able to take dogs
as well, if only they would be allowed. In what seems to be a final measure of
selfishness, there are those in the industry who not only won’t release dogs to
adoption groups with an anti-racing stance, but even want to keep dogs from
individuals wanting to adopt if their views are not in line with pro-racing
positions. This makes all their hand-wringing about what is going to happen to
all these poor dogs looking for homes seem somewhat hypocritical.</span></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="tab-stops: 139.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Claim #3</b>. <b>There will be massive economic
upheaval</b>. Again, simply not true. Florida has the fourth biggest economy in the
country with a GDP last year of $967.3 billion. <a href="http://floridapolitics.com/archives/276366-economist-amendment-13-criticisms" target="_blank"><b>Greyhound racing actually costs the state more to regulate than it generates in taxes</b></a>. Most jobs in dog racing
are part-time, low-wage, and offer no benefits. While no one wants to see job
loss, there is little evidence to suggest any widespread damage to the economy related
to the predictable end of dog racing. Tracks now lose $34 million a year on
live racing and as they raze their old tracks and replace them with new hotels,
concert centers and more, there will be net job growth. </span></div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="Body" style="tab-stops: 139.5pt;">
</div>
<div class="Body" style="tab-stops: 139.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Claim #4.</b> <b>Amendment 13 was only the tip of the
iceberg. Hunting and fishing will be next</b>. This breathless delusion was
promulgated by the Florida NRA, an organization so paranoid and afraid of
anything different that I’m surprised they haven’t issued a statement decrying
the change in the seasons as a threat. Amendment 13 was about greyhound racing
and that is all. The Florida Supreme Court concluded that ending racing was the
single purpose and goal of the amendment. To make the leap from racing to hunting,
fishing and guns was <a href="https://www.tbo.com/news/politics/Carlton-No-a-vote-to-ban-greyhound-racing-is-not-a-vote-to-end-fishing-hunting-and-life-as-we-know-it-in-Florida-no-matter-what-they-tell-you_172966414?fbclid=IwAR3jogmd9zoS-0dRd4vc8bDn3T1fCl6NV0NccJ-cLqgBWY_ckGt3N_DrlsE" target="_blank"><b>more a measure of the industry’s desperation than a logical outcome</b></a></span>.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="tab-stops: 139.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You would think that given their
massive failure at the ballot box, pro-racing interests would try a different approach now that voters have
spoken so decisively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think again. In
their minds, it’s almost as if the election had never happened. They stick to
the same distortions, long ago debunked talking points and personal attacks
that got them nowhere during the campaign. It will be up to
<a href="https://www.pri.org/file/2018-11-08/banning-dog-racing" target="_blank"><b>those of us who truly care about the well being of greyhounds</b></a> to ensure that they
are finally given the <a href="http://blog.grey2kusa.org/2018/11/let-greyhounds-go-home.html" target="_blank"><b>second chance they deserve</b></a>.</span><span id="goog_772901104"></span><span id="goog_772901105"></span></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-64371301930147713022018-11-07T14:47:00.001-05:002018-11-13T11:55:13.656-05:00Let the greyhounds go home<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/robert-and-jennifer-with-cortland.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Robert and Jennifer with Cortland the greyhound" border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/robert-and-jennifer-with-cortland.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Robert and Jennifer adopted Cortland the greyhound</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b>By Christine Dorchak, President and General Counsel of GREY2K USA Worldwide</b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Recently, we
asked you <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/grey2kusafriends" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">to share your greyhound’s story</span></a>. As with our <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/shop/store.php#!/Pre-order-our-2019-greyhound-calendar/c/22810094/offset=0&sort=normal" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">annual calendar</span></a> contest, we received entries describing lucky hounds who
had been adopted from anti-racing groups, pro-racing groups and groups that
claim no position on dog racing.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">This is
something we must all celebrate!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">In fact,
greyhound adoption should never be politicized. The only two questions that
should be raised in placing an unwanted puppy or a finished racer are 1) How
soon can this dog be transitioned out of the racetrack and 2) Where is the
closest, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bona fide</i>, adoption group
located? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Unfortunately, having
sensed its coming dissolution for <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/who/mission.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">nearly twenty years</span></a><b>, </b>the
commercial dog racing industry has begun holding greyhounds hostage and purposely
limiting access to <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/GRAA_ADOPTION_OFFER.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">select adoption groups</span></a>. In an attempt to blunt criticism, such
groups may be <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/AGC-ADOPTION-GRANT-GUIDELINES.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">required by contract</span></a>
not to speak critically about racing. Nor can they tell
about the condition of the injured or sick greyhounds that they receive. Industry
bullying is so effective that groups <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/donation-return-agr.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">even</span></a>
<a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/donation-return-gpa-wi.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">refuse</span></a> <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/donation-return-gpaec.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">donations</span></a><b> </b>and <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/ADOPTION_REFERRAL_PAGE_REQUEST_FROM_RACE_PLACE_RETIRE.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">avoid inclusion on any referral pages deemed to be against racing</span></a>. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Sonia
Stratemann of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EliteGreyhoundAdoptions/posts/10160327227490249" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Elite Greyhound Adoptions of South Florida</span></a> learned the hard way that speaking out
rouses complaints not only from kennel operators but also from fellow adopters:
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">“In the past, I
only posted photos of dogs that looked good. If one came in that was especially
thin or injured, I usually just posted a head shot. For years, I took in sick
dogs that other groups would not and I always stayed quiet. But recently, I
posted about one dog’s condition on Facebook<u>,</u> and when another dog from
the same kennel was no longer wanted, he was left at a vet’s office to be
killed. Out of spite, the kennel worker had refused adoption! The only reason greyhound
Holly is still alive is because my friend begged for her life. Ironically, when
she dropped Holly off, my friend told me that she hoped I had finally “learned
my lesson” and to keep quiet! She hates racing too, but stays neutral to keep
them happy. Here’s a photo of Holly, seconds after arriving.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/holly-the-greyhound.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Holly the greyhound" border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/holly-the-greyhound.jpg" title="" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">This kind of <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/The_Pro_Greyhound_Movement_Elite_Greyhound_Adoption_South_Florida.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">psychological warfare</span></a> must <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhound_Knowledge_Forum_Anti_or_pro_it's_time_to_move_on.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">stop</span></a>.
As one adoption advocate
in the Pacific Northwest put it, “The racing industry has succeeded in
coercing
many rescue groups into changing their public position on racing from
'against' to 'neutral.' These groups can’t even use the word 'rescue.'
IMO, we should be
allowed to help regardless of our feelings about dog racing – pro or con
–
ESPECIALLY if anyone is expected to believe the racing industry is
pro-greyhound.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Another defense
mechanism used to prolong the <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/issues.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">cruelty of dog racing</span></a> is the panic-inducing talking point that <a href="https://www.news4jax.com/news/florida/greyhound-racing-ban-approved-for-ballot_" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">thousands
of greyhounds will die</span></a> should a track or tracks close. It is true that the
number of dogs available for release increases in the wake of a track’s closure,
but that increase is temporary. The immediate problem is real, but it’s one
that is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">expected</i> and can be prepared
for in advance. The benefits of a track closing are permanent and far-reaching.
This is because the cycle of over breeding and killing stops. For good.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This is particularly important in Florida,
which has an abundance of dogs at breeding farms and racetracks throughout the
state. On November 6, when voters decided to phase out dog racing statewide, the historic Miami track was already permanently closed for dog racing, and four other tracks had already held their final season. The remaining seven facilities will
now have twenty-six months to wind down and release their dogs to waiting adoption
groups both in and out-of-state. As before, we and other non-profit groups are standing by to help and <a href="http://www.grey2kusaedu.org/sponsor-a-hound/index.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">contribute funding during this transition</span></a>.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">It is important
to understand that the recent claims by Florida kennel operators that dogs
“will be killed” is not a passive statement. This is all about control<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> and a</span>nyone who utters <span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">these</span></span> words is literally threatening to kill his or her
own dogs. Think about that. Just as
greyhound adoption groups are bullied, <a href="https://www.news4jax.com/news/florida/greyhound-racing-ban-approved-for-ballot_" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">kennel
operators are now also trying to bully the general public</span></a> into voting
against helping dogs. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Empty threats
like these must be considered for the scare tactic that they are. We have heard
the same cynicism in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Arizona and every other
state that has rightfully voted to end commercial dog racing. When Tucson
Greyhound Park closed, for example, we <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/ARC_MEETING_CONFIRMING_G2K_USA_HELP_WITH_DOGS_(6-9-16).pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">worked directly with the track owners</span></a> to<b> </b><a href="http://tucson.com/news/local/greyhounds-leaving-as-last-day-of-live-racing-approaches/article_30ad8127-e1a5-581f-a5b6-fc9bb553446c.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">fund adoption</span></a>. In our home state of Massachusetts, there was a record
year for adoption following <a href="https://grey2kusa.org/pdf/12-1-09-TheRepublican.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">voter approval of the phase-out of dog racing</span></a>.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Historically speaking,
when a dog track closes, countless volunteers are mobilized to find homes for
any and all displaced dogs. Drivers from hundreds of miles away
converge on the track and pick up dogs to be taken to adoption groups and
foster homes. For example, when Plainfield Greyhound Park
in Connecticut closed in 2005 volunteers from as far away as
the Midwest and Canada sent rescuers. The
closure of Multnomah Greyhound Park in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Oregon<span style="margin: 0px;"> in
2004 and Geneva Lakes Greyhound Park in Wisconsin in 2006
sparked a similar response. While some dogs were sent on to race
elsewhere, many others were made available for adoption. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Later, with the closure of Mile High
Park in Colorado (Winter 2008) and The Woodlands in Kansas (Fall
2008), all the dogs were safely moved out. Greyhound advocates,
including board members of GREY2K USA, joined hands with track adoption groups
to help the dogs. In December 2009, the 200 remaining dogs at Raynham
Park were re-homed, and a similar number had been transferred out of
Wonderland, also of Massachusetts, when that track held its last season in
September of that year.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">It’s
no secret that greyhounds often pay with their lives while competing. They
break their </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/injuries.php" target="_blank"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">necks, suffer paralysis and
some are even electrocuted</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">. In Florida, state records show that </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/editorials/fl-op-editorial-greyhound-dog-racing-20171122-story.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="margin: 0px;">an
innocent greyhound dies every three days</span></span></a>. This cannot and should not go on. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Years ago, as I
first thought about this issue, I consulted with one of GREY2K USA’s founders,
Dr. Jill Hopfenbeck. She once served as the president of a local greyhound
adoption group and had treated over 1,000 rescued racers by that time. She
listened to me expressing at length my concern about the industry’s threat to
kill dogs should our <a href="https://grey2kusa.org/pdf/11-05-08-BostonGlobe.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">2008 Massachusetts
ballot question</span></a> pass. She paused and then looked me straight in the eyes
and said with all the certainty of her many years of saving greyhounds:
“Christine, the best thing that can happen to a greyhound is for racing to end.
The injuries stop, the cages open and greyhounds get to become just dogs again.
Don’t ever forget that.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Whether one
agrees with Jill or thinks dog racing is the <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/history.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">best invention of 1919</span></a>,
the truth is that we all love our greyhounds. Now it’s time to show it. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">We applaud independent
networks like that the <a href="http://www.greyhoundadoptionactionalliance.org/who-we-are.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Greyhound
Adoption Action Alliance</span></a> for saving dogs now and for preparing to help even
more greyhounds as tracks wind down operations in Florida. With the passage of <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/states/fl.php" target="_blank">Amendment 13</a> and as other tracks also close around the country, let’s work together to promote adoption and <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/action/adopt.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">put the dogs first</span></a>. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-1550948354709945432018-11-06T11:14:00.000-05:002018-11-07T12:10:40.068-05:00Let the greyhounds go home<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/robert-and-jennifer-with-cortland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Robert and Jennifer with Cortland the greyhound" border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/robert-and-jennifer-with-cortland.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Robert and Jennifer adopted Cortland the greyhound</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b>By Christine Dorchak, President and General Counsel of GREY2K USA Worldwide</b></span></span></div>
<b></b><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Recently, we
asked you <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/grey2kusafriends" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">to share your greyhound’s story</span></a>. As with our <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/shop/store.php#!/Pre-order-our-2019-greyhound-calendar/c/22810094/offset=0&sort=normal" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">annual calendar</span></a> contest, we received entries describing lucky hounds who
had been adopted from anti-racing groups, pro-racing groups and groups that
claim no position on dog racing.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">This is
something we must all celebrate!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">In fact,
greyhound adoption should never be politicized. The only two questions that
should be raised in placing an unwanted puppy or a finished racer are 1) How
soon can this dog be transitioned out of the racetrack and 2) Where is the
closest, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bona fide</i>, adoption group
located? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Unfortunately, having
sensed its coming dissolution for <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/who/mission.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">nearly twenty years</span></a><b>, </b>the
commercial dog racing industry has begun holding greyhounds hostage and purposely
limiting access to <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/GRAA_ADOPTION_OFFER.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">select adoption groups</span></a>. In an attempt to blunt criticism, such
groups may be <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/AGC-ADOPTION-GRANT-GUIDELINES.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">required by contract</span></a>
not to speak critically about racing. Nor can they tell
about the condition of the injured or sick greyhounds that they receive. Industry
bullying is so effective that groups <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/donation-return-agr.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">even</span></a>
<a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/donation-return-gpa-wi.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">refuse</span></a> <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/donation-return-gpaec.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">donations</span></a><b> </b>and <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/ADOPTION_REFERRAL_PAGE_REQUEST_FROM_RACE_PLACE_RETIRE.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">avoid inclusion on any referral pages deemed to be against racing</span></a>. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Sonia
Stratemann of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EliteGreyhoundAdoptions/posts/10160327227490249" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Elite Greyhound Adoptions of South Florida</span></a> learned the hard way that speaking out
rouses complaints not only from kennel operators but also from fellow adopters:
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">“In the past, I
only posted photos of dogs that looked good. If one came in that was especially
thin or injured, I usually just posted a head shot. For years, I took in sick
dogs that other groups would not and I always stayed quiet. But recently, I
posted about one dog’s condition on Facebook<u>,</u> and when another dog from
the same kennel was no longer wanted, he was left at a vet’s office to be
killed. Out of spite, the kennel worker had refused adoption! The only reason greyhound
Holly is still alive is because my friend begged for her life. Ironically, when
she dropped Holly off, my friend told me that she hoped I had finally “learned
my lesson” and to keep quiet! She hates racing too, but stays neutral to keep
them happy. Here’s a photo of Holly, seconds after arriving.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/holly-the-greyhound.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Holly the greyhound" border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/holly-the-greyhound.jpg" title="" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">This kind of <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/The_Pro_Greyhound_Movement_Elite_Greyhound_Adoption_South_Florida.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">psychological warfare</span></a> must <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhound_Knowledge_Forum_Anti_or_pro_it's_time_to_move_on.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">stop</span></a>. As one adoption advocate
in the Pacific Northwest put it, “The racing industry has succeeded in coercing
many rescue groups into changing their public position on racing from 'against' to 'neutral.' These groups can’t even use the word 'rescue.' IMO, we should be
allowed to help regardless of our feelings about dog racing – pro or con –
ESPECIALLY if anyone is expected to believe the racing industry is
pro-greyhound.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Another defense
mechanism used to prolong the <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/issues.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">cruelty of dog racing</span></a> is the panic-inducing talking point that <a href="https://www.news4jax.com/news/florida/greyhound-racing-ban-approved-for-ballot_" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">thousands
of greyhounds will die</span></a> should a track or tracks close. It is true that the
number of dogs available for release increases in the wake of a track’s closure,
but that increase is temporary. The immediate problem is real, but it’s one
that is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">expected</i> and can be prepared
for in advance. The benefits of a track closing are permanent and far-reaching.
