Greyhound Racetrack's Last Race: Every Dog Wins

Wednesday, August 29, 2001 - USA

What are the odds of 250 Greyhounds winning the same race?  Well, cash in your chips, because it just happened.

Earlier this month, the St. Croix Meadows Greyhound Racing Park shut down its operations, and on that day, August 9, animal-welfare groups celebrated a small victory in the battle against the dubious dog racing industry.  But the real magic was yet to come.

Typically in the USA, when a racing Greyhound is retired—due to injuries, age or perhaps just a losing streak—the dog faces a bleak future: death or the dog pound.  It is only through the efforts of volunteer-based rescue groups and adoption programs (click here for a list) that some of the dogs get a chance to enjoy their golden years in civilian life.  And although it brought the world one step closer to seeing the end of dogtracks, the closing of the St. Croix park left about 500 dogs in dire straits.  About 250 were relocated to the two remaining Wisconsin tracks, and the rest were put up for adoption. 

But a surprise, come-from-behind victory was in store for the retired racers; in what has been called nothing short of "miraculous", almost all of the 250 adoptees have been given new homes.  A few remain in custody of the the track's adoption program, which hopes to find homes for the last few before the program ends on August 31.

Adoption workers credit the success largely to Greyhound-lovers who, upon hearing the news of the track's closure, came to adopt a second or third dog.

"It's the potato chip concept—bet you can't have just one," says David Wolf, director of the Philadelphia-based National Greyhound Adoption Program, which transports Greyhounds to new homes anywhere in the USA via airline.

"They are wonderful low-maintenance dogs," says Rodger Barr, veterinarian and president of Northern Lights Greyhound Adoption.  "They have short coats and don't shed much.  They are very laid-back, adaptable... great with kids, with seniors, and most people find, after they have one, it is impossible to have just one."  Mr. Barr himself has adopted four.

Greyhound racing began in the United States in 1919.  Capitalizing on the breed's graceful stature and amazing speed (up to 45mph), the pastime soon ballooned into a formidable industry which was unable to keep up with itself.  As a result, even today, which has seen a marked improvement in conditions and treatment of dogs, as many as 30,000 racing Greyhounds are destroyed each year in the States, according to a Congressional report.

But the U.S. dog racing industry is on the run, thanks to the unflagging efforts of dog-loving politicians and their constituencies who have made the races illegal in all but 15 states.  In these remaining states (click here for a list), many congresspersons and animal-welfare groups are supporting legislation that would obligate dogtracks to operate adoption programs, such as the successful St. Croix Adoption effort.

In addition, the public's decreasing interest in dog racing has led many tracks to surrender to casinos which provide a more alluring (and cheaper) form of gambling.

In North America, the United States currently runs 49 dogtracks, over a third of which are in Florida.  Mexico has one track.  Canada has no tracks but offers several Greyhound rescue programs serving the USA and the UK. (How's that for a friendly neighbor?)

Worldwide, the situation is not as encouraging, though not for lack of trying.  International Organizations have been targeting the Greyhound racing hot spots in Australia (34 tracks), the UK (37 tracks), and Western Europe (10 tracks) where often animal cruelty laws don't exist (click here for a worldwide list of tracks).

Greyhound Racing in the World

The moral of the story?  If you want to see Greyhounds racing at breakneck speed, the best way is to just sit back and watch I-95 at rush hour.

The Greyhounds pictured in this article are all available for adoption.  Click any image for more info.

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