Gryhndlvr19
03-29-2005, 09:45 PM
In Kansas, Greyhounds are not "dogs" They are "parimutual commodities." The National Greyhound Association, in Abilene, says that Greyhounds are not pets, and not subject to state humane pet treatment laws. This is finally being challenged in the state legislature, so animal lovers everywhere are being asked to email the govenor, senators (Elizabeth Dole is one) and legislators. Ask them to encourage their state government to recognize Greyhounds for what they are; loving, appreciatve, goofy, calm, 45 mph couch potato DOGS, not business commodities, no matter what state they are in.
Magnum
03-30-2005, 12:24 AM
Here's a time line of just a few things Greyhound Dog's have had to endure because they were a "Racer"
Are Racing Greyhounds Dogs?
Not according to the state of Kansas. Because Kansas law classifies greyhounds as "livestock," they are not given the same protection from abuse normally accorded dogs, cats, and other companion animals. The only protection accorded Kansas greyhounds is federal legislation regulating the transportation and slaughter of farm animals, which is enforced – or notoriously unenforced – by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Interviewed for an article in PitchWeekly, a former Kansas trainer and kennel owner said, "Over the 15 years I was in the business, I probably killed about 1,500 dogs. I usually shot them in the head ....You either retrain or kill the slower dogs. The owners don't want them back." They also don't want to pay the $20 vets charge to euthanize a greyhound; it's cheaper to shoot them. The trainer, who left the business in 1994, says he has a bone pile in his back yard.xxxiv
Bad Days for Greyhounds
• November 1995
The new Camptown track in Frontenac closes after only six months of operation, leaving an estimated 500 to 700 greyhounds stranded. Members of the Racing and Gaming Commission demand assurances that no dogs will be euthanized, and the track's general manager works to find alternate track bookings. Ultimately 78 dogs are put up for adoption, 33 of whom are still at the track on December 22. Also still there are 23 other greyhounds. Full details on the fate of all the dogs are unavailable.xxxv
• September 1996
Following an alert by the Greyhound Protection League (GPL), a search is instituted for 60 racing greyhounds discarded by a Florida racetrack and sent on a "kill run" to Texas. Sixteen are found, abandoned and barely alive, on a rural roadside in Texas. Several more have died or are rumored to be dead. An additional 32 of the Florida dogs and 19 other greyhounds, all of them ill, are discovered on the property of a Corsicana man who has recently died.
Through a complicated series of negotiations, the industry-affiliated National Greyhound Association (NGA) arranges to transport 32 of the Florida greyhounds, along with two others, to their headquarters in Abilene. After the dogs' arrival, the GPL determines that at least ten in the shipment were not from the original Florida group. The fate of those missing dogs is in question, as is the identity of the added dogs and the apparently devious route the hauler followed from Corsicana.
Bill and Cher Oliver of Kansas City REGAP travel to Abilene and are given 13 male greyhounds to place for adoption. The NGA does not allow them to see the other dogs.xxxvi
• April 1998
Employees preparing to mow the grass behind a utility substation in O'Fallon, Missouri discover 45 decomposing bodies of greyhounds. Almost all are puppies, but among them are nine adult dogs, their ears cut off to avoid identification. Although the bodies are in different stages of decomposition, all have been dumped since the last mowing two weeks earlier. With them are the bodies of three rabbits and a cat, small animals sometimes (illegally) used in training.
There are no greyhound tracks in Missouri and no breeders in the area. Nearby Highway 79 is part of the usual route between Kansas and Iowa, and representatives of the St. Louis chapter of REGAP believe that the bodies were dumped by an out-of-state breeder, possibly from Kansas. On May 2 150 members of Kansas City REGAP demonstrate in Kansas City in memory of the O'Fallon greyhounds and launch a petition drive to end pari-mutuel racing in Kansas.xxxvii
• Fall 1998
Kansas City REGAP participates in another massive rescue when the Greyhound Protection League and rescue groups across the country launch an emergency action to save over 200 greyhounds. The dogs, many debilitated and four injured, were stranded when the notorious
Greenetrack in Eutaw, Alabama closed prematurely on September 6. After several weeks of on-site rehabilitation, the dogs are trucked in groups over a period of several weeks to adoption organizations throughout the South and Midwest. In December the final haul delivers seven greyhounds, including the one most severely injured, to KC REGAP. In all, 212 greyhounds are saved. Another 150 Greenetrack dogs could not be rescued and were shipped to low-grade tracks in Florida, where they are at serious risk of being killed.xxxviii
• Fall 2000
Over 700 greyhounds are stranded when Camptown Greyhound Park, which had reopened after being closed for five years, again shuts down prematurely in November. Most of the dogs are qualified only for low-grade races, which bodes ill for their chances of survival.
Louisiana-based adoption coordinator Cynthia Cash, who was also involved in the rescues described above, works with the Kansas Gaming and Racing Commission to place as many dogs as possible with adoption groups. By late December ten greyhounds have been adopted in Kansas and 113 have been sent to adoption groups in several states. Another 73 remain at Camptown awaiting transport. Cash says full documentation was provided for each dog – a rarity in rescue operations – and that the dogs were generally in good condition.xxxix
• Summer 2001
Greyhound Network News obtains injury reports for the 2000 racing season from the Kansas Gaming and Racing Commission under a public records request. The language of the reports is imprecise and does not always describe the actual nature of the injury.
The following is a summary:
At THE WOODLANDS 173 greyhounds were injured. Of those, at least 47 suffered fractures, including 34 fractures of the hock alone. Other injuries (unspecified) involved fore and hind feet, long bones, and the carpal (wrist) joint of the foreleg. There were 53 muscle injuries. One dog was
shocked by the live rail, another collided with the lure, and two collapsed with spinal injuries. Nine dogs were put to death.
WICHITA GREYHOUND PARK reported 81 injuries, including 25 described as fractures. Curiously, no hock fractures are reported, but there were 23 injuries (unspecified) to the hock joint. Four dogs were put to death.
CAMPTOWN GREYHOUND PARK reported 21 greyhounds injured during its shortened racing season (Aug.4 - Nov. 14). Fifteen dogs suffered fractures of the legs and feet, and OF THOSE 15, 11 WERE PUT TO DEATH.
• 2002-2003
A distemper outbreak at the Flying Eagles Kennel, a breeding farm in Abilene, kills about 100 greyhounds. The kennel owner, Vince Berland, claims the disease is contained on his farm.
However, distemper breaks out in Massachusetts in December, with an undisclosed number of greyhounds euthanized. In the same month at least two cases are confirmed at Wichita Greyhound Park and the park is quarantined. In Arizona the following month 18 greyhounds are infected and euthanized. The disease also reaches Florida, killing greyhounds at Sarasota and Hialeah.xl