Greyhound Racing Updates: Massachusetts, Iowa, and Beyond

by Stephanie Ernst · 2009-09-26 07:24:00 UTC
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In the last week or so, greyhounds were raced for what should be the last time in Massachusetts. As you may recall, voters in that state supported an end to dog racing last November, and animal advocates -- GREY2K USA  in particular -- had been awaiting the final race ever since. Not surprisingly, though, greyhound breeders and others with an economic interest in the continued exploitation and endangerment of the dogs want the decision overturned. So Massachusetts readers, please be sure to keep contacting your state legislators about this issue and to sign up for GREY2K USA's action alerts, so that the group can keep you updated.

The battle over greyhound racing is far from over; dogs are still suffering in several states courtesy of this cruel, unnecessary industry (see a state-by-state map and information here), so advocates outside Massachusetts have as much reason to sign up for the nonprofit's alerts as anyone else. One of the states still racing dogs to death is Iowa, whose Des Moines Register ran an article this past week covering GREY2K USA's recent report on the state's racing industry and the injuries and deaths of dogs there:

A national advocacy group that wants to abolish dog racing in Iowa said today that 101 greyhounds were injured at Iowa tracks in 2008, including 10 dogs that were euthanized.

GREY2K USA of Somerville, Mass., obtained public records from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission that documented the injuries. The organization provided copies of the injury reports to The Des Moines Register to substantiate its findings.

Read the rest here. I'm glad to see that the majority of the comments on the article thus far are pro-dog and anti-racing -- and that readers are calling out one of the people quoted in the article, a representative of the Iowa Greyhound Association who insisted, unconvincingly, "The No.1 thing in the greyhound industry, and I am sure it is the same thing for horses, is the welfare of the greyhound and the horse." The priority is money, not the animals. And that's no great secret. Otherwise, there wouldn't be an exploitative greyhound "industry" (or horse racing industry) at all, not to mention all the cruelties, suffering, injuries, and death that go along with both.

See an informational GREY2K video below:

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Photo of rescued greyhound Lilly by Flickr user aturkus

Stephanie Ernst wrote the original Animal Rights blog at Change.org until December 2009. She can now be found at Animal Rights & AntiOppression.
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