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 08/09/2006 08:57:23 PM · #1
Please read the comments first.

So is it true? Is greyhound racing cruel?
It was my first time at the event. And it seemed like everyone was enjoying the race (especially me and the dogs).

Any opinions?
 08/09/2006 09:01:34 PM · #2
I really don't know much about that sport but I've often heard of people calling it a cruel sport. Here's what the Humane Society posts on their website:

Greyhound Racing Facts
 08/09/2006 09:06:26 PM · #3
I think there is an industry for the "pet-dogs" (those cute and little ones)too.
 08/09/2006 09:06:36 PM · #4
First of all, your shot was beautiful. Very nice composition. As for Greyhound Racing being a cruel sport, I would have to say that in my own opinion, yes it is. We used to live not to far from an old greyhound farm where horses were bred for racing. We found literally piles of skeletons of dogs that were discarded once their winning streak was over. The farm was several years old. I don't know how much the sport has changed.


08/09/2006 09:07:39 PM · #5
The sport is not cruel, some owners of these dogs are (not all by any means). That is why there are greyhound adoption agencies just about everywhere. I am an adopter of a wonderful ex-racer (who looks very much like the brindle on the right of this picture). Strider raced for 2 years before we adopted him straight from the track. He is no worse for the wear and now leads a very quiet and happy life with us, not to mention he is one of the best pets I've ever had the pleasure of living with.

The photo is fantastic and very much deserves a ribbon. Had I voted in this challenge it definately would have gotten a 10 from me!
08/09/2006 09:14:50 PM · #6
My family raced greyhounds for many years (1973 - 1986) and consequently, a lot of my youth was spent around the tracks. There was never any cruelty and our dogs lived long and happy lives even after racing.

But that was 20 years ago AND in Australia.

ETA: Congrats on the ribbon! :)

Message edited by author 2006-08-09 21:15:53.
 08/09/2006 09:16:46 PM · #7
Originally posted by yanko:
I really don't know much about that sport but I've often heard of people calling it a cruel sport. Here's what the Humane Society posts on their website:

Greyhound Racing Facts

The Humane Society is a one sided argument. They might say the same about horse racing (the horses live better than most of us).
 08/09/2006 09:19:53 PM · #8
You know, rather than me saying that the racing is cruel in general, I should say that as in every sport, you always have some bad folks. I'm sure there are humane owners out there. I should be fair about it. I am letting my one experience cloud my judgement.
 08/09/2006 09:25:08 PM · #9
Originally posted by rinac:
My family raced greyhounds for many years (1973 - 1986) and consequently, a lot of my youth was spent around the tracks. There was never any cruelty and our dogs lived long and happy lives even after racing.

But that was 20 years ago AND in Australia.

ETA: Congrats on the ribbon! :)


Happy to hear that. And Thanks.
It was funny to hear all the barking when they first time tested fake rabbit (or whatever the gadget is??).
 08/09/2006 09:51:29 PM · #10
People who are denying there is a problem are kidding themselves I am afraid. The slaughter of retires dogs is well known in the dog racing community.

We had a story locally recently where a greyhound was found still alive on an exposed mountainside in a layby. It had been shot in the head and had its ears cut off (to remove its identity tags if I remember rightly) and was then just dumped in a layby on the side of the road while still alive.

Look here for another story
//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/5185234.stm

and here for something similar in the US
//www.gulfcoastgreyhounds.org/SpecialNews.htm

Message edited by author 2006-08-09 21:52:19.
 08/09/2006 09:56:51 PM · #11
Originally posted by mtpp:
Happy to hear that. And Thanks.
It was funny to hear all the barking when they first time tested fake rabbit (or whatever the gadget is??).


Thing is, I'd only ever seen the fake rabbits. I remember my uncle saying once that he believed that it was the noise the metal track made as it pulled the rabbit, that excited the dogs into the chase most. That said, I also remember on one occassion, a stray cat made it's way in somehow and caused a couple of the dogs to jump their stalls in pursuit of it! Luckily the trainers were quick and no harm befell the kitty :D
 08/09/2006 10:03:06 PM · #12
Originally posted by LoveSpuds:
People who are denying there is a problem are kidding themselves I am afraid. The slaughter of retires dogs is well known in the dog racing community.