This is because the cycle of over breeding and killing stops. For good.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This is particularly important in Florida,
which has an abundance of dogs at breeding farms and racetracks throughout the
state. On November 6, when voters decide whether dog racing should be phased
out, the historic Miami track will already have stopped dog racing, three other
tracks will have ended their final season, and the remaining facilities will
have twenty-six months to wind down and release their dogs to waiting adoption
groups both in and out-of-state.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">It is important
to understand that the recent claims by Florida kennel operators that dogs
“will be killed” is not a passive statement. This is all about control<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> and a</span>nyone who utters <span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">these</span></span> words is literally threatening to kill his or her
own dogs. Think about that. Just as
greyhound adoption groups are bullied, <a href="https://www.news4jax.com/news/florida/greyhound-racing-ban-approved-for-ballot_" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">kennel
operators are now also trying to bully the general public</span></a> into voting
against helping dogs. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Empty threats
like these must be considered for the scare tactic that they are. We have heard
the same cynicism in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Arizona and every other
state that has rightfully voted to end commercial dog racing. When Tucson
Greyhound Park closed, for example, we <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/ARC_MEETING_CONFIRMING_G2K_USA_HELP_WITH_DOGS_(6-9-16).pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">worked directly with the track owners</span></a> to<b> </b><a href="http://tucson.com/news/local/greyhounds-leaving-as-last-day-of-live-racing-approaches/article_30ad8127-e1a5-581f-a5b6-fc9bb553446c.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">fund adoption</span></a>. In our home state of Massachusetts, there was a record
year for adoption following <a href="https://grey2kusa.org/pdf/12-1-09-TheRepublican.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">voter approval of the phase-out of dog racing</span></a>.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Historically speaking,
when a dog track closes, countless volunteers are mobilized to find homes for
any and all displaced dogs. Drivers from hundreds of miles away
converge on the track and pick up dogs to be taken to adoption groups and
foster homes. For example, when Plainfield Greyhound Park
in Connecticut closed in 2005 volunteers from as far away as
the Midwest and Canada sent rescuers. The
closure of Multnomah Greyhound Park in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Oregon<span style="margin: 0px;"> in
2004 and Geneva Lakes Greyhound Park in Wisconsin in 2006
sparked a similar response. While some dogs were sent on to race
elsewhere, many others were made available for adoption. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Later, with the closure of Mile High
Park in Colorado (Winter 2008) and The Woodlands in Kansas (Fall
2008), all the dogs were safely moved out. Greyhound advocates,
including board members of GREY2K USA, joined hands with track adoption groups
to help the dogs. In December 2009, the 200 remaining dogs at Raynham
Park were re-homed, and a similar number had been transferred out of
Wonderland, also of Massachusetts, when that track held its last season in
September of that year.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">It’s
no secret that greyhounds often pay with their lives while competing. They
break their </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/injuries.php" target="_blank"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">necks, suffer paralysis and
some are even electrocuted</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">. In Florida, state records show that </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/editorials/fl-op-editorial-greyhound-dog-racing-20171122-story.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="margin: 0px;">an
innocent greyhound dies every three days</span></span></a>. This cannot and should not go on. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Years ago, as I
first thought about this issue, I consulted with one of GREY2K USA’s founders,
Dr. Jill Hopfenbeck. She once served as the president of a local greyhound
adoption group and had treated over 1,000 rescued racers by that time. She
listened to me expressing at length my concern about the industry’s threat to
kill dogs should our <a href="https://grey2kusa.org/pdf/11-05-08-BostonGlobe.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">2008 Massachusetts
ballot question</span></a> pass. She paused and then looked me straight in the eyes
and said with all the certainty of her many years of saving greyhounds:
“Christine, the best thing that can happen to a greyhound is for racing to end.
The injuries stop, the cages open and greyhounds get to become just dogs again.
Don’t ever forget that.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Whether one
agrees with Jill or thinks dog racing is the <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/history.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">best invention of 1919</span></a>,
the truth is that we all love our greyhounds. Now it’s time to show it. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">We applaud independent
networks like that the <a href="http://www.greyhoundadoptionactionalliance.org/who-we-are.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Greyhound
Adoption Action Alliance</span></a> for saving dogs now and for preparing to help even
more greyhounds as tracks wind down operations in Florida. With the passage of <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/states/fl.php" target="_blank">Amendment 13</a> and as other tracks also close around the country, let’s work together to promote adoption and <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/action/adopt.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">put the dogs first</span></a>. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-49238602233413320912018-10-29T12:45:00.002-04:002018-10-29T12:45:44.321-04:00Will November 6 be Greyhound Independence Day in Florida?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/PTT-SOKC-DEC-2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/PTT-SOKC-DEC-2017.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b id="docs-internal-guid-6b4991e1-7fff-5898-d9c8-5e66d8fa7263" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">
By Fred Barton, GREY2K USA Worldwide Board Member</span></b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In just a few days, the voters of Florida will have a chance
to put the archaic, economically unsustainable and dying business of dog racing to rest.
If Amendment 13 passes it will phase out this cruel activity by 2020. Florida
is home to 11 of the remaining 17 tracks in the United States, so ending racing
there will go a long way to freeing<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>greyhounds trapped in racing compounds all over the country.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The campaign to end racing has been contentious. Racing
supporters have pulled out all the stops in their campaign of intimidation,
personal attacks and scare tactics. It comes as no surprise that this would be
their strategy since there is no cogent defense of the heartless
commodification, exploitation, and eventual abandonment of innocent, helpless
greyhounds. These dogs are brought into this world for the sole purpose of
making their owners money. They live in cages at the kennels where their lives
are regularly and knowingly put in danger by those owners, and when they can no
longer make money, they are discarded by these same owners.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That by itself should be enough to vote #YesOn13, but there
are other reasons as well. The racing industry argues that it is one of the
most highly regulated businesses in the country and that mistreatment of any
greyhound is quickly ferreted out and the perpetrator punished. In practice,
however, kennel workers who violate the rules are often given a slap on the
wrist and allowed to return right back to the track. Thankfully, multiple
violations do seem to attract more rule enforcement by state regulators. At
Orange Park Kennel Club, for example, Charles F. McClellan was charged with
eighteen greyhound cocaine positive infractions, six belonging to the same dog,
which resulted in his suspension. McClellan's replacement,<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Natasha Nemeth, was also cited with six
greyhound cocaine positive violations, two from the same greyhounds testing
positive under McClellan’s supervision. She was likewise suspended, but both
are currently fighting to overturn the state's order. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The industry has a history of fighting regulations that are
simply a matter of common sense. In Seminole County, Florida an ordinance passed in
2016 that allowed greyhound kennels to be inspected by local officials for the
first time, required that individual dogs be registered (just like all other
dogs in the jurisdiction) and mandated public reporting of greyhound injuries.
The industry fought this all the way, <a href="https://www.news4jax.com/news/florida/judge-upholds-ordinance-on-greyhound-injuries" target="_blank">eventually losing in court</a>. The Florida Greyhound Association has just appealed this
ruling, however. Keeping the facts about dog racing a secret is job #1
for those who want to keep cashing in on the greyhounds. For years the legislature
has tried to pass bills<span style="color: red; margin: 0px;"> </span>regulating the reporting
of injuries statewide, and in each case greyhound breeders passionately organized to block
them. It seems there are certain aspects of greyhound racing the industry just
doesn’t want made public …</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But even if more regulations could be passed, they would be
toothless without enforcement, and enforcement is expensive. Inspectors
have to be hired, support staff has to be maintained, and a mechanism developed
to apply the law and punish those who flaunt it. This costs money and there is
little of that left in greyhound racing. In 2013 for example, the state contracted
with the Spectrum Group to do a comprehensive study of gambling in Florida. Analysts found that state taxpayers lose from
$1 - $3.3 million a year because the cost of regulation exceeded tax revenue.
More recently,<a href="https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/former-state-director-over-florida-gambling-wants-greyhound-racing-banned/77-607810317" target="_blank">Tony Glover, former Director of Pari-Mutuel Wagering at the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation wrote that</a>, "[o]ver a
ten year period, the amount of state revenue, state and licensing fees that
flow to the state, dropped from about fourteen million to about two million.” </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is a more fundamental reason that regulation will not
work, however, that transcends simple economics: regulations only treat the
symptoms, not the cause. To the racing industry greyhounds are merely a means
to an end, and that end is profit.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They
are not viewed as living creatures capable of feeling joy, or pain, but more
like machines that while functioning are maintained in the most cost effective
way possible, and when they stop functioning are discarded and replaced by
another. This is the cruelty that hides at the center of greyhound racing and
no amount of regulation will ever change it. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Greyhound racing is a dying industry. In Fiscal Year 2016,
the total amount gambled on live racing at Florida dog tracks was $87,738,338. This amounts to a decline of 55% since 2006. Between 2001 and 2014 (the last
year the industry will openly publish its numbers), state dog race wagering
declined by more than 82% across the country. As revenue to the state dries
up, the ability to do enforce even minimal regulations become even more challenging. This also puts the greyhounds in more danger because
the temptation to cut corners becomes greater as the money pie shrinks. The
voters of Florida have an opportunity to end this institutionalized cruelty. Let's make next Tuesday, November 6<span style="margin: 0px;">, </span>a
true<span style="color: red; margin: 0px;"> </span>Greyhound Independence Day by passing
Amendment 13 on the ballot.</span></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-46969715128812020982018-07-18T11:00:00.002-04:002018-07-18T13:27:18.728-04:00Making history for Florida greyhounds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/greyhound-history.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/greyhound-history.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A caged greyhound at Orange Park Kennel Club</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial","tahoma","helvetica","freesans",sans-serif; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 16.5px 0px 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>By Christine A. Dorchak, President and General Counsel of GREY2K USA Worldwide</b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="background-color: #666666;"></span><b></b><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="color: #666666;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">History awaits
the greyhounds this fall. On Election Day, the voters of </span><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/states/fl.php"><span style="color: blue;">Florida</span></a><span style="color: black;"> will have the
opportunity to turn back the hands of time and end dog racing in its most
established state. As many as 8,000 lucky greyhounds stand to receive the
second chance they deserve, closing out nearly </span><a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/greyhoundhistory"><span style="color: blue;">100 years of exploitation and
cruelty</span></a><span style="color: black;">.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #004000; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">The first
recognized commercial greyhound racetrack in the world was opened in 1919 in
California. The Blue Star Amusement Park had an oval track and featured a new
invention called the mechanical lure. Created by Owen Patrick Smith, the device was
intended to offer a more humane alternative to the traditional use of live
rabbits in field coursing. By 1930, sixty-seven "flapping" tracks had opened and closed all across
the United States – none of them legal. A bid to force approval of dog racing in
Kentucky was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1927, but failed. No
state would authorize this new business, even during the height of the Great
Depression.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #004000; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">But Florida was
different. It became the first state to allow dog tracks to operate legally –
as long as it received a piece of the action. In 1931, Sunshine State lawmakers
passed a racing bill over Governor Doyle E. Carlton’s veto. By 1935, there were
ten licensed tracks in operation, some controlled by known
criminals such as Meyer Lansky. Oregon and Massachusetts became the next states
to authorize dog racing, in 1933 and 1934 respectively. Although church groups,
civic and humane organizations rallied in opposition, the new industry of
greyhound racing continued to grow and was legalized in a total of nineteen
states by 1989.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/historic-tampa-racetrack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/historic-tampa-racetrack.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Greyhounds racing at the Tampa race track</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Referred to as
the “Sport of Queens,” perhaps in reference to Queen Elizabeth I’s promotion of
greyhound coursing in the sixteenth century, dog racing sought to promote
itself as elite, glamorous and a good time for all, including the greyhounds themselves.Proponents of
dog racing in Florida were perhaps the most enthusiastic of all in emphasizing
the “sun and fun” to be had at its facilities. Old time movie heartthrobs,
entertainers and sports figures such as Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Janet Leigh
(star of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”) and even Old Blue Eyes himself, Frank
Sinatra, made multiple appearances at dog tracks in the Sunshine State. In
1958, Sinatra filmed a movie about a dog track gambler at the Flagler Kennel
Club and one year later, he appeared on the cover of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Greyhound Racing Record</i> along with a woman newly crowned as the
“Queen of American Greyhound Racing.” Photographed with them was the winning
dog in a race named after the famous singer. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #004000; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Those days are
long gone and the truth about dog racing has now been revealed in official state documents, financial reports and testimony from dog track workers themselves. Kept in warehouse style kennels, in rows of stacked metal cages for
20-23 hours a day, the dogs are fed a diet based on raw, diseased meat. When
let out of their cages to race several times a month, they face the risk of
serious injury. Broken legs, crushed skulls, snapped necks, paralysis and heat
strokes are common. Some dogs have even been electrocuted while racing.
