NGAP`s mission is: 1) to help find loving adoption homes for former racing greyhounds, 2) to provide superior knowledge and support to greyhound adopters and other adoption groups, 3) to educate the public and raise awareness about the plight of greyhounds, 4) to provide specialized medical care specifically for greyhounds. As racetracks continue to close, the mission will no longer be to ban greyhound racing, but to find a home for all displaced dogs. Some will be sent to other available tracks out of state to continue racing, but others will go to animal shelters and adoption agencies, many of which may not have the capacity and resources to care for the influx of dogs. GREY2K USA Worldwide is the world`s largest greyhound protection organization. As a non-profit organization, they work to pass stricter greyhound protection laws and end the cruelty of dog racing nationally and internationally. They also promote the rescue and adoption of greyhounds around the world. USA Defenders of Greyhounds, www.adopt-a-greyhound.org/node/1174 greyhound racing in the United States is a sports and gaming activity. The industry is regulated by state or local laws and greyhound care is regulated by the National Association of State Racing Commission and the American Greyhound Council (AGC). [1] The MCO is jointly operated by the National Greyhound Association. [2] Greyhound racing is largely self-regulating, and it is no substitute for public policies that prevent dogs from being cruelly treated for profit. The controls that exist came at the insistence of human organizations. Now, the humanitarian community is united in its view that this languishing industry must end its mistreatment of dogs.
But the cost of regulating greyhound racing exceeds the revenue they generate, according to a 2013 independent study commissioned by lawmakers. Florida lost between $1 million and $3.3 million per year. Industry representatives note that there is now a huge demand to adopt retired riders and deny that the other problems are widespread. They also claim that some do not understand the greyhounds` love of racing. The first state to legalize dog racing and pari-mutuel betting was Florida in 1931. Pari-mutuel betting is a form of betting where all bets go into the same pool and are divided equally between those who make the winning selection, with taxes levied on the house, which is usually a government organization or a private company. Pari-Mutuel Guide, Gambling Sites (last visited May 9, 2019), available at www.gamblingsites.com/sports-betting/types/pari-mutuel/.) Other states followed between the 1930s and 1980s. In 1931, Florida became the first state to legalize greyhound racing betting. Sports often overlapped pop culture there, as movie stars, baseball players, and other celebrities frequented Florida`s slopes. Greyhound racing, once legal in 19 states, was one of the nation`s most popular sports, but has gradually declined since the 1990s. States have gradually halted racing in response to concerns from animal rights activists, waning public interest, and changes in entertainment and gaming.
In Florida, the number of gambling at dog racetracks decreased by 72% between 1990 and 2013. [18] According to a study commissioned by lawmakers, the state lost between $1 million and $3.3 million in greyhound racing in 2012. [19] As recently as 2016, industry experts in Florida asked if betting was down or switching to undeclared online formats. [20] Greyhound dog racing was first invented in the United States, where commercial dog racing is typically represented by state-sanctioned gambling, a regulatory agency, an industrialized breeding industry, a greyhound tattoo identification system, organized dog operations, and a network of racetracks. Yes. Over the past decade, there have been 438 greyhound drug positives on Florida roads, including 73 greyhound cocaine positives. Other positive drugs include novocaine, lidocaine, the industrial solvent DMSO, and the opiates oxycodone and oxymorphone. Greyhound farmers claim that cocaine positives come from pollution, a ridiculous theory that has never been proven in a single case. The state agrees that this scenario is unlikely: “The ministry considers it much more likely that a prohibited substance would be intentionally supplied to a reindeer by the animal`s trainer.” For more than a decade, animal welfare groups have portrayed greyhound racing as a dying industry supported by government subsidies and highlighted the mistreatment of animals, including the lack of available homes for overcrowding dogs after their racing careers. Friends of retired greyhounds, www.friendsofretiredgreyhounds.org In addition to the three locations mentioned above, greyhound racing is still legal, although it is not currently practiced in the states of Alabama, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Connecticut. In the other 42 states, it`s illegal. In September, Republican Senate President Mitch Carmichael wrote a column published by the West Virginia Press Association calling for an end to state subsidies for greyhound racing.
Carmichael said shopping in the U.S. is inhumane and that using the money for sewer projects, opioid addiction treatment and infrastructure projects would better promote job creation. Only five U.S. states have active dog racing tracks, including: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Texas, and West Virginia (dark blue). Dog racing is still legal in four U.S. states, but those states don`t have race tracks, including: Connecticut, Kansas, Oregon, and Wisconsin (in light blue). All dog tracks in these four states have been closed and abandoned, but a ban law has yet to be issued. States that have banned dog racing since 2000 include: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island (dark gray). In the remaining 41 states, commercial dog racing is completely illegal. The U.S. territory of Guam also banned commercial dog racing in 2010.
On American roads, greyhounds are kept in kennels, most kennels emit dogs 4-6 times a day. Each switch can take between 30 and 90 minutes. [16] Since greyhound kennels often house more than 50 to 70 dogs, crates are critical to the safety and well-being of dogs. [17] For some animal welfare groups, the collapse of the industry is the culmination of decades of work to publicize allegations of greyhound abuse. The GREY2K group was formed in 2001 and Carey Theil, the organization`s executive director, said he feels fulfilled now that the end of the sport seems within reach. Rick Bartley has already ridden the greyhounds he raises in Kansas across the country, but the past decade has slowly robbed him of his livelihood. As state laws and attitudes toward commercial greyhound racing have changed, fewer and fewer racetracks are open. In recent years, many greyhound tracks have been closed due to declining betting revenues, the incursion of Native American gambling and commercial casino games into states where greyhound racing is practiced, the legalization of sports betting, and concerns about the welfare of racing greyhounds, as well as general market failures in states that attempted to participate in greyhound racing, such as Wisconsin (where a track closed after only three years of operation, and the state`s constitutional amendment to allow greyhound racing also opened up Native American gambling in the state). [3] While most tracks currently broadcast simulcast races from other tracks, only three tracks currently hold live races on-site, and only two tracks in West Virginia will remain in service in early 2023.