Don't think anyone's denying a problem exists, but I personally don't believe it's rampant.
 08/09/2006 10:14:32 PM · #13
Originally posted by rinac:
Originally posted by LoveSpuds:
People who are denying there is a problem are kidding themselves I am afraid. The slaughter of retires dogs is well known in the dog racing community.


Don't think anyone's denying a problem exists, but I personally don't believe it's rampant.


Well it is... these dogs are nothing more than a walking dollar sign to the owners and tracks. Once they are not winning they are no longer usefull and disposed of one way or another, as at that point they are just another mouth to feed. I would say that it is a MAJOR problem.

The only thing that I can hope for them is that more citys start to ban racing and the dogs that are done at least find a home where they can live out their life in comfort with loving owners. We will be adopting one as soon as our apartment living days are over.

Greyhound Racing

Dogs used for greyhound racing are considered commodities, not "pets." For the few minutes that a dog spends on a track during a race, he or she will spend many hours confined to a cramped cage or kennel. Thousands of greyhounds are killed each year—some in the name of "selective breeding"—before they ever touch a racetrack. Few dogs make it to the nominal "retirement" age of 4 or 5. Injuries and sickness, including broken legs, heatstroke, and heart attacks, claim the lives of many. Those who outlive their usefulness may be killed or sold to laboratories. Only a fraction of the discarded dogs are placed in homes through greyhound adoption groups. Click here for more information.

//www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=68
 08/09/2006 10:19:26 PM · #14
Actually, my opinion is irrelevant here anyway as I can only speak from personal experience from some 20 years ago in a different country.

Ignore me. Carry on :)
 08/09/2006 10:34:11 PM · #15
I don't really know anything about dog racing and I don't even like dogs all that much, but I will say that it does seem to me that dogs love to run.

And I find it VERY hard to believe that animals that are kept and trained to run are kept in tiny little cages for huge amounts of their day. It's called muscle atrophy.

They do that to chickens and it works great to prevent their muscles from getting all tough and stringy so we get soft chewy meat.

They may sleep in small cages and be transported in small cages, but I don't know if that is something that I would call cruel.

Maybe Rinac can shed some light on how much time is appropriate to leave a racing dog in a cage before you start to get problems with inactivity?

And lets not forget that these are domesticated dogs.. Many breeds of dogs have issues of low lifespan due to bad breeding.
 08/09/2006 10:47:36 PM · #16
Originally posted by eschelar:
Maybe Rinac can shed some light on how much time is appropriate to leave a racing dog in a cage before you start to get problems with inactivity?


Cages? Man, our dogs were treated like royalty! They were transported around in either padded station wagons or panel vans - talk about spoiled rotten :) The only time they were "caged" or "inactive" was when they relaxing in their pens on the farm... :D

But as I say, that was a long time ago and obviously there are few bad apples out there giving the entire industry a bad rep.
 08/09/2006 11:03:02 PM · #17
Strider has been uncaged since the day he moved into my home from the track and he sleeps all the time by choice .. at least 12 hours out of the day. He loves his walks but could care less about running unless another greyhound is in the yard with him.

As I've said, there are good race owners and there are bad, but isn't this really the norm in life when it comes to just about anything? Look at the puppy mills! A good majority are horrid and many puppies die in them before they ever reach the market. Don't pick on the racing, it is not the culprit!!
 08/09/2006 11:09:15 PM · #18
Rinac, perhaps you could add a bit of information about how much time per day would be appropriate for a racing dog to spend training.
 08/09/2006 11:23:24 PM · #19
Originally posted by eschelar:
Rinac, perhaps you could add a bit of information about how much time per day would be appropriate for a racing dog to spend training.


Ummm... had to cheat on that one and call my dad :D He told me the dogs would spend no more than 20 mins a day on a treadmill (at varying speeds). That's it.

edit for spelling

Message edited by author 2006-08-09 23:23:56.
 08/09/2006 11:27:55 PM · #20
No matter if it is or isn't, people should not have left any comments that have to do with it on your image. They should simply have said whether or not they liked the image...