According to information gathered by the state’s Division of Pari-Mutuel
Wagering, a greyhound dies every three days at Florida’s eleven racetracks.</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/2017-dec-sanford-orlando-kennels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/2017-dec-sanford-orlando-kennels.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Caged greyhounds at the Sanford Orlando Kennel Club</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Cheating is
another hallmark of this industry. Over the past decade, there have been 419
greyhound drug positives, including 68 cocaine positives. Greyhounds have also
been found with pain killers and opiates like novocaine and oxymorphone in their
systems. Females are routinely given anabolic steroids to build
muscle and prevent loss of race days during their heat cycles, a practice which
triggers both animal welfare and race fixing concerns.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #004000; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thankfully, dog
racing is now illegal in 40 states and since 1990, the amount of money wagered
on dog racing in the Sunshine State has plummeted by 74%. Tax revenue has
declined by 98% and the tracks themselves now lose a combined $34 million. If
it were not for a state mandate requiring racetracks to offer a minimum number
of races as the platform for other, more popular forms of gambling, this
antiquated activity would have ended long ago. Until it does, the state will
continue to waste as much as $3.3 million per year regulating a dying
industry.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Statewide
polling shows that Florida voters will vote to end dog racing if they are fully
informed about its humane and economic problems. You can help the greyhounds by
learning <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/greyhoundhistory"></a>learn more
about </span><a href="http://www.protectdogs.org/"><span style="color: blue;">Amendment 13</span></a><span style="color: black;"> and by spreading
the word that it’s </span><a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/greyhoundhistory"><span style="color: blue;">time to
set the greyhounds free.</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-2754846083942598442018-04-05T13:36:00.001-04:002018-04-25T11:07:07.923-04:00The Biggest Fight to End Greyhound Racing Worldwide<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/distressed-greyhound-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="700" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/distressed-greyhound-logo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Twelve of the remaining 18 American dog tracks may soon close.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Christine Dorchak, President and General Counsel of GREY2K USA Worldwide</span></b><b><br /></b><br />
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />November 6, 2018 may
well be the biggest moment ever in the worldwide fight to save greyhounds. On
that day, the citizens of <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/george-diaz-en-fuego/os-sp-florida-dog-racing-george-diaz-0323-story.html" target="_blank">Florida will go to the ballot box</a></span>
and have the power to<b> </b><a href="https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2018/03/20/poll-florida-voters-favor-greyhound-racing-ban-321104" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">end the cruelty of dog racing</span></a> in
the Sunshine State once and for all. <span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #221e1f;">You can help,
too! </span></span></span><a href="https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/621/825/529/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Please sign our petition for Florida
greyhounds now.</span></a></span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><b></b><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="margin: 0px;">It’s no secret
that greyhounds used in racing often pay with their lives. They break their <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/injuries.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">necks, suffer paralysis and some are even electrocuted</span></a>. A
greyhound named <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/greyhound-death-document-quiet-riot.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">TNT
Quiet Riot “fractured her spine”<span style="margin: 0px; text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></a></span><span style="color: #221e1f;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">and died<b> </b></span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">at
the Sanford Orlando track on July 13, 2017. The very next day </span></span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/greyhound-death-document-rems-carmax.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Rem’s
Carmex also broke her back</span></a></span><span style="color: #221e1f;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><b>
</b></span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">at another track in
Pensacola. </span></span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/porporpitifullme-electrocution-report.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">PorPorPitifullMe</span></a></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #221e1f;"> was one of several dogs who fell into the live
rail and was electrocuted. <b>On average a racing dog dies every three days in
Florida!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></b></span></span></span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><b><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These poor dogs deserved better. They
were just 1 and 2 years old. In their deaths, we see the cost of dog racing in
its most heartless terms. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_3" o:spid="_x0000_i1032" style="height: 324pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 468pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:/Users/Maria/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/FL_RACING_DEATHS_CHART-G2K.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="550" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/FL_RACING_DEATHS_CHART-G2K.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #221e1f;">Since May 2013, nearly 500 young,
Florida racing dogs have lost their lives. Many suffered catastrophic injuries
and died on the spot. </span></span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://floridapolitics.com/archives/259264-sonia-stratemann-time-for-greyhounds-to-have-a-voice" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">The others could have been saved!</span></a><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #221e1f;"> But instead of receiving medical care for
their broken legs or sprains, these gentle hounds were “given the needle.” Their
bodies were placed in plastic bags and tossed away, just like trash. Industry
reports call this “euthanasia” but </span></span></span><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/PROPOSAL_67_FACT_SHEET.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">we call it
cruelty</span></a><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #221e1f;"><b>. </b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b></b><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Recent news about the <a href="https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/180401a.aspx?utm_source=email-optin&utm_medium=javma-news-180401&utm_campaign=animal-welfare&utm_term=button&utm_content=cocaine-greyhound-racing-read-more" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">doping of greyhounds with cocaine</span></a>
is only the latest example of an industry that sacrifices animal welfare for
profit. In the first four months of 2017, there were <a href="http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/crime/local-greyhound-racing-dogs-test-positive-for-cocaine/451549602" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">eighteen cocaine positives at Florida’s
Orange Park Kennel Club.</span></a> In January<b>,
</b><a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida/articles/2017-05-04/cocaine-found-in-5-greyhounds-following-florida-races" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">cocaine was found in five greyhounds at
Derby Lane</span></a>, another <a href="https://www.change.org/p/florida-governor-stop-cocaine-use-in-greyhound-racing" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Florida</span></a> track.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/FLORIDA-GREYHOUND-SUFFERS-INJURY-WHILE-RACING-caption.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="700" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/FLORIDA-GREYHOUND-SUFFERS-INJURY-WHILE-RACING-caption.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;">Racing
greyhound Mega Caliente falls at Orange Park in Jacksonville, Florida.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But Florida is not alone in its cruel race-fixing schemes. <a href="https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/study-greyhound-racing-industry-lacks-drug-use-oversight/article_f505ab0b-2769-5be5-a9c9-d46fcdeef7dd.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Other states</span></a> and <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/8x8xak/doped-up-dogs-why-greyhounds-are-being-given-cocaine" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">countries</span></a> are reporting
drug-positive dogs at levels never seen before in a wildly callous attempt to
make some of the fastest mammals on earth run even faster. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Life
in a cage</span></span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">When not at the
track, racing greyhounds endure </span><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/confinement.php"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">lives of
terrible confinement</span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">.
They are kept inside warehouse-style kennels inside stacked cages that are
barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around -- for twenty or more
hours a day! There are no toys for them and no play.</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The minimum size
for dog track cages is 32 inches high by 31 inches wide by 42 inches deep, with
some slightly larger. According to the American Greyhound Council, greyhounds
stand between 23 inches and 30 inches tall at the shoulder and weigh between
fifty and eighty-five pounds. Using these dimensions provided by the industry,
this means that large greyhounds cannot stand fully erect in their cages.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/daytona-kennel-club-florida-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="550" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/daytona-kennel-club-florida-logo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;">Caged greyhounds at Daytona Kennel Club in Florida.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since there are
no required turn-out times, the only extended period that a racing greyhound is
outside of his cage is afforded when he is trucked over to the track to perform
several times a month. Otherwise, “home” is marked by the four sides of his
cage.</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Greyhound
racing breeds misery</span></span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/greyhound-racing-breeding-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="550" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/greyhound-racing-breeding-logo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;">A mother and her puppies at an American greyhound
breeding farm.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">Another
essential problem with dog racing is that </span><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/breeding.php"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">thousands of dogs are bred every year</span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"> in an
effort to find younger, faster dogs. The older ones are then displaced, and
their very lives put in immediate jeopardy. Will they be rescued or will they
be destroyed? The lucky ones who do reach adoption will then displace other
needy animals (cats, dogs, rabbits, others) also seeking homes. In this
significant way, the racing industry aggravates a homeless animal population
which is already overwhelming and immensely sad. <b>We believe that best answer
is to get to the root of the problem and end dog racing as quickly as possible.</b></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"></span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px 13.33px;">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A dying industry</span></span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even as this cruelty continues, attendance is shrinking by
the year. <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/dying_industry.php"><span style="color: blue;">The Association of Racing Commissioners
International reports a 70% decline in wagering on dog racing</span></a> since
2001, the year GREY2K USA was founded. Where there were nearly fifty dog tracks
in fifteen states at that time, today there remain a total of eighteen
facilities operating in just six states. Similarly, state revenue from
greyhound racing continues to drop catastrophically. Between 2001 and 2014,
state dog race revenue declined by more than 82% nationwide. In Florida, the
country’s biggest dog racing state, <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/71113-NaplesDailyNews.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">regulatory costs have now exceeded revenues</span></a>
by as much as $3.3 million yet dog tracks continue to receive tax breaks and
other incentives. States like West Virginia continue to subsidize live racing
with tens of millions of dollars per year. This is money that would be better
spent on schools, law enforcement, infrastructure and other important community
needs.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><b>Our work</b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/RALLY-FOR-THE-GREYHOUNDS-FLORIDA-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="550" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/RALLY-FOR-THE-GREYHOUNDS-FLORIDA-logo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Greyhound advocates rally for the dogs.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In recent years, GREY2K USA has <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/worldwide.php"><span style="color: blue;">phased-out dog racing in many states and successfully prevented its
introduction to countries such as South Africa, Jamaica and the Philippines</span></a>.
The organization’s most rewarding campaign involved a voter referendum in which
four million people were asked to shut down the two tracks of our home state. In
November 2008, <a href="https://grey2kusa.org/pdf/11-05-08-BostonGlobe.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">Massachusetts citizens voted overwhelmingly
in favor of the greyhounds</span></a>, starting a chain of events that quickly led
to the prohibition of dog racing in our sister states of New Hampshire and Rhode
Island and more recently, Colorado and Arizona.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/2017-08-20-ORANGE-PARK-RALLY-NO-COCAINE-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="550" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/2017-08-20-ORANGE-PARK-RALLY-NO-COCAINE-logo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;">Volunteers protest against cocaine-positive dogs found at Orange Park, Florida.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All told, we have <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/states.php"><span style="color: blue;">helped close two-thirds of all US tracks</span></a>, and we are now
looking to apply our strategy to help end dog racing worldwide. Please <a href="https://www.change.org/p/world-leaders-greyhounds-are-racing-to-their-deaths-worldwide?source_location=movement"><span style="color: blue;">sign our petition</span></a> to the leaders of
the eight dog racing countries today. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The key to our efforts is a reliance on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bona fide</i>, official documentation only. Where
previous efforts to end dog racing often amounted to a “he-said she-said”
debate, today we let the greyhounds speak for themselves through their own <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/fact_sheets.html"><span style="color: blue;">track records and photographs</span></a>.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You
can help the greyhounds</span></span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; page-break-after: avoid;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/LULU-ON-COUCH-FLOWER-COLLAR-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="550" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/blog/LULU-ON-COUCH-FLOWER-COLLAR-logo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: small;">Lulu of Florida.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s time for a change, and we would like <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/give/donate.php"><span style="color: blue;">your help</span></a> in making that change. Check out our <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/shop/store.php"><span style="color: blue;">campaign gear</span></a> and <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/action/get-started.php"><span style="color: blue;">please join us in our fight to end dog racing.</span></a> </span></span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;">
<div style="border-image: none; border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; padding: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My greyhound Gina is truly one
of the lucky ones. She gives life to this struggle and reminds me that every
dog deserves to be loved and protected. To learn more about dog racing, and to
work with us to save greyhounds, please go to <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/"><span style="color: blue;">GREY2KUSA.org</span></a>.
