Greyhound racing may be breathing is last breath in Florida as track owners say it is no longer profitable and would like to have done away with it for several year already. However Florida legislation mandates that in order for a Race Track to operate as a place of gambling it has to promote and run a certain amount of races a year whether they are profitable for anyone concerned or draw in a crowd. In Florida in order to run a Casino without a Race Track you have to be a part of a Native American Indian Nation on Indiana land. But now Florida is trying to entice several large destination type casinos to set up shop and apparently trying to throw that law out the window. As far as the legalities I really don’t know very much other then that. As for the dogs this would come as welcome news to dog lovers and Greyhound advocates and might open the doors to talks with other states who still allow Greyhound racing to pass new laws getting rid of this out of touch event completely.
Sometimes unusual reasons help to end practices best left in the past.
This Greayhound racing is so cruel, and should have been stopped some time ago. Greyhounds are so beautiful!
Whatever the reason, I will be glad to the end of it – it is amazing how thoughtless we humans can be.
I have a retired greyhound from Florida. The vast majority of retired USA dogs are re-homed now (2016) through volunteer adoption groups working with owners, breeders, trainers, and kennel staff. I occasionally see greys in a leg cast at my local adoption kennel so even injured dogs find homes. Some industry folks actually cry when the dogs leave the industry. These dogs love to run. Even the shy ones can be huge winners at the track. Greyhound pups are raised with other greyhounds so they are quite well socialized and have lots of opportunity to move around and RUN. At the track, they are typically let out 5 times a day for about 45 minutes, get plenty of exercise training and racing (more than the average pet owner provides), they are handled, bathed, have their nails done, and given sport massages for their muscles. The dog crates at the track are much bigger than anything you can buy at a pet store. Plus, it is normal for the greyhound breed to sleep 16 hours a day. They are usually quite lazy dogs. When mine isn’t on a walk or eating he lays down and doesn’t care to move much even though he has a whole house to wander around in and a double lot yard. Don’t feel sorry for All the racing greyhounds in the USA. When the tracks close this breed will fall victim to the puppy mills like all the other breeds to support demand. They will no longer be free of problems like hip dysplasia and illnesses caused by poor breeding practices from mills and back yard breeder dogs. Lost will be this amazing purebred athlete with pedigree that is documented back for many generations at http://www.greyhound-data.com You want to hate on someone? Hate puppy mill owners, hate people that refuse to spay and neuter, hate pet owners that work all day and then are too lazy to walk their dog, hate pet owners that make excuses not to take their pets to the vet when they are sick, hate people that take their 2 year old dogs to the shelter when they aren’t cute anymore and are too much work to train. My greyhound loves men. If he was so abused would he want to play with strange men he meets on walks every day? Of course their are bad apples and acceptations in the industry but I believe most of the people involved in the USA racing industry TODAY care deeply about their dogs and are quite relieved adoption groups have come along to make the breeding of greyhounds for racing a cycle that provides qualified homes. You can’t say that for any other dog breed today! Yes, the racing industry did not ensure homes for decades but things have changed in the last 10 years. I think the industry deserves forgiveness as their ways have changed and as I said in the beginning… the vast majority of these retired dogs are re-homed into screened homes which is much better odds than the black shelter dog of ANY breed. Sorry for the novel but way too many people don’t know the current facts on this topic. Remember, greyhound racing isn’t illegal in any state – it’s the gambling on greyhound racing that is illegal and that is what is causing the track closures not the treatment of the dogs like people think.