The greyhound, doing what a hound does best--just being a dog.
In which I ensure that I never sell any books to anyone in the greyhound racing industry.* (*No, I’m not calling it a “sport.”) Like I give three shits.
You would think, given the proliferation of casinos and other forms of gambling, that greyhound racing wouldn’t exist at all anymore. Sadly, there are still a few pathetic fools who spent their money at the dog track, meaning there are still thousands of dogs being bred and fed to the gristmill of racing, every year. Obviously, people who work directly in the industry will defend its practices, claiming that reports of cruelty aren’t typical (they are) and that their dogs are feed caviar and steak every night.
More distressing are the turncoats in rescue groups who support and apologize for this corrupt and inhumane industry. They are the ideological equivalent of someone who works to provide aide to refugees, all the while supporting the dictator who created the refugee problem.
Like all people who cling to a flawed ideology, they spout idiotic talking points in defense of the industry. These are the four I keep hearing.
It Creates Jobs
If economic benefit were the sole criterion on which we judged an industry, then slavery would still be legal. As would child labor. So too, would be dog and cockfighting, since despite millions of years of evolution, a large segment of the Homo sapiens population loves violent bloodsports. (I’d venture to suggest that illegal drugs would also be legal, but anyone with a brain knows that keeping them illegal fuels an industry in itself [DEA, drug cartels, industrial prison complex].) In most parts of the country, prostitution, which would certainly provide jobs, is also illegal. These are all cases where society has decided that economic gain doesn’t outweigh the negative impacts to society. I may not agree with the illegality of some of these things (prostitution, drugs), but the point is that “it makes money” isn’t sufficient reason for an industry’s existence. Certainly not one where innocent lives are endangered.
Greyhound Love to Run
So what? The implication being that without racing, greyhounds would be unable to run. Wrong. Greyhounds can run in backyards. On the lure course. At the dog park.
Greyhounds don’t need racing. Racing needs greyhounds. One shouldn’t confuse an aptitude with a trait that must be exploited.
You know what greyhound love more? Laying around doing absolutely nothing.
Without Racing There Would Be No Greyhounds
This is a direct quote for my sister-in-law who was trying to defend her horrid friend, who is an racing apologist. I’m not exactly sure what she meant by this. I mean, it’s so mind-rapingly stupid. That greyhounds, as a breed would cease to exist? Wrong. Greyhounds are an AKC breed, and while not as popular as golden retrievers, the breed would survive. That there would be no more adoptable retired racers? This would, fortunately, be true. While I’m a fan of the breed, I won’t support an abusive industry solely so that I can have a pet. Every year, 6-8 million animals enter shelters. There are great dogs available from shelters. My very best dog, a tiny terrier, was a shelter dog.
The Industry Just Needs More Regulation
Here’s the problem. Even if there were more regulations, in today’s economic and political climate, it’s doubtful that there would be the will to commit the resources to police the industry (i.e., inspectors, etc.). Frankly, in this economy, my tax monies would be better spent on something other than propping up a useless and cruel industry.
Even if resources could be allocated, there remains the fact that several large and fragile dogs careening around a track at speeds in excess of 30mph, is inherently dangerous. As anyone who’s ever known a greyhound can attest, despite their size, greyhounds are delicate. Thin bones, thinner skin. They are sensitive to extreme temperatures and in particular, overheat easily. Like most purebreds, they have congenital problems, like a tendency to bloat. Though they look graceful, they are surprisingly clumsy and accident-prone.
Greyhounds are injured everyday while racing. Sometimes fatally.
But, for the sake of argument, I’ll humor the apologists for this horrid industry. Let’s pretend that greyhound racing could clean up its act and become a fuzzy-wuzzy paragon of “humane.” Let’s pretend that every retired greyhound was adopted out to a loving home. That still leaves us with the fact that every year, 3-4 million (that’s million) dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters. The problem isn’t going away until puppy mills and irresponsible backyard breeders stop adding unwanted animals to population. And that’s not going to happen anytime soon.
This means that each and every retired greyhound is just another surplus animal in an already overburdened system of shelters and rescue groups. And for what? So fat, white retirees in Florida and Arizona can gamble?
Think this doesn’t affect you? Think again. If you pay taxes (we all do), then that’s your money being used to house and eventually kill dogs and cats in shelters. Every homeless animal, whether a mutt or retired greyhound, adds to the population of unwanted, surplus animals. Every one costs you money.
How can you help? Easy. Don’t support greyhound racing. Don’t go to the track. Don’t gamble on greyhound racing in any venue. Easy-peasy.
In this day and age of casinos and other gaming venues, the use of animals for the sole purpose of gambling is archaic and barbaric.
Hi Pat, you are absolutley right. And so what if there aren’t anymore greyhounds. The fewer homeless pets the better. I feel the same way about how children are treated. If pets and children were rare they would be treasured instead of abused.
I agree and I have zero tolerance for people for abuse children or animals.
Thank you so much for this wonderful post!
You’re welcome.
Bravo, Patricia! Thank you for speaking out against this despicable industry.
If you’re in New Mexico and looking for a greyt adoption group, I can’t recommend Greyhound Companions of New Mexico enough. Their website is a wealth of information for anyone adopting a dog of any breed. Check it out. http://www.gcnm.org
Again, ditto that! I have used their website often with my newest.
This blog says it all! Join our team to end dog racing nationwide! http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/joinlist.php
Grey2K is a fabulous organization. If you care about racing greyhounds and ending this despicable industry, check out their website!