Please <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/action/petitions.php"><span style="color: blue;">sign our petitions</span></a>, find us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GREY2KUSA/"><span style="color: blue;">Facebook</span></a>
and <a href="https://twitter.com/GREY2KUSA"><span style="color: blue;">Twitter</span></a>, and join the team that is working to give greyhounds
the second chance they deserve. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-26408099645050453222018-02-20T11:18:00.002-05:002018-02-20T11:19:17.671-05:00Every Dog Deserves a Home<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/darren-board-member-photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/darren-board-member-photo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Darren Rigg with his greyhound York</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: both; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">By Darren Rigg, GREY2K USA Worldwide Board Member</span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>I love dogs, especially greyhounds. Caring for them has been my passion for more than three decades. I am motivated to help these dogs by collaborating with people who share the passion, the love of greyhounds, and a belief that each dog deserves a quality home. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">My thoughts and feelings about greyhound racing may surprise you. You might assume that I despise all people who are “pro-racing.” I don’t. I’ve collaborated with dozens of racing greyhound owners, breeders, kennel operators, track workers, dog haulers and countless adoption organizations. I have yet to encounter anyone who got into the business of greyhound racing with deliberate intention to cause suffering to the dogs. What I have encountered, however, is a collective culture within greyhound racing to accept and normalize the cruel circumstances in which racing dogs live and die.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><br />Greyhound racing may seem like an innocent sport, and greyhounds love to run, right? Not true. Greyhound racing is NOT a sport; it is a for-profit business and the greyhounds themselves are simply commodities. The quality of daily life for each dog is dictated by economies of scale. The dogs are “produced” on farms – yes, greyhound farms where, I suspect, they are treated without much individual nurturing, in other words -- less like dogs, more like cattle. They are often ear-tagged, like cattle. Suffer parasite infestation, like cattle. Are taken to auction, like cattle. Housed in smelly barns, like cattle can be on some farms, and worst of all, many greyhounds have to endure lives of extreme confinement in cages. So no, I am not so much against the actual running of dogs around a track during greyhound racing — as if that is not bad enough; what keeps me awake at night is the thought of all those dogs suffering because of an industry that has normalized cruelty. (And why do we treat cattle "like cattle" - a bigger question for another day!)</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><br />Fortunately, public opinion is now turning against the cruelty of betting on the dogs. People who want to gamble have many places from which to choose, and most choose not to frequent dog tracks.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><br />I know for a fact that the greyhound-racing industry within the Western world is in rapid decline. This is largely due to so many motivated dog lovers who are stepping into the political effort to end greyhound racing, as well as to discourage new dog racing in developing nations, and both these efforts are being spearheaded by the amazing, hard-working people at GREY2K USA Worldwide.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><br />Which is the reason I recently joined the board of directors of GREY2K USA Worldwide. I am also still serving on the board of Greyhound Adoption Center. While this is a personal collaboration between me and GREY2K USA Worldwide, I remain 100% dedicated to GAC and will always be mindful to avoid conflicts of interest.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-88957761148796657842018-02-12T16:58:00.002-05:002018-02-14T15:05:26.659-05:00Greyhound Racing: A Bad Bet For Kansas<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/kansas-halo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/kansas-halo.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br />By Fred Barton, GREY2K USA Worldwide Board Member</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>There’s an old saying attributed to Alfred Einstein
that goes, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again, but expecting different results.” It’s a saying that should be put on a
big banner and hung in the Kansas legislature because lawmakers there are
considering bringing greyhound racing back to the state. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helveticaneue"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/hb2545/">House Bill
2545</a> would use casino gambling profits to subsidize greyhound racing. The
fact that the legislature knows greyhound racing will need to be subsidized to
survive should send up red flags. Why would they want to bring back an industry
they know can’t make it on its own? Surely some of the legislators must remember
Kansas’ <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/states/ks.php">previous
experience</a>. Greyhound racing started there in 1989 with two tracks, Wichita
Greyhound Park and The Woodlands. A third track, Camptown Greyhound Park,
opened in 1995, but went out of business in only six months. Things weren’t
much better for the other tracks and by the time they closed in 2008 revenue
from greyhound racing had shrunk 95% from when they started. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Hence the need to prop up racing with subsidies. But the
reality is that subsidies don’t work. They have failed in every other
state that has tried them. Every. One. In Rhode Island the Twin River Casino
complained that racing cost them $9 million in annual subsidies, but only brought
in $1.75 million. They ended racing in 2009. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">In Iowa the casinos <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/02/23/-the-register-editorial-time-has-come-to-end-dog-racing-in-iowa/5724929/">subsidized
racing to the tune of $14 million</a> a year while betting at the two<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>tracks combined had shrunk to just
$5.9 million by 2012. The Iowa legislature allowed the casinos to walk away from
racing in 2014. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">In West Virginia betting has declined 55% over a ten
year period forcing lawmakers to make up the difference with annual handouts. Betting
there is still trending down <a href="https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/more-than-million-in-subsidies-paid-out-to-breeders-since/article_5197f380-4500-5d2e-a155-6310f8f10ccc.html">putting
more pressure</a> on the state’s breeding and purse fund accounts to carry the
weight of a failing business. A bill has been introduced to sever this
arrangement moving forward.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">In Arkansas the legislature mandated a giveaway for
the one track, Southland, in 2006. Since that time betting has dropped from a
high of $212 million in 1989 to a little over $18 million by 2013 in spite of this arrangement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "helveticaneue"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/states/fl.php">In Florida</a>, the
largest racing state, the situation is no different. One track in Miami loses
$5 million a year because the owner is forced to have racing. In all, Florida
tracks lose over $30 million on live racing each year.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">If Kansas legislators know racing will need to be
propped up with subsidies, they should also know those subsidies will
ultimately fail. Even billionaire casino mogul Phil Ruffin, the Wichita man behind House Bill 2545, has seen the writing
on the wall. He recently admitted to the state Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board
...”[P]arimutuel is not a viable business anymore anywhere in the
country...Parimutuel (horse racing) is dead and Greyhound is even worse.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 121.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Greyhound racing is even worse than dead, and yet
the Kansas Legislature is considering bringing it back to the state. How many
different ways does an idea have to present itself as bad before legislators
see it for what it is?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many other
times does it have to fail before someone says, that probably won’t work here
either. It shouldn’t take an Einstein to answer those questions.</span></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-68140682301125046292018-01-19T08:22:00.000-05:002018-01-19T08:22:38.068-05:00Steroids: Putting Greyhounds At Risk For Profit<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/last-two-tales-steroid-bottle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/last-two-tales-steroid-bottle.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steroids are endemic to the greyhound racing industry</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #666666;">By Fred Barton, GREY2K USA Worldwide Board Member</span></b></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 166.5pt 175.5pt 256.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-4da9ba25-0b12-14a5-fd94-0fcb6e22ecd4" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 9.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></b>The use of anabolic steroids to interrupt the estrus cycle of
female racing greyhounds is a common practice in the greyhound industry. As
trainer James “Barney” O’Donnell said in a 2014 interview, “We use testosterone
on our females, yes...We’ve been using it for years and years and years.” While
not quite as headline-grabbing as greyhounds who test positive for cocaine, the
industry practice of using steroids deserves equal attention for its impact
on the health and well being of female racers.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 166.5pt 175.5pt 256.5pt; text-autospace: none;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A female greyhound’s complete cycle lasts 15 weeks. According to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-ed-outlaw-steroid-use-in-greyhound-racing-20171201-story.html">Care
of the Racing & Retired Greyhound</a></i>, a female can only safely race three
of these weeks if left untreated. So to avoid the loss of productive racing
time, female greyhounds are routinely given anabolic steroids. But what effect
does this continued exposure to steroids have on the health of the dogs? The industry will tell you none. It’s just
like birth control they say, trying to equate the issue with human
contraception. Besides, they argue, the dosages are so small as to be
irrelevant to the health of the animal. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">However, when you look at the science of what happens when dogs
are given these drugs you reach a different answer. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.merckvetmanual.com/management-and-nutrition/management-of-reproduction-small-animals/manipulation-of-the-estrous-cycle-in-small-animals">Merck
Veterinary Manual</a></i> states, “[L]ongterm suppression of estrus by using
androgens is not advised ... the safety and efficacy of injectable
testosterone, as is practiced commonly in racing Greyhounds, has not been
supported by controlled studies and is not advised.” According to the racing
industry’s own handbook, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Care of the
Racing & Retired Greyhound,</i> anabolic steroids can cause serious side
effects including increased aggression and virilization. Steroid use has also been
shown to have a negative effect on dogs’ heart functions, and some studies have
even linked steroid use to liver, kidney and cartilage damage, gastrointestinal
problems, and shock. In addition to these deleterious health effects, there is
some evidence that steroids can affect performance. Dr. Richard Sams of the
University of Florida Racing Laboratory, has said that anabolic steroids such
as stanozolol would be “excellent” for enhancing greyhound race performance. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Other countries have begun to
recognize the dangers of anabolic steroids. In 2014, the Irish Greyhound Board
outlawed all steroid use. In Australia, testosterone is considered an illegal
substance and in New Zealand all forms of steroids have been banned. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is not the case in the United
States. In the past month, Florida Senator Kevin Rader filed a bill that would
formally legalize the use of anabolic steroids in racing greyhounds.
Interestingly, Senator Dana Young has filed a bill that would do the exact
opposite by outlawing the use of anabolic steroids altogether. Consequently,
from a Florida legislative viewpoint the issue remains up for debate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The greyhound industry knows that
anabolic steroids are potentially harmful but uses them anyway. This can be
seen most clearly in a recently adopted rule by the Association of Racing
Commissioners International, an industry group which writes model rules for the
American horse and greyhound industries. Anabolic steroids have always been
classified as Class 3 illegal drugs according to ARCI’s Uniform Classification
Guidelines for Foreign Substances. While they are still classified as such,
ARCI rule 018-020 (16), which was quietly added on December 8, 2017, states,
“Any usage of anabolic steroids involving racing greyhounds is prohibited,
except that the administration of oral, or as otherwise prescribed by a
licensed veterinarian, testosterone shall be permitted for the control of
estrus in female racing greyhounds provided it is validly prescribed and
properly labeled.” Only the greyhound industry would be so bold to both
prohibit and allow a serious narcotic in the same set of guidelines.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The duplicity of the ARCI Guideline is
symptomatic of the priorities of the greyhound racing industry; an industry
that puts profits above all else. As long as greyhound racing continues, those who participate in it will try to cheat the system.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-28977185860054665022017-11-17T09:28:00.001-05:002017-11-17T10:45:01.437-05:00The Tactics Of Desperation<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/sanford-orlando-kennel-club.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/sanford-orlando-kennel-club.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Caged greyhounds at the Sanford Orlando Kennel Club in Florida</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #666666;">By Fred Barton, GREY2K USA Worldwide Board Member</span></b></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 9.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 9.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>Recently state Senator Tom Lee <a href="http://floridapolitics.com/archives/248460-tom-lee-files-dog-racing-ban">proposed
a Constitutional amendment</a> that would end greyhound racing in the state of
Florida. While the proposed amendment still has several legal steps to go
before it reaches the ballot, some early polling suggests it would be approved
by more than the required 60% of voters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Predictably, the greyhound racing industry has reached into its
tired rhetorical grab bag in an attempt to muddy the waters on what is a straight
forward effort to end the unnecessary suffering, injury and needless deaths of
innocent greyhounds. Their basic strategy has always involved the following:
change the subject and/or, predict economic catastrophe while at the same time
engaging in personal attacks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The proposal is still in the initial stages of development and
we have already seen racing proponents question the motivations of those supporting
it as well as attempt to move the discussion away from greyhound welfare to
topics like no kill shelters. It would seem if anyone’s motivation needed to be
questioned it would be those who stand to make a profit from the continued
exploitation of helpless greyhounds trapped in racing gulags across the state. With
depressing regularity we read stories of greyhounds being drugged, abused and
abandoned. Who could honestly argue for the continuation of this situation?
What are their motivations? Another tactic the industry employs is to point the
finger at other aspects of animal cruelty, for example the number of strays put
down in shelters. Certainly no kill shelters are a good idea and should be
pursued, but that is a separate conversation — especially since greyhounds seldom
end up in shelters — which has nothing to do with
ending <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>racing. What are the motivations of those who
would attempt to sideline the discussion of Senator Lee’s amendment for a
different topic altogether?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every time the racing supporters perceive a threat they
clamor that there will be massive unemployment and commercial devastation
because of the indirect impact the industry has on local economies. The truth
is most jobs are part time, low wage and offer few if any benefits. The real
money is made by those at the top. For example, <a href="https://www.theet.com/statejournal/time-to-end-greyhound-breeders-subsidies/article_5db057b6-b597-58f4-8ea8-f019af1a503b.html">in West Virginia a study found</a> that nearly half of the $15 million the
state pays out in subsidies goes to 10 individuals. Certainly if greyhound
racing ends in Florida some will lose their jobs, but the same thing happened
in Iowa when the state withdrew its support, yet made sure that those who were
adversely affected received a soft landing to help them transition. There is no
reason to think the same wouldn’t happen in Florida. And while the industry
does have an indirect effect on the economies around it, that effect is
mitigated by the fact that it has to be propped up with subsidies from states
and local casinos. <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article20593980.html">In 2013</a>,
Florida spent as much as $3.3 million more regulating the so called sport than
it took in through taxes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We predict that as this amendment moves through the process
Senator Lee and those who stand with him will come under increasing personal
attacks. Actually, it’s already started. I commented on an article about the
amendment and I’ve been called a con man and a white collar criminal, accused
of working for a ponzi scheme and challenged to meet “face to face” for what I
imagine would not be a rational discussion of the issue. Verbal intimidation
and name calling are common industry responses and are another attempt to
change the subject. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Florida political observer<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://floridapolitics.com/archives/248557-joe-henderson-industry-favored-vs-tom-lee-greyhound-racing">Joe
Henderson</a> gives the proposal no more than a 2 in 5 chance of success, but
regardless of the odds it’s a sure bet the industry will pull out all the stops
in its campaign of distraction, dissembling and character assassination. We
cannot let this happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who favor
greyhound racing should be forced to account for the institutionalized cruelty,
the callous disregard of health and welfare and the unnecessary pain and
suffering endured by the helpless dogs in their so called care. The central
question is this: Does a business that relies on the heartless exploitation of
innocent living creatures for profit, and then abandons those creatures when
they are no longer profitable have a place in Florida society today? </span></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-83239316946425379042017-10-25T08:35:00.002-04:002018-07-17T15:46:26.689-04:00A Matter of Differing Perspective<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/NSW-Australia-greyhound-kennel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="800" height="280" src="https://www.grey2kusa.org/assets/NSW-Australia-greyhound-kennel.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A caged racing greyhound in New South Wales, Australia</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #666666;">By Fred Barton, GREY2K USA Worldwide Board Member</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 2015, when the Australian television show Four
Corners—the equivalent of 60 Minutes—broke the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_greyhound_racing_live_baiting_scandal">live
baiting scandal</a> it looked like it was a devastating, perhaps fatal blow to
the greyhound racing industry. Even though the practice of using live possums,
piglets and rabbits to train greyhounds was already illegal, the investigative
report found numerous examples of it in Queensland, New South Wales and
Victoria. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The public outcry was immediate and intense leading to the banishment
or suspension of numerous trainers and other officials as well as an outright
ban on racing in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (the ban
was later rescinded in New South Wales). The scandal also resulted in increased
public scrutiny of the industry as well as a raft of new regulations and
increased enforcement of existing ones.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">New people were brought in to oversee racing, and there has
been movement in a positive direction on some fronts. For example, according to
the latest Greyhound Racing Victoria Annual Report, adoptions in that state
have increased by 57%, kennel inspections have jumped a whopping 191% and
breeding is down 35%. Yet even after the scandal <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/20/greyhound-trainers-gave-dogs-arsenic-cocaine-and-cobalt-after-nsw-ban-reversed">illegal
doping</a>, illegal <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/inside-the-greyhound-export-racket-ringleaders-found-guilty-of-464-charges-20170602-gwiy5s.html">export</a>
and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/mar/17/greyhound-racing-euthanasia-of-healthy-dogs-sparks-call-for-stronger-penalties">euthanasia</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of helpless greyhounds continues. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the best examples of the industry’s reluctance to thoroughly
clean itself up and resistance to those who try is an exchange among<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>racing insiders in a chat room concerning a
questionnaire sent out by the Greyhound Racing Board in New South Wales, a
state which, as I said, came very close to ending racing permanently. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A user named Nicholas Arena wrote that “Survey after survey - there is nothing that has not already
been stated on numerous occasions over the past 2 years.” And then, the really telling comment:
“The solutions are obvious - stop pretending a greyhound's welfare is above that of a participant…”
It’s a remark that needs no explanation and puts the lie to industry protestations that the care deeply
for their dogs and those who abuse them are merely a few bad apples. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paul Wheeler, who is one of the top trainers in the country agreed, writing, “I
am not filling any more surveys to be ignored, it’s waste of time. Nick Arena
summed it up perfectly.” It’s becoming clear that the industry simply doesn’t
see what’s wrong with the continued exploitation, abuse, injury and deaths of
the greyhounds in their care. In their eyes it’s simply a cost of doing
business.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another user, Simon Moore, echoes this sentiment when he
posts that, “i've (sic) never heard of such a campaign to crush a group of
people who have done nothing wrong.” There can be no clearer example of how
blind those in greyhound racing are to the atrocities that occur right before
them than Mr. Moore’s comment. Is it any wonder that they resist and resent
increased oversight and enforcement of greyhound welfare regulations? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The short answer to that question is no, it is not. When you
believe that exploitation for profit is really doing nothing wrong, despite the
collateral pain, suffering and death you cause those you exploit, no real
attempt at regulation will come from inside, and those who attempt to impose
oversight from the outside will be ignored. It’s like the evangelical and the
atheist arguing about the Bible. Since the former believes it is the unaltered
word of God and the latter believes it is a historical document fraught with
human frailties, the argument is going nowhere since each participant
approaches it with an entirely different perspective.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And so it is with greyhound racing. Those who are shocked
and appalled by the inhumanity of it, the casual callousness, barbarity and
cruelty of it, will try to communicate their horror to those who see only
profit and loss. And they will fail to have an effect because, as Mr. Arena so
truthfully put it, participants’ welfare will always come before greyhounds.
