My Recycled Greyhound

Ad by Google

Free OnlineArticles Directory

Why Submit Articles? Top Authors TopArticles FAQ AB Answers

Publish Article

0 && $.browser.msie ) { var ie_version =parseInt($.browser.version); if(ie_version Hello Guest Login

Email Password Remember me?Lost Password?

Home Page > News and Society> Causes &Organizations > My Recycled Greyhound

My Recycled Greyhound

EditArticle |

Posted: Jul 23, 2010 |Comments: 0

]]>

Some people believe greyhounds are working dogs that enjoy chasing amechanical rabbit, and at the end of their exciting careers become recycledinto a family pet – a nice life with the ultimate retirement. Thishowever, is just not the way the story goes, and in the case of my repurposedgreyhound, he simply beat the odds.

The real story is the life of a greyhound is not even close to nice. When housed at the race track, they spend about 20 hours of the day confined insmall cages barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around. Iftheir stats are below par, they are retired from racing. A retired femalemay end up as a brood, spending years on a farm breeding more potentialracers. Some retirees end up in veterinary research labs becausegreyhounds have a universal blood type and because they are so docile, they areeasy to handle. The lucky get adopted, and the remaining getsdestroyed.

Over 15,000 greyhounds were registered in 2009(1). More were born butgot culled as they were not suitable for racing. Many suffer broken legsor necks, spinal cord paralysis or go into cardiac arrest while racing and haveto be put down. Some states do not require that records be kept on injuries ordeaths, which I suppose is deemed too much information for the public. The industry does admit though to destroying thousands of greyhounds each year,which is estimated to be as many as 3,000(2).

I was shocked when I recently read that greyhounds tested positive forcocaine at a track in Birmingham. It’s hard for me to even get my head around this act ofcruelty. My husband took me to our local track to see the dealfirsthand. What I saw was mostly shady characters who probably considergambling their “job” and a few semi-normal people that might have been justlooking for something different to do on a Saturday night.

Thanks though to the tireless efforts of GREY2K USA, a non-profit group headed bythe talented Christine Dorchak, who serves as both President and GeneralCounsel, only 23 tracks are still operational in 7 states: Alabama has 3tracks, Arizona one, Arkansas one, Florida has 13, Iowa has 2, Texas one, andWest Virginia has 2. Gone most recently are the tracks in Colorado,Kansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Oregon.

This amazing group has been able to ban greyhound racing by working withstate politicians to pass the Greyhound Protection Act while defeating attemptsto keep tracks alive with subsidies and tax breaks, or the back door approachwhere promoters lobby for a law legalizing slot machines to save the liveracing. If the tracks are successful at getting slots, they remaineconomically viable and the dogs continue to remain disposable commodities.

Defeating dog track owners is no easy task. It has taken the hardgrassroots approach of collecting thousands of signatures in order to place ameasure to end dog racing before voters. People were shown state recordsdocumenting hundreds of injuries, along with actual video footage of terriblecollision that are common occurrences and photographs of the endlessconfinement greyhounds endure. This hard proof gave the greyhounds avoice. And the numbers and force of the people proved that small groupsof people really can bring about big change.

There is currently a blogger dedicated to seeing that that last remainingtrack in Arizona is closed. She discusses the issues associated with thisindustry in no uncertain terms. There is also something like 350greyhound rescue groups throughout the U.S. comprised of volunteers thatfind ways to transport, feed, medically treat, house and market these dogs tothe public. If a track closes, these groups network in an effort to placedogs across states. You can imagine the constant work involved to makeeven a dent in the number greyhounds needing homes in a state like Florida witha whopping 13 tracks. What does this say about my state of Florida? Gambling trumps animal welfare?

I was initially put off to hear that my local rescue group was neutral onracing, but then it occurred to me that they are dealing with ruthless peopleand this is their way of getting in to make the saves. I had theexperience of going with members of a rescue group to pick up dogs as space hadbecome available. We went to a kennel that was full of all thesebeautiful dogs in all their wonderful colors stacked in crates with theiralmost human eyes looking so intently at us as if to say, “please pick me.” Itwas heart-wrenching to leave with only two, and no one can convince me thatanother group came to that particular kennel to pick up the rest.

My greyhound Buddie, who raced for a short period under the name Mr. Pibb,is an amazing recycled dog. He is gentle and loving and gives standinghugs if allowed. He is an ambassador for his breed using his charm to gethugs and kisses by people everywhere he goes. Most tend to thinkgreyhounds are full of energy, but the truth is they are used to lying aroundand being active for only short periods of time. Other things that peopleusually don’t know is that greyhounds don’t bark, they have a sweet smell andbarely shed, they walk right by your side on a leash and many enjoy cats. What more could you ask for in a pet?

If you are interested in learning more about greyhounds or adopting go towww.grey2kusa.com.

(1) National Greyhound Association, Breeding Stats,2009.

(2) National Greyhound Association, KABC Channel 7 ABC TV, February 20,2009.

Retrieved from “http://www.articlesbase.com/causes-and-organizations-articles/my-recycled-greyhound-2886145.html”

(ArticlesBase SC #2886145)

Liked this article? Click here topublish it on your website or blog, it’s free and easy!

Jellie Stanton - About theAuthor:

Jellie Stanton is the creator of HumanWear hip eco t-shirts. Wedonate a percentage of our sales to GREY2KUSA to help end greyhound racing.

Questions and Answers

Ask our experts your Causes & Organizations related questionshere…200 Characters left

How many animals are affected by animal cruelty ? How is recycling good for the earth ? How many dogs are in animal shelters ?

]]>