Greyhound racing is not a cruel sport. The dogs actually love it. They have the energy, and love running, and chasing things. Isn't tht what the classic dog does? Chases cars, kids on bicycles, plays fetch, and races around the house. They like it. The cruel part of greyhound racing is the owners. My parents, who are veterinaians, were recently very involved in the mass adoptions of ex-race dogs because a track near us went out of buisness. Some people brought in recently adopted dogs with many health problems that were caused, and not treated by, the previous owners.

In my opinion, the sport itself is not cruel, but the people who run it have gotten carried away. They care, not for the animals as they should, but for the money.

Message edited by author 2006-08-09 23:31:48.
 08/09/2006 11:37:35 PM · #21
While I don't doubt that there are cruel owners and trainers, quoting the Humane Society and PETA isn't exactly unbiased.

edited to explain -- the sources aren't "unbiased" not the quoters

Message edited by author 2006-08-09 23:39:33.
 08/10/2006 12:38:41 AM · #22
Originally posted by karmat:
While I don't doubt that there are cruel owners and trainers, quoting the Humane Society and PETA isn't exactly unbiased.

edited to explain -- the sources aren't "unbiased" not the quoters


What bias do you see in the humane society's article that was posted above? Sounds pretty factual in it's summarization of systematic abuse of overbreeding, destruction of unwanted animals, abuse of other animals, etc. to me. Notice that I said systematic...this is part of the general practices of those people that partake in this sport (if you can really call it that) and not just of a few bad owners/trainers.... I would call it a entertainment business, if anything...and other choice words which I will refrain from using at this time.
 08/10/2006 03:12:16 AM · #23
I left the comment in question about greyhound racing being a cruel sport.

It is.

In excess of 20,000 greyhounds in the US are put down annually because they are not performing. These are not old decrepit dogs, but young, strong dogs who just happen to be past their prime racing years. Why else do you think they call them Greyhound rescue groups? The groups are rescuing them from mass euthanasia, in some cases, administered with a club.

The fact is that the Greyhounds, unlike race horses, are treated like a commodity and not living creatures. It's far cheaper to put down an underperforming dog than it is to care for them and let them live out their natural lifespan. Only a small percentage are rescued.

It's a great action shot, but it's a cruel sport.



08/10/2006 03:32:07 AM · #24
Originally posted by dfrenett:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@ mtpp and mystopia:

Could either (or both) of you comment on the living conditions of most of these dogs during their racing career? Life in a kennel sounds pretty bleak to me.
--------
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where I live in Greyhound racing isn't serious sport. All of the dogs were someones pet (mostly young people by the way). So I quess dogs lay on the sofa most of the day.

Personally I would buy puppy from legitimate breeder. I trust that in this part of the world they treat dogs well.

I think there is more amateur(not so legitimate) breeding FACTORIES for those breeds (little cute ones), that sells like teen spirit. Why isn't anyone concerned about that???
 08/10/2006 03:33:30 AM · #25
I don't think the humane society article is one sided, or a "crazy random" article (no one here said that, but this topic has come up before in my circles and that's a common comment). I don't see an article up there about Trials dogs, or show dogs.

My grandfather had 2 greyhounds that were rescued. Literally rescued, 2 dogs got tangled and tripped over each other in a race, one of them broke its leg, and the other fractured its rib. After the race in the parking lot, there was a vet ambulence there, so he went to check it out. The owners both said to put them asleep, their careers were over. My grandpa gave the vet guy 200$ cash to pretend that never happened, and paid them to fix them up, and he kept them instead.

I did a huge project on this very topic in highschool. What I found was "hobby" racers, aka families or breeders just having fun, but rarely ever winning anything, were generally fine. However, I found a large number of champion dogs that were terminated at the end of their career.

And the fact that greyhound adoption agencies exist doesn't help one bit. Many, many dogs are never rescued, and terminated. There are a huge amount of them due to the racing industry demand for them. The fact that these people raise dogs for sport is sickening. An animal is not a tool to be discarded after its use. From what I understand, the MAJORITY of racing dog owners put the dog up for adoption after 4 or 5 years or so. Adult dogs are extremely hard to adopt out, especially if they have lived the first 5 years of their lives locked in a cage, only knowing running and nothing else. Furthermore, the amount