The only regulation that will work is putting an end to racing.</span></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-48549154061864869982017-09-26T11:00:00.000-04:002017-09-26T18:08:56.973-04:00Dogs And Drugs<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju96mrj7mstmHBcwkQdtN31nzUgtIM7puejJonqSnBkqMjYAgVXRwq0qF_hX_1Xy8CjukY3hD-eHHyxKIjZMhy-1zrf2ZAkA2XdDTjg090bmodpGAdTqVZkNU5CbjNSP4eX6f0m_UqAoOh/s1600/drugs-kiowa-me-me-me-cocaine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju96mrj7mstmHBcwkQdtN31nzUgtIM7puejJonqSnBkqMjYAgVXRwq0qF_hX_1Xy8CjukY3hD-eHHyxKIjZMhy-1zrf2ZAkA2XdDTjg090bmodpGAdTqVZkNU5CbjNSP4eX6f0m_UqAoOh/s1600/drugs-kiowa-me-me-me-cocaine.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Racing greyhound Me Me Me tested positive for cocaine at the Hollywood dog track in Florida</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #666666;"><br />By Fred Barton, GREY2K USA Worldwide Board Member</span></b></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It seems like every time I look at a news feed lately there
is another story about greyhounds being drugged, usually with cocaine. As a
result of a great deal of initial research done by GREY2K USA, the Washington
Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/07/06/dog-racing-has-a-drug-problem-as-12-florida-greyhounds-test-positive-for-cocaine/?utm_term=.4e598544ce54">recently
ran a story</a> on the burgeoning drug problem in Florida. The dog the story
used as an example, WW’s Flicka, had tested positive for drugs five previous
times. The problem is by no means isolated to American greyhound racing. In <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/37187365/greyhound-racers-charged-for-drugs-ammo/">New
South Wales, Australia</a> authorities raided a breeding farm and found
Steroids, among other drugs;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8x8xak/coked-up-greyhounds-are-still-a-problem-in-the-dog-racing-industry">in
Ireland</a> champion Irish greyhound Clonbrien Hero tested positive for cocaine three
times in two months, and in <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/97166085/Mark-Reason-Greyhound-racing-has-gone-to-the-dogs">New
Zealand</a> drugging seems to bring small punishment to those caught.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I believe this is an aspect of greyhound racing slowly
collapsing in on itself. As the purses shrink and the pressure to win
increases, dog welfare slips farther down the list of industry priorities.
Since the illegal use of drugs has been around almost as long as racing itself,
it’s hard to tell whether the practice has recently increased, or if more
people are being caught. Tests have become more sophisticated, but so have
attempts to elude them. The internet and the development of so called designer
drugs have combined to open a whole new potential for chemically enhancing
performance while avoiding detection. <a href="https://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/racing-integritys-newest-threat-human-designer-drugs/">Dr.
Rick Sams</a>, laboratory director at LGC Sport Science in Lexington, Kentucky
said, “We can't tell here from the analysis of the sample, whether it came from
environmental contamination or the tail end of intentional administration.
There are no tags that tell us one way or another.” He was talking about the
horse racing industry, but it would be naive to think that those drugs aren’t
also making their way into dog racing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And what about the drugs’ effect on the dogs? Has anyone
taken that into consideration? The short answer from those who profit from
racing is no. Actually, in the case of cocaine the jury is still out on whether
it does in fact make a dog faster. <a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/36508-cocaine-greyhound-science">Shelly
Flagel, Ph.D.</a>, a neuroscientist at the University of Michigan Medical
School who studies the effects of cocaine said, “We do have evidence that with
this increased activity comes increased velocity of movement as well.” However,
“ trainers can’t hope to elicit that same cocaine high from dogs every single
time. Not only do individual animals — whether they’re dogs, rats, or humans —
respond differently to different cocaine doses; they also become “sensitized”
to the drug at different rates as they are repeatedly exposed to it.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One thing is certain though and that’s the deleterious
health effects of cocaine exposure on the greyhounds. In an article cited
above, Scott Stanley, a toxicologist with UC Davis School of Veterinary
Medicine said, “exposure to cocaine in dogs can lead to seizures, rapid heartbeat,
and elevated blood pressure, among other behavioral anomalies.“ He further
stated, “Any amount of cocaine in a companion animal may result in toxicosis.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The industry’s response has been typically disingenuous.
Steve Sarras, a kennel owner in Florida where dogs consistently receive
positive tests tried to pass it off as “environmental contamination.” Others
claim they did not know how the drugs got there, much as <span class="st">Captain
Renault was shocked to know there was gambling going on in Rick’s nightclub. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when the allegations are shown to be
true, the punishment is often a fine and temporary suspension—a cost of doing
business it seems, given the number of repeat offenders. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The state agencies that oversee greyhound racing are understaffed
and lack sufficient funding to make any substantial inroads against this
growing epidemic. They do however have occasional success as in the case of
Malcolm McAllister, whose license was revoked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While this is a positive step, if you look at the rising <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/drugs.php">number of drug cases and the
usually weak penalties</a>, it is more the exception that proves the rule—and
the rule is, the health of the greyhound will always be sacrificed for the
chance of profit.</span></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-85841987662794194632017-09-11T13:32:00.003-04:002017-09-11T13:32:56.716-04:00In Florida Crisis, Greyhound Racers Fail a Moral Test<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmdT1bKnnCbw_UKp9mgeVeEALa7LPc1kJCh2AAJnJ5_TGwzMND3KSM3gZWMJX50yI5CNPXhJ-m_a_xgyHJnSa0uf3TLKRpSWMihCLdce1cgnS0Mx98vbB4sPfvg5iR2VVLeUiYE9TgUeT/s1600/miami_damage_1926_kennel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmdT1bKnnCbw_UKp9mgeVeEALa7LPc1kJCh2AAJnJ5_TGwzMND3KSM3gZWMJX50yI5CNPXhJ-m_a_xgyHJnSa0uf3TLKRpSWMihCLdce1cgnS0Mx98vbB4sPfvg5iR2VVLeUiYE9TgUeT/s1600/miami_damage_1926_kennel.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Devastation from the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926, which destroyed a greyhound kennel</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b><br />By Carey Theil, Executive Director of GREY2K USA Worldwide</b></span></span><br />
<b></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?cone">Hurricane Irma</a> has thankfully been downgraded to a tropical storm, and it appears that Florida greyhound race kennels dodged a big bullet. Thousands of greyhounds were in peril due to Irma, after kennel operators chose to ride the storm out instead of evacuate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The storm hasn't yet passed, but already dog race promoters are hard at work trying to rationalize their reckless decision. Let's set the record straight. It's true that one track reportedly gave kennel operators financial assistance in the days before Irma struck. That's good, and should be applauded. Also, there is no doubt that the greyhound trainers who stayed behind and hunkered down with dogs were brave. Neither of these, though, are actual solutions to a cataclysmic threat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some of the <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/fl.php">Florida</a> greyhound kennels, holding hundreds of dogs, are wooden. If any of these had suffered a direct hit the loss of life would have been enormous. Further, the trainers who stayed behind would have been helpless against a large storm surge. Many Florida kennels were in direct peril of flooding, including the Derby Lane kennel compound which is located only a <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Derby+Lane+St+Petersburg/@27.8666161,-82.6213985,16z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x88c2e68b5a9da803:0x292a21515b64187d!8m2!3d27.8634197!4d-82.627471">few hundred feet</a><span id="goog_520936030"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_520936031"></span> from Masters Bayou.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the essays circulating today claims <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/">GREY2K USA</a> is the "face of evil" for raising concerns about the lack of an evacuation plan for greyhounds. The dissertation is disjointed and strange, but does include one self-revelatory paragraph:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"The face of evil told you there was no plan for the greyhounds to be evacuated and they were partially right. There was never a plan to evacuate the greyhounds because the real protectors know you can't evacuate 6000 greyhounds. There was always a plan and that was plan to do what has been done for 90 years. Keep the greyhounds in place, hunker down with them and hope what has worked for so many years works again."</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The writer is correct that hunkering down and hoping for the best is what the dog racing industry has always done. It is a deeply irresponsible choice that has caused many dogs to suffer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In September of 1926 a powerful Category 4 storm commonly referred to as the <a href="https://www.weather.gov/mfl/miami_hurricane">Great Miami Hurricane</a> devastated South Florida. According to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Floridas-Hurricane-History-Jay-Barnes/dp/0807847488">Florida's Hurricane History</a> the greyhound kennels at the Hialeah Race Track were completely destroyed, allowing racing greyhounds to escape. So much life was lost that when the storm passed it pushed water and debris back into Biscayne Bay creating a "<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article80378337.html">huge health problem with all the dead bodies and animals</a>" according to meteorologist Neal Dorst.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ninety-one years have passed since the Great Miami Hurricane, and the greyhound industry still has no evacuation plan. This is another example of how the industry fails in its most basic obligations to protect the health and welfare of the dogs it uses to make a profit. If people are going to ship thousands of dogs to a state with a long history of cataclysmic hurricanes, they have a moral imperative to come up with a plan for when the storm clouds gather. That plan must be in place months or years in advance. It's not good enough to ignore weeks of warnings, throw up your hands at the last minute, and say an evacuation isn't possible. Nor is it good enough to hunker down and just hope for the best.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On a related note, the handful of people who are defending the greyhound industry should ask themselves if there is any bad act they would not defend. Note that there is no industry discussion today about doing better. There is no self reflection, and no urgency about coming up with a plan for the next time a hurricane hits. Instead they are busy convincing themselves that their reckless approach was somehow justified, while attacking the animal protection community in the process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It appears that the greyhound industry has another chance. While dog racing continues in Florida, which <a href="http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2017/04/house-agrees-end-to-live-racing-lower-tax-rates-and-a-new-casino-in-miami-dade-county-.html">hopefully will not be for long</a>, the industry must solve this problem. They have had ninety-one years to solve it up to now, yet so far have utterly failed.</span>CareyTheilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829319006842232710noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-64695989300014096472017-08-30T13:35:00.001-04:002017-09-06T12:36:59.811-04:00The Case For Direct Language<div class="MsoNormal">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptwvw12wlkU1W0H3k70vQsrzShOj7Pf9Pn-zNr82h0SHy_rj7zHTnevxnXsSjkR9PaSKGmomp-ZUcGvbegrg4veY_7SdueU7MYX1jepZxMoozsufx3yT-3XCMrcEn9-EYsIequ_CPxo62/s1600/WV-Maupin-racing-kennel-blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Greyhounds at a US racing kennel" border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptwvw12wlkU1W0H3k70vQsrzShOj7Pf9Pn-zNr82h0SHy_rj7zHTnevxnXsSjkR9PaSKGmomp-ZUcGvbegrg4veY_7SdueU7MYX1jepZxMoozsufx3yT-3XCMrcEn9-EYsIequ_CPxo62/s1600/WV-Maupin-racing-kennel-blog.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A greyhound kennel in West Virginia</td></tr>
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<h2 class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">By Fred Barton, GREY2K USA Worldwide Board Member</span> </h2>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Recently I’ve been involved in an online argument with
members of the greyhound racing industry over my use of the word abandoned referring
to dogs they surrender for adoption. They like this word about as much as they
like the word rescue because it strips away the carefully constructed veneer of
caring the people in this so called sport work so hard to maintain. In fact, a
well known racing spokesperson once posted an almost 700 word attack on the
word rescue. The gist of the argument was it shouldn’t be called rescue because
they don’t kill as many greyhounds as they used to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But back to abandoned. My New Oxford American Dictionary
defines abandon as “give up completely (a course of action<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>a practice or a way of thinking).” Historically greyhounds have
had three options when their careers are over: be sold for medical research, be
killed outright, or be adopted. Some few are returned to the farms for use as
breeding stock, and occasionally one will stay with its owner, but compared to
the large number of dogs bred for racing these numbers are insignificant. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Typically, greyhounds are completely given up by their owners,
and this is the standard industry practice when a dog can no longer make a
profit. Racing supporters like to point to the rising number of adoptions as an
example of their caring and thus make a virtue of necessity. It is true that
more dogs are finding homes today thanks to the tireless work of an army of volunteers,
but it should be pointed out that adoption is due to the rising awareness on the
public’s part of the inherent cruelty of greyhound racing and in no way affects
the fact that these innocent animals would be, and will be discarded regardless
because, as I mentioned, that is standard industry practice.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a alt="Greyhounds at a Kansas breeding farm" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJps02W1XI2D1I7nKjSzcbHvzLqNYNb6RJVACqzkWf2K6U6l43Do4zjAQRinwTh_4z96TCQAgKZvEd5wfu4ihdssk6cVeizytqMVcQcgftJ-zgX15z9CB76PdiRpd86wZENerqtg4MMuUe/s1600/kansas-breeding-farm-sholtz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJps02W1XI2D1I7nKjSzcbHvzLqNYNb6RJVACqzkWf2K6U6l43Do4zjAQRinwTh_4z96TCQAgKZvEd5wfu4ihdssk6cVeizytqMVcQcgftJ-zgX15z9CB76PdiRpd86wZENerqtg4MMuUe/s1600/kansas-breeding-farm-sholtz.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greyhound puppies at a Kansas breeding farm</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is not surprising the pro-racing crowd plays up adoption
because it diverts attention from the puppies that disappear before they are
ever registered, the rising number of <a href="http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/20170827/ebro-greyhound-injuries-deaths-up-in-2017" target="_blank">dogs that are injured</a> and <a href="http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/florida/dog-deaths-spur-push-to-end-greyhound-racing-in-florida/395826206" target="_blank">killed</a> as money