Totally agree with every word. Join our team to end dog racing nationwide!
http://www.grey2kusa.org/action/joinlist.php
Thank you P. Kirby for this fabulous rant!!
Thanks for reading it!
I wish I wrote this. I’m proud, damn proud of your words, they express exactly what my husband and I have been discussing privately for years. We are avid Grey2K supporters (our Moe is December in their 2011 calendar, I never stop bragging) but we have to hide this fact when we do meet and greets and other various volunteer work for both our grey’s adoption organizations. It’s like can’t we just all come out and say, enough already, this industry sucks, let’s all work together to end it?
Heh. The older I get, the flimsier my verbal filter gets. It’s like I’ve got age-induced Tourette’s. (If I’m this bad now, I’m going to be hell-on-wheels, when I’m actually old.)
I always state, up front, that I believe the racing industry is corrupt and immoral and should be outlawed. Fortunately, most of the greyhound folk I know got their hounds from GCNM, which is NOT, in an way shape or form, allied with the industry. But, woe to the fool who works with one of those “other” rescue groups. They will get an earful if they try to defend the industry to me.
Thanks for stopping by.
And congrats on your Moe’s celebrity!
This means that each and every retired greyhound is just another surplus animal in an already overburdened system of shelters and rescue groups. And for what? So fat, white retirees in Florida and Arizona can gamble?
Hey come on. There’s fat white retirees in West Virginia, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama and Iowa too. What are they gonna do? Watch Jersey Shore reruns?
I suggest that, rather than watch dogs run around a track, that they get their fat, white asses off the couch, put down the deep-fried cheeseburgers and milkshakes, and get some fucking exercise.
And there’s NASCAR.
Maybe we should start racing fat retirees, give the greyhounds something to watch.
LOL!
My children (rescue greyhounds) and I thank you for this post.
*Huggles to your grey children.*
Here! Here!!! Thank you for saying out loud what many others hide behind… the fact that some greyhound adoption groups are as much a part of the problem as the industry that exploits the dogs… I know… I have been kicked out of two of those groups for saying the exact same thing! LOL
But not to worry… I persevered and found a few brilliant, like minded individuals, (most of whom have commented here already… :)) with whom I can allign myself with (Grey2K USA!)
I have an idea for those fat retirees… maybe they could spend their extra time and money at an animal shelter or with a greyhound rescue group… or even with Grey2K!!!??? What a much better use of their resourses, wouldn’t you say!!?? As they are now, they are just a waste of space to the rest of us out here trying to evolve!!!!!
It would be lovely if my rhetorical fat retirees (yeah, I know, shame on me for fat shaming), would put their money to use helping any of the less fortunate, animals or their fellow humans.
Thank you so very much for this article!!! This is exactly what I feel and what I have been arguing about for years now! I could have written this myself, but you say it so much better! Thank you! I rescued my ex-racer from a group where some members support racing. The representant who did the home visit, before allowing me to get my long-legged angel, started the visit by saying that “the #@*holes had managed to close another track!” -That was The Woodlands, where my girl is from. I never, in my whole life, bit my tongue so hard! I had been warned by another member, who shared my views, to not claim too high my opposition, because some members support racing. They say it is “poetry in motion”… they say if they say anything wrong about racing, the owners will simply kill their dogs and not give them up for adoption. They say all kinds of stupid things. I wanted to find an analogy to tell them how horrible this stance was and YOU found it!! “They are the ideological equivalent of someone who works to provide aide to refugees, all the while supporting the dictator who created the refugee problem.” Genius! Thank you so much! (P.S. I kept my mouth shut, got my angel and cut all ties with the group.)
In this case the end–getting your angel a good home–justified the means. Bless you for providing a good home.
If the racing industry is so pure, so wonderful, then why would they kill their dogs simply because someone spoke out about their industry? Sounds like blackmail to me, plain and simple. Sounds like the tactics of a terrorist. Hardly the tact of a “good industry.”
As for “poetry in motion.” Again. Greys can run anywhere. They don’t need a track. Or a bunch of pathetic losers sitting in the stands, squandering their grandchildren’s inheritance.
OH!!!!! I LOVE how you say it!!! It feels so good to laugh about this! How very liberating!! I did answer to the person who told me to not rock the boat, because the greys would suffer, that it was like blackmail. And for the poetry… I see it every week, when my precious girl has her playdate at an enclosed soccer field with other greys… Poetry, indeed… FREE style!
Man alive, there’s nothing prettier than a greyhound just running, running for the joy of being alive, feeling the blood pumping through his (her) veins and just being a dog. That’s not something you can see in the frantic dash to the finish line that typifies racing. (This is true with horses, too. Horses running in a field are much more heart-stoppingly beautiful than those on a track.)
Thank you for being a wonderful voice for the greyhounds. They are truly unfortunate pawns.
Thanks for stopping by and reading!
THANK YOU! Great articulation of the salient points and great expression of the frustration I also feel about the stupid arguments passive people so easily accept about why greyhound racing is excusable.
You’re welcome. This is a rant that been cooking in my wee brain for a while, stewing under a half dozen other rants. Thanks for reading.
I was going to leaving a comment, but reading the others, I don’t think anything I would say hasn’t already been said. So, I echo all of the above comments!
Absolutely magnificent!!
AMEN!!!!! Well Said……………..KUDOS to you for your outspokeness in behalf of these gentle, loving creatures . I thank you and my 2 greyhounds thank you!