dries up for track maintenance, the increasing number of dogs forced to race
with less rest because of <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/breeding.php" target="_blank">dropping breeding rates</a>, the <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/drugs.php" target="_blank">increasing use of illegal drugs</a> and the still unconscionable number of greyhounds who are simply
killed, sometimes in very inhumane ways, when their careers are over. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There can be no argument that adoption is a necessary
element in the fight to end this abuse and until legislators in racing states
find the political courage to stop this travesty it will remain so. There can
also be no argument that those who make their living by exploiting helpless
greyhounds will continue to abandon them to whatever fate awaits when they are
no longer able to earn money.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I would argue that we stop letting the industry and the
legislators who enable them hide behind euphemistic language that obfuscates the
barbarity of this so called “sport.” By confronting them with words that more honestly
identify their actions and attitudes we take one more layer off that caring
veneer they like to present to the public and expose the true horror in which
racing greyhounds are trapped.</span></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-73240173222937097332017-08-14T12:47:00.000-04:002017-08-15T11:25:07.938-04:00The Futility Of Regulation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/bestbet-president-denies-responsibility-for-greyhounds-found-with-cocaine/457386034">The
doping scandal in Jacksonville</a> is but the latest tear in the already thin
fabric of lies the greyhound industry has woven to keep people from seeing the
heartless cruelty that is the center of this barbaric “sport.” There have been
24<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>positive results for Benzoylecgonine
(BZE) a metabolite of cocaine at Orange Park Greyhound Track and as of this
writing two trainers have had their licenses suspended by the state as a
result.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course the industry trots out the usual excuses and
obfuscations to explain yet another instance of how these dogs who are
supposedly so well cared for could have been abused. Jamie Shelton, president
of the Orange Park track, said the cocaine reports had been “sensationalized”
by the press. He suggested that the drug positive tests may have come from
inadvertent exposure, or from environmental contamination. This is an example
of the classic industry tactic of trying to change the subject. It’s not about
giving illegal drugs to innocent living creatures so they might run a little
faster and make their owners more of a profit; it’s about drugs in society.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No one is buying it. In West Virginia, Senate President Mitch
Carmichael was alarmed by the link between the doping of greyhounds in Florida
and the president of his state’s Kennel Owners Association. In a letter to the
state Racing Commission he wrote, "West Virginia's possible ties to
alleged drug abuse in the greyhound racing industry is obviously very
troublesome. As you know, the reputation of the greyhound racing industry is
lackluster to say the least." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5n-FcTr943maDOPsUiIM8AnfcEyzVageAKYzVWFAd43EnAewG-brSg4sYp5Q_-8sJbwGNmH8p24cvlVppjez7Ph6rEm7-0s3uU0HzLZvgBkAu5gqLJN7MrpRLFNxb0tlJm8ljLJ8pDoh/s1600/Kiowa+Amage+Me+%2528aka+MeMe%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Over 200 racing greyhounds have tested positive for cocaine since 2001" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5n-FcTr943maDOPsUiIM8AnfcEyzVageAKYzVWFAd43EnAewG-brSg4sYp5Q_-8sJbwGNmH8p24cvlVppjez7Ph6rEm7-0s3uU0HzLZvgBkAu5gqLJN7MrpRLFNxb0tlJm8ljLJ8pDoh/s400/Kiowa+Amage+Me+%2528aka+MeMe%2529.jpg" style="border: none;" title="" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kiowa Amage Me is one of over 200 racing greyhounds who have tested positive for cocaine since 2001</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Lackluster” is being kind. As the money dries up and the
industry contracts towards its final collapse, the pressure to win will
intensify and the ultimate victims of that pressure will be the innocent greyhounds.
In the past, dogs who didn’t finish in the money were dumped and replaced, but <a href="https://www.grey2kusa.org/about/breeding.php">breeding of racing
greyhounds has dropped over 60% since 2001</a>. This means there are fewer dogs
around to replace slow ones, hence the temptations to augment their effort with
drugs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course this is illegal and the state agency that oversees
greyhound racing in Florida quickly responded to what is turning out to be one
of the most egregious violations of regulations since the Ronnie Williams
scandal. We may be tempted to take some comfort in that fact, but don’t let the
promise of regulatory enforcement lead to a false sense of security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all, these departments are woefully
underfunded for the job they are asked to do and cash strapped states are loath
to open their pocketbooks to fund the money losing activity that pari-mutuel betting
has become. In Arizona for example, the state may defund the Department of
Gaming altogether. Second, to think that regulations—even if they were enforced
vigorously—would guarantee the lives and welfare of the greyhounds is naive. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The greyhound racing industry rests on two fundamental core
principles: profit and exploitation. No amount of regulation will change that,
and no increase in oversight can change the mindset of those who seek to live
off the backs of the dogs. An English trainer named Rob White was perhaps most
honest about that when he replied in a Facebook comment, “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cagednw/posts/1409636815811116">Greyhounds are
livestock, like it or not</a>.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From the industry perspective, like livestock, greyhounds
are brought into this world to make money for their owners, and this is their
sole purpose and the only thing that makes their lives valuable. Regulations
may limit how that mindset manifests itself from time to time, but it is
impossible to regulate away the cruelty of racing.</span></div>
Fred Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08075777964136199485noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-9355952990264441352016-10-14T13:13:00.000-04:002016-10-14T13:13:14.344-04:00Florida is Focus of Global Fight to End Dog Racing<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwj8cVNE1vXV1Te-AsQ7IBZ-ZuSH7g6dS4Bp-2_El9V0NtKp_9RkLHEbxboltpV1AFVuYGPH9qaan50DHeaVa1xqlEkklR6Op-lk_OjaOk8fppSSUUEBPTJ_v9bIsVU8_zuK9NI___d8NE/s1600/greyglobe-conference-blog-banner.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwj8cVNE1vXV1Te-AsQ7IBZ-ZuSH7g6dS4Bp-2_El9V0NtKp_9RkLHEbxboltpV1AFVuYGPH9qaan50DHeaVa1xqlEkklR6Op-lk_OjaOk8fppSSUUEBPTJ_v9bIsVU8_zuK9NI___d8NE/s1600/greyglobe-conference-blog-banner.png" /></a><br />
This weekend, Palm Beach County in Florida will become the focus of the global effort to end greyhound racing. Two dozen top animal welfare experts from across the world are joining together in Delray Beach to hold the first ever international conference on greyhound advocacy, named <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/greyglobe/">Greyhounds Around the Globe</a>.<br />
<br />
Commercial dog racing is now conducted at 146 racetracks in <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide.html">eight countries</a>. Greyhounds routinely suffer racing <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/injuries.php">injuries</a> at these tracks including broken legs, broken necks, dislocations, torn muscles and paralysis. Some dogs die while racing while others are put down due to the severity of their injuries, or simply because of their diminished value as racers. More than <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/USreportWeb.pdf">12,000 injuries</a> have been documented in the U.S. alone since 2008, and in <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/fl.php">Florida</a> a racing greyhound is dying every three days, on average.<br />
<br />
In New South Wales, <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/australia.php">Australia</a>, recent governments report shows that thirty-nine dogs were killed while racing in just over two months, and that 70% of all racing dogs may have been destroyed over the last dozen years, as either puppies or failed racers. At the Canidrome in <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/macau.php">Macau</a>, the only legal dog track in China, greyhounds receive little or no veterinary care and are routinely killed at a rate of thirty per month. Because there is no adoption program, no dog gets out alive. In the countries of <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/uk.php">Great Britain</a>, Mexico, Ireland, Vietnam and <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/newzealand.php">New Zealand</a>, records are still not publicly disclosed, so the number of greyhound injuries and deaths remain an industry secret.<br />
<br />
A worldwide movement has emerged to fight this cruel industry, and we are gradually winning. Grassroots advocates have linked arms with established animal protection groups like <a href="http://www.humanesociety.org/">The Humane Society of the United States</a>, <a href="https://www.rspca.org.au/">RSPCA Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.animalsaustralia.org/">Animals Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.animalsasia.org/">Animals Asia</a>, <a href="http://animamacau.org/">Anima Macau</a>, the British <a href="https://www.rspca.org.uk/home">RSPCA</a> and the <a href="https://www.aspca.org/">ASPCA</a>. This coalition is fighting for a phase out of commercial dog racing, while also advocating for key industry reforms.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4KzlVY0raJBVUQ2NuQpnP7lFSjvEXCHDRF63doIYJlZqAKnx5vPUcgn2Il2WCSipA8mQTgm5qCCw4agZIAyPRLGlpoubl1rPu0-bWLiJ_GAzOIpEGwUkgyDTCXIsbZE4YX-Rrrtrv27-/s1600/Michael-Preston-Green-declares-victory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4KzlVY0raJBVUQ2NuQpnP7lFSjvEXCHDRF63doIYJlZqAKnx5vPUcgn2Il2WCSipA8mQTgm5qCCw4agZIAyPRLGlpoubl1rPu0-bWLiJ_GAzOIpEGwUkgyDTCXIsbZE4YX-Rrrtrv27-/s1600/Michael-Preston-Green-declares-victory.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GREY2K USA Worldwide lobbyist Michael Preston Green declares victory in Arizona</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Just in the last year, we have won stunning greyhound protection victories. In May, Arizona became the 40th American state to <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/eNEWS/G2K-051316.html">outlaw greyhound racing</a>. The largest Australian state, New South Wales, voted to prohibit dog racing in August. Although the government has since decided to allow a small remnant of the industry to temporarily survive, <a href="http://blog.grey2kusa.org/2016/10/our-grief-must-be-turned-into-action.html">dozens of tracks are still slated to close</a>. Also in August it was announced that the last dog track in London, iconic Wimbledon Stadium, is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/22/greyhound-racing-dog-track-sadiq-khan-afc-wimbledon-stadium-london">permanently closing</a>. Meanwhile, the Macau Canidrome is in the <a href="https://news.worldcasinodirectory.com/historic-macau-greyhound-track-instructed-to-close-within-two-years-31312">process of shutting down</a> after the government refused to extend its land lease.<br />
<br />
Florida has become the epicenter of this global fight, and humane advocates are starting to win victories in the Sunshine State, too. In March, lawmakers passed a budget proviso requiring the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/eNEWS/G2K-031416.html">report greyhound injuries</a> to the public for the first time. The dogs won again this summer when Seminole County Commissioners approved the <a href="http://www.protectdogs.org/">Greyhound Protection Act</a>, a local citizens initiative to require greyhound injury reporting, require reporting on the ultimate fate of racing dogs, and eliminate a loophole that exempted greyhounds from County licensing and inspection laws.<br />
<br />
We realize our historic conference is taking place only twenty miles from Palm Beach Kennel Club, the preeminent commercial dog track in the world. To its credit, Palm Beach has directed its attention to some humane issues and recently announced a series of adoption events in the month of October. Nevertheless, it is not immune from the culture of cruelty that permeates the greyhound industry. According to state records, 25 dogs have died at Palm Beach since 2013. To ensure the track has a ready supply of racers, hundreds of greyhounds endure <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/confinement.php">lives of confinement</a>, kept in cages barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around for long hours each day.<br />
<br />
At the conclusion of <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/greyglobe/">our conference</a>, our coalition will send a letter to the heads of states of the eight countries that still host commercial dog tracks. We will urge them to support legislation to end greyhound racing and tell them that dogs deserve better. It is time for this cruelty to end in <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/fl.php">Florida</a>, the state where it started, and <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide.html">worldwide</a>.CareyTheilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829319006842232710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-43151009699904582072016-10-11T14:57:00.000-04:002016-10-11T15:50:12.449-04:00Our Grief Must be Turned Into Action for Greyhounds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Across the world, greyhound advocates are frustrated and hurt by the announcement that New South Wales, Australia will <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-11/greyhound-ban-baird-government-confirms-backflip/7921000">severely reduce dog racing rather than prohibit it</a> altogether. There is a growing sense that the dogs have not only been failed by the New South Wales government, but the political process itself cannot be trusted. We must reject that assessment.<br />
<br />
We are all living through history, playing a part in a global debate that will inevitably end with a complete prohibition on commercial dog racing. Our victory is certain, because the greyhound industry contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. To operate as a profitable commercial enterprise, it must utilize <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/index.php">practices that go against our mainstream values</a> about the humane treatment of animals. The entire industry lacks a social license, and will inevitably be outlawed.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the change we seek will not happen on our desired timeline. It will be a slow, gradual process that unfolds over decades or even generations. That may sound unbearable, but in the grand course of history a generation is barely a blink of the eye. In fact, I'm amazed by the <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/who/victories.html">progress we have already made</a>.<br />
<br />
Just in the fifteen years since <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/index.php">GREY2K USA Worldwide</a> formed, we have seen seeds of compassion grow into a global movement to end the cruelty of greyhound racing. The American industry has <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/dying_industry.php">been reduced</a> to a mere 18 operational tracks in only five states, with roughly $500 million bet on races nationwide. At its peak, nearly $3.5 billion was bet on races held at nearly sixty tracks in nineteen states. The industry is also economically collapsing in the <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/uk.php">United Kingdom</a>, where the last dog track in London, iconic Wimbledon Stadium, is set to close. The worst dog track in the world, the Macau Canidrome, is teetering after having received a <a href="https://news.worldcasinodirectory.com/historic-macau-greyhound-track-instructed-to-close-within-two-years-31312">government ultimatum</a> to close or move.<br />
<br />
In <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/australia.php">Australia</a>, the last twenty months represent a tectonic shift in the history of greyhound racing. The plan that has been floated by the New South Wales government includes the closure of dozens of commercial dog tracks, a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-11/greyhound-ban-baird-government-confirms-backflip/7921000">vast reduction of greyhound breeding</a>, bonds for each dog born into the industry, track restructures aimed at reducing injuries, and other major reforms. These changes reflect a political victory, not a defeat. They are also a huge step towards the day when greyhound racing is prohibited everywhere.<br />
<br />
Finally, every time we speak up for greyhounds we become political actors. We should be grateful for the democratic mechanisms that allow us to oppose and even abolish injustice. Rather than blame the political process for the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-11/greyhound-ban-baird-government-confirms-backflip/7921000">New South Wales reversal</a>, we should instead accept the fact that the greyhound industry deftly used politics to temporarily salvage a small remnant of itself. Dog race promoters flexed their political muscles, and threatened to pull the government apart if they didn't get their way. Using <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/alan-jones-had-dinner-with-mike-baird-on-eve-of-greyhound-backflip-report-20161010-grz9wj.html">media surrogates</a>, they engaged in a campaign of misinformation and bullying, and didn't stop until they won.<br />
<br />
Because the animal advocacy community is committed to justice, we must never allow ourselves to use these <a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2016/10/10/the-latest-news-corp-buy-behind-its-war-on-greyhounds/?activation=success">underhanded tactics</a>. We can, however, become more effective at using the democratic mechanisms ourselves. The solution is not to reject the political process, but to become better at it. This is one of the goals of this weekend's <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/greyglobe/">Greyhounds Around the Globe</a> conference.<br />
<br />
We are holding a winning hand, and must <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/greyglobe/">stand together in solidarity</a> as we fight for the freedom of these gentle dogs. Today is about our frustration and grief over a bad government decision that will <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-11/greyhound-ban-baird-government-confirms-backflip/7921000">harm greyhounds</a>. But tomorrow must be about <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AnimalsAustralia/posts/10155320482625299:0">our resolve</a>, and a commitment to be even stronger advocates for greyhounds.CareyTheilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829319006842232710noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-82144225856575081162016-08-26T12:01:00.000-04:002016-08-26T12:01:01.572-04:00Jeroen van Kernebeek: Why We Fight for Greyhounds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRH3D70fjENTuoCqWMLLrKmAoA0AQCsZHeCW5AwBmW54ODh_7FEw_rWpkLD94iSK1RDEjk1mUdsLAS-UW_xVNFvcOzNfqV7NorMYSFh04Ba5DVPzXPmH5ilhr79G8tmPNMZubTOLCPQUA/s1600/GREY2K-USA-guest-blog-Jeroen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRH3D70fjENTuoCqWMLLrKmAoA0AQCsZHeCW5AwBmW54ODh_7FEw_rWpkLD94iSK1RDEjk1mUdsLAS-UW_xVNFvcOzNfqV7NorMYSFh04Ba5DVPzXPmH5ilhr79G8tmPNMZubTOLCPQUA/s1600/GREY2K-USA-guest-blog-Jeroen.png" width="500" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am reporting only a few hundred meters
away from where Australia’s first greyhound race took place
at what was then called Epping in New South Wales. It was a day all of us wish
had never happened. But it did, and this started 90 years of cruelty to greyhounds
in </span><a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/australia.php" style="font-family: inherit;">Australia</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> as the industry soon expanded and currently operates 67 tracks in all
states and territories.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span lang="EN-AU">Happily, this
week marks a massive change of fortune for the greys. With the New South Wales Parliament <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/greyhound-racing-banned-after-bill-passes-nsw-parliament-20160823-gqzj0f.html">passing legislation to close all of its 34 tracks</a> by July 1 2017, half of this country’s operating facilities will be
shuttered and thousands of greyhounds will be spared from injury, abuse and
death each year going forward.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></span>Let’s briefly put this into perspective. There
are just <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide.html">eight jurisdictions in the world</a> with a commercial dog racing industry and five of these combined have
fewer tracks than the number of tracks that will be closing in NSW (<a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states.html">USA</a>, <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/macau.php">Macau</a>, <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/mexico.php">Mexico</a>,
<a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/newzealand.php">New Zealand</a> and <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/vietnam.php">Vietnam</a>). The whole of the <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/uk.php">UK</a> has 35 tracks. These
numbers show how big this week’s victory is!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">Wednesday’s decision by the NSW Parliament to stop dog racing has redefined the future for greyhounds in <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/australia.php">Australia</a>. This decision is an
absolute turning point in both our Australian and global fight to end this
atrocious industry. The Australian Capital Territory (the ACT) has already <a href="http://www.watoday.com.au/act-news/act-greyhound-racing-club-again-told-it-has-no-future-after-nsw-ban-passes-20160824-gqzwdi.html">announced that the industry has no future</a>. Suffering and dying dogs are a fixed part of racing and only ending racing will <a href="https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1801374463441635&id=1513078735604544&refid=8&_ft_=qid.6315673719576000973%3Amf_story_key.-4391655095112923968">stop the suffering</a>.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/">GREY2K USA Worldwide</a> works with partners in
all eight countries where a commercial greyhound racing industry still exists
to phase out this cruelty. We are
knocking down the last remaining states in the US one by one. It is also likely
that racing in Macau <a href="https://news.worldcasinodirectory.com/historic-macau-greyhound-track-instructed-to-close-within-two-years-31312">will end soon</a>
due to our joint campaign with <a href="http://animamacau.org/">ANIMA</a>, <a href="https://www.animalsasia.org/">Animals Asia</a> and <a href="http://www.animalsaustralia.org/">Animals Australia</a>. And in both the <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/uk.php">UK</a> and <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/worldwide/ireland.php">Ireland</a> the industry has come
under intense fire for its failure to take the welfare of dogs seriously.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">The times are with us because collectively
we have alerted our communities to the plight of these animals and we have
<a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/index.html">inspired action</a> to speak up against what is so obviously and inherently wrong. The days of greyhound exploitation for a bet and a profit are numbered. Our
societies simply don’t tolerate it anymore. On behalf of <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/">GREY2K USA Worldwide</a>,
I thank all of you for fighting on the greyhounds’ side. Let’s celebrate this
moment together with our rescued greyhounds. We look forward to continue to
work with you to give greyhounds around the world the wonderful and safe future
they so much deserve.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">Down the road from where I live, in
the opposite direction of where the Epping track used to be, is Australia’s best
known greyhound race track, Wentworth Park. On race nights, I can hear the lure
go around and sometimes the dogs barking in the kennels. It is a frequent
reminder of the greyhounds’ misery and why we are fighting this fight. We are
incredibly relieved that these noises will soon be a thing of the past. But our
fight will continue to free all greyhounds around the globe from cruelty. Your <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/give/index.html">donation</a> will help the animals so much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
CareyTheilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829319006842232710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-42674361131004649792016-07-27T18:21:00.001-04:002016-07-27T18:22:50.639-04:00Top Greyhound Breeder Thwarts State Investigation<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiutuVbKhQ6aW_bdEXkW0cHe7EJTKm_OfSl8YwS2fDWsk7i5IPBH3hfxNoHVgB6DksAiX75AnAzRkAuiPA9oGf7mmj0FUcZ_4I2_WWl_7IoQAEmKoBfIh6guntXxUywxtUGtxCUF8A2kxY/s1600/419671221_17581273_8col.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiutuVbKhQ6aW_bdEXkW0cHe7EJTKm_OfSl8YwS2fDWsk7i5IPBH3hfxNoHVgB6DksAiX75AnAzRkAuiPA9oGf7mmj0FUcZ_4I2_WWl_7IoQAEmKoBfIh6guntXxUywxtUGtxCUF8A2kxY/s320/419671221_17581273_8col.jpg" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vince Berland, Photo by the Tampa Bay Times</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Earlier this year, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering opened an investigation after a greyhound named Flying Ambrose was apparently <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">infected with Chagas disease</a>. Chagas is transmitted through insects that exist in South America, Mexico and Central America, and <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">rarely seen</a> in the United States. State investigators were immediately concerned by the discovery of this disease in a racing greyhound in Florida and investigated the <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">circumstances</a> surrounding the dog.<br />
<br />
According to a state Investigative Report, Flying Ambrose <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">suffered a broken leg</a> at Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track on December 12. Confidential informants told investigators that three dogs, including Flying Ambrose, had been <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">given to track veterinarian Dr. Hakim Hamici for euthanasia</a>, but the dogs had instead been transported to volunteers in Sarasota.<br />
<br />
For some reason Dr. Hamici, who I have been <a href="http://blog.grey2kusa.org/2015/09/vet-missing-in-action-when-greyhounds.html">critical of in the past</a>, refused to publicly acknowledge this apparent good deed. Instead, he initially stonewalled investigators before ultimately stating that he had no record of Flying Ambrose ever being at his clinic. At the same time, he <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">demanded to know the identity</a> of a confidential informant.<br />
<br />
When the state approached greyhound trainer Kelly Everett, who was responsible for taking care of Flying Ambrose at Naples, Everett provided documentation which claimed that the dog had been "<a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">taken to the owners farm</a>" in Kansas. When Everett was later pressed regarding this obvious false statement, he stated that he "<a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">could have made a mistake with his record keeping</a>."<br />
<br />
Meanwhile a state investigator contacted the registered owner of Flying Ambrose, a Kansas-based greyhound breeder named Vince Berland. Berland is one of the most prominent greyhound breeders in the country, and in 2011 was inducted into the Greyhound Hall of Fame. Berland has also been <a href="http://blog.grey2kusa.org/2011/10/greyhound-racing-industry-hall-of-fame.html">accused of animal cruelty</a> by former employee Roy Brindley, who claims to have personally observed a <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/RoyBrindly.pdf">pit full of dead greyhounds</a> on his property.<br />
<br />
When he was contacted by the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering in the Flying Ambrose case, Berland <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">refused to take the call</a>. He then had the following conversation with a state investigator via <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">text message</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>INVESTIGATOR</b>: "Good morning Mr. Berland My name & title is Investigator Supervisor Minaya with the Pari-Mutuel in the state of Florida. If you can please call me ... Important thank you"</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>VINCE BERLAND</b>: "What do you need?"</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>INVESTIGATOR</b>: "This is involving an official investigation Mr. Berland and may I remind you that since you are a licensed you must cooperate or risk losing your license."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>VINCE BERLAND</b>: "I'm not licensed. You are incorrect sir."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>INVESTIGATOR</b>: "Your license is still active Mr. Berland."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>VINCE BERLAND</b>: "Who do you think you are talking to? Do you have an actual question? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>INVESTIGATOR</b>: "Mr. Berland all I need is 5 minutes of your time. I rather talk to you over the phone not through text messaging. If you choose to talk to me you have my phone number."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>VINCE BERLAND</b>: "I'd rather have your threats and harassment in writing, Sir. I don't trust government."</blockquote>
The Investigative Report also states that Berland "<a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">intentionally obstructed this investigation by refusing to cooperate</a>" and indicates that a separate case has been <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">opened against him</a>.<br />
<br />
The state must hold Berland accountable for his actions and send a message to everyone in the industry that they cannot get away with <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Greyhounds_Chagas_Investigation.pdf">thwarting official animal welfare investigations</a>. Meanwhile, if the National Greyhound Association (NGA) were truly serious about policing itself it would also take action against Berland. I won't hold my breath, as the NGA has proven time and again that it isn't in the business of holding its members accountable. Instead, it covers up wrongdoing and <a href="http://blog.grey2kusa.org/2014/06/nga-tells-sheriff-not-to-file-charges.html">prevents law enforcement from taking action against animal abusers</a>.CareyTheilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829319006842232710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-57004217610335411002016-05-18T16:31:00.002-04:002016-05-18T16:31:49.202-04:00A Winning Strategy to Help Greyhounds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GREY2K USA President Christine Dorchak & Gina</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Last week <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/az.php">Arizona</a> became the 40th state to <a href="http://kjzz.org/content/303774/live-dog-racing-comes-end-arizona">prohibit commercial greyhound racing</a> when Governor Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2127 into law. In a <a href="http://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2016/05/governor-doug-ducey-signs-legislation-end-live-dog-racing-arizona">statement</a>, the Governor said that dog racing's time had passed:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"Greyhound racing has run its course in Arizona ... it's heartening that these beautiful greyhounds will soon be off the track and in loving homes."</b></blockquote>
The end of dog racing in Arizona is also further proof that our strategy to protect greyhounds is working. Since our formation in 2001 we have helped pass <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/GREY2KUSA-victories.pdf">sixteen major greyhound protection laws</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li>We led the fight to <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/11-05-08-BostonGlobe.pdf">prohibit dog racing</a> in Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li>We helped eliminate a state mandate for greyhound racing in <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/ia.php">Iowa</a> and reduced dog track subsidies in <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/wv.php">West Virginia</a>.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li>We helped pass a greyhound injury reporting requirement in <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/fl.php">Florida</a> and worked with Massachusetts lawmakers to pass the only state-funded greyhound adoption trust fund in history. This program provided millions in funding to <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/adopt.php">help dogs find loving homes</a>.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
The strategy we have utilized to achieve these victories is surprisingly simple. First, we deeply <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/fact_sheets.html">research</a> the greyhound racing industry, with the goal of understanding it better than it understands itself. Next, we provide accurate information to lawmakers, members of the media, and the <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/index.html">general public</a>. Finally, we engage in the legislative process and ask lawmakers to make <a href="http://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2016/05/governor-doug-ducey-signs-legislation-end-live-dog-racing-arizona">humane choices</a> for the dogs.<br /><br />This compassionate plan of action is having an impact. Since our formation thirty-one dog tracks have <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/who/victories.html">closed or ended live racing</a> in the United States, and gambling on greyhound racing has dropped by 68%. The rate of industry collapse has <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/who/victories.html">more than doubled</a> compared to the years before <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/">GREY2K USA Worldwide</a> existed.<br /><br />We are fortunate to live in a vibrant democracy, a system that allows citizens to bring about change and <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086">fight injustice</a>. The process isn't easy. It requires tenacity and a willingness to challenge obstacles that <a href="http://www.drf.com/news/florida-decoupling-bill-declared-dead">appear immovable</a>. Our slow march towards the end of <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/index.php">greyhound cruelty</a>, however, proves that everyday people can bring about real change.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/GREY2KUSA-victories.pdf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd8iEwPXrJ19y1vtuhpQzV8-um5MMZTOIGkYT6zabsibKrca5Z54r-Yr8YfAvR7kvEdg6sUkmNgtTjCEkqcYHXUr9zTED8aBDFRAWU2v2aTeKUAXpLVi7AxQzQnWxiOUA7CWQ_-r3d7AY/s400/GREY2K-USA-victories.png" width="515" /></a></div>
<br />CareyTheilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829319006842232710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-15301861552065690372016-05-11T13:10:00.000-04:002016-05-11T13:10:15.970-04:00Greyhound Tragedy Cited in Historic Arizona Vote<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dKzdrBS68FEbZYSH2BGp62VtqYCBxlPrvoZvodHqog_YdcLi65mIE76dSBYRyoMJafkk_4HmParcY0OI8XMMMMZrKS_xkWxXv9ix3nQ12VJtyrdG0Da25JUlp0navVHYst-Qqx_F__M/s1600/Richard+Andrade.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dKzdrBS68FEbZYSH2BGp62VtqYCBxlPrvoZvodHqog_YdcLi65mIE76dSBYRyoMJafkk_4HmParcY0OI8XMMMMZrKS_xkWxXv9ix3nQ12VJtyrdG0Da25JUlp0navVHYst-Qqx_F__M/s320/Richard+Andrade.jpeg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rep. Andrade, photo by YANOK Photography</td></tr>
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A few days ago the Arizona legislature unanimously passed <a href="http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=HB2127&Session_ID=115">House Bill 2127</a>, a landmark bill to <a href="http://kjzz.org/content/303774/live-dog-racing-comes-end-arizona">end greyhound racing</a> that is now on the desk of <a href="http://azgovernor.gov/">Governor Doug Ducey</a>.<br />
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During a final vote State Representative <a href="http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=76&Legislature=52&Session_ID=115">Richard Andrade</a> gave an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAJZK4IQLCA&feature=youtu.be">impassioned speech</a> in support of the measure, and cited a 1992 case in which 124 greyhound carcasses were <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/01/11/124-greyhound-carcasses-found-in-arizona-citrus-grove/0521a854-9d82-4f3e-bca8-99207acf7562/">found in a citrus grove</a> in Chandler Heights, Arizona.<br />
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The Chandler Heights scandal received <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/01/11/124-greyhound-carcasses-found-in-arizona-citrus-grove/0521a854-9d82-4f3e-bca8-99207acf7562/">national coverage</a> at the time and was notable for its brutality. The dogs had been dumped after being <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/01/11/124-greyhound-carcasses-found-in-arizona-citrus-grove/0521a854-9d82-4f3e-bca8-99207acf7562/">bludgeoned or shot in the head</a>, and most of their left ears had been removed to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/01/11/124-greyhound-carcasses-found-in-arizona-citrus-grove/0521a854-9d82-4f3e-bca8-99207acf7562/">prevent identification</a>. This sad case helped spur a national movement, and inspired the creation of <a href="http://www.greyhoundnetworknews.org/">Greyhound Network News</a>, an important resource that gave greyhounds a voice for many years.<br />
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Listening to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAJZK4IQLCA&feature=youtu.be">Arizona debate</a>, I was reminded of comments made by New Hampshire State Senator <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqw44LcUY7I">Sheila Roberge</a> in 2009. I was in the chamber when she told her colleagues about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqw44LcUY7I">Amber</a>, a young greyhound who had died in her first ever race. After listening to Senator Roberge, the New Hampshire Senate <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqw44LcUY7I">voted to outlaw greyhound racing</a>, ending years of animal cruelty.<br />
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It took nearly a quarter of a century, but greyhound racing in <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/az.php">Arizona</a> may finally be coming to a close. By signing <a href="http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=HB2127&Session_ID=115">HB 2127</a> into law, Governor Ducey can end this cruel industry and give the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/01/11/124-greyhound-carcasses-found-in-arizona-citrus-grove/0521a854-9d82-4f3e-bca8-99207acf7562/">Chandler Heights greyhounds</a> the justice they deserve.</div>
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CareyTheilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829319006842232710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-64460996600134151192016-05-05T16:56:00.000-04:002016-05-05T16:56:46.890-04:00Injured Greyhound Denied Care at Pensacola Track<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV__giwvLSGmixbxDiYBJskanswhGylUNwh5Wz2F4PkHoyBgs91qs3C_eqZ1MywoJhQlhwDtKunNFljXqYH2Iivj4NxUXsIQiU7SSVZl2b4XUT4wH79RHLPtAmEy5d1aC_iKcO22ikoqY/s1600/a25+-+color+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV__giwvLSGmixbxDiYBJskanswhGylUNwh5Wz2F4PkHoyBgs91qs3C_eqZ1MywoJhQlhwDtKunNFljXqYH2Iivj4NxUXsIQiU7SSVZl2b4XUT4wH79RHLPtAmEy5d1aC_iKcO22ikoqY/s320/a25+-+color+edited.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
Two weeks ago I sent a <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Letter_to_Pensacola_Greyhound_Track,_April_21,_2016.pdf">letter</a> to Pensacola Greyhound Track to express my outrage over the <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/starring-act.pdf">neglect of a dog</a> named <a href="http://www.trackinfo.com/dog-search.jsp?keyword=starring+act&x=0&y=0&by=dogname">Starring Act</a>, who was injured in a dog fight on January 3. After the incident Starring Act was taken back to his cage by a kennel helper, who then tried to reach <a href="https://www.myfloridalicense.com/viewcomplaint.asp?SID=&licid=512077">James Viles</a>, the trainer responsible for the dog. Meanwhile, a second greyhound was fatally wounded and died within moments.<br />
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After <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/starring-act.pdf">consulting with track officials</a>, the racing kennel decided against taking Starring Act to a local clinic and instead waited for a track veterinarian to arrive. The dog waited in his cage for <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/starring-act.pdf">more than five hours</a> before being examined.<br />
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When a veterinarian finally saw Starring Act, she found that he had "<a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/starring-act.pdf">received serious injuries to the neck, right front leg, and left rear leg</a>." She euthanized Starring Act in the racing kennel because "due to the extent of the injuries ... she feared that moving the dog to her office would cause pain and suffering."<br />
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Starring Act should have received immediate care. He was failed by his trainer, his kennel, and Pensacola Greyhound Track. In my <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Letter_to_Pensacola_Greyhound_Track,_April_21,_2016.pdf">letter</a> to the track's general manager I wrote:<br />
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<b>"As a result of poor decisions that morning by Viles, in consultation with track veterinarian Dr. Hofmesiter and track racing officials, Starring Act was left in his cage for more than five hours before receiving veterinary care. There can be no doubt that Starring Act suffered as a result of these mistakes and was failed by your facility."</b></blockquote>
I also offered to assist Pensacola Greyhound Track in creating an <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Letter_to_Pensacola_Greyhound_Track,_April_21,_2016.pdf">emergency veterinary care policy</a>, to ensure similar mistakes do not happen again. As of today, I have not received a response.<br />
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Finally, it's worth noting that trainer James Viles has a long history of <a href="https://www.myfloridalicense.com/viewcomplaint.asp?SID=&licid=512077">state violations</a>. He has been investigated <a href="https://www.myfloridalicense.com/viewcomplaint.asp?SID=&licid=512077">28 times</a> for drug positives, animal deaths, and other issues. He has been fined by state regulators <a href="https://www.myfloridalicense.com/viewcomplaint.asp?SID=&licid=512077">15 times</a> and formally reprimanded.<br />
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<a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/starring-act.pdf">Starring Act</a> suffered because the commercial dog racing industry puts profits ahead of animal welfare. He raced <a href="http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?l=1867580">over 100 times</a> for the gambling industry, but in the end wasn't even worth a trip to a local veterinary clinic when he <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/Letter_to_Pensacola_Greyhound_Track,_April_21,_2016.pdf">needed immediate help</a>.CareyTheilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829319006842232710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7779555146664298023.post-15626150216126457512016-04-14T09:30:00.000-04:002016-04-14T09:30:16.498-04:00Simulcast Gambling on Dog Races is Dying<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiNre1-sg1qU3zlyFVfCA5v8lmwt9mvsE04bhFaHiWZzg_hMMknxitUGyhQubCItNFzQoXWmZiBieu5K7kVi6dT9BnRHmXk-m0B6tayA-_81wl3vWw23Yr5eWhxgWtYuHjL87ipiIYzFw/s1600/Gina.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiNre1-sg1qU3zlyFVfCA5v8lmwt9mvsE04bhFaHiWZzg_hMMknxitUGyhQubCItNFzQoXWmZiBieu5K7kVi6dT9BnRHmXk-m0B6tayA-_81wl3vWw23Yr5eWhxgWtYuHjL87ipiIYzFw/s320/Gina.JPG" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gina is Happy That Greyhound Simulcasting is Dying</td></tr>
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As the greyhound industry <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/dying_industry.html">slowly dies</a>, nineteen remaining tracks are being partially propped up by states that don't host races but allow gamblers to bet remotely on dog racing. As a result of this simulcast betting, states that have already outlawed greyhound racing, like <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/ma.php">Massachusetts</a>, are unfortunately supporting <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/index.php">animal cruelty</a>.<br />
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Thankfully, greyhound simulcasting is withering. It is falling in virtually every state, with several experiencing catastrophic declines in just the past five years:<br />
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<li>In <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/ma.php">Massachusetts</a>, greyhound simulcasting dropped by <b>32%</b>, from <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/MA_Simulcasting.pdf">$38.6 million</a> to <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/MA_Simulcasting.pdf">$26.2 million</a>.</li>
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<li>In <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/nh.php">New Hampshire</a>, greyhound simulcasting declined by a staggering <b>36%</b>, from <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/NH_Simulcasting_2009-2010.pdf">$21.4 million</a> to <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/NH_Simulcasting_2014-2015.pdf">$13.7 million</a>.</li>
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<li>In Nevada, greyhound simulcasting fell by <b>19%</b>, from <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/NV_Simulcasting.pdf">$8.3 million</a> to <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/NV_Simulcasting.pdf">$6.7 million</a>.</li>
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<li>In <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/states/or.php">Oregon</a>, greyhound simulcasting dropped by <b>23%</b>, from <a href="http://www.oregon.gov/Racing/pages/han_track_handle.aspx">$8 million</a> to <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/OR_Simulcasting_2014-2015.pdf">$6.2 million</a>.</li>
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This is good news for greyhounds. It also refutes false claims that have been made recently by the industry. Just last month, National Greyhound Association Executive Secretary <a href="http://www.greyhoundhalloffame.com/inductees/GaryGuccione.html">Gary Guccione</a> told Kansas lawmakers that greyhound racing isn't dying at all because simulcasting is so successful. Obviously his claim is pure fantasy.<br />
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Even though greyhound simulcasting is dying, along with the <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/dying_industry.html">rest of the dog race industry</a>, it is still a problem that needs attention. These states shouldn't support <a href="http://www.grey2kusa.org/about/index.php">greyhound cruelty</a>, and it's time for them to get out of the dog racing business altogether.CareyTheilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829319006842232710noreply@blogger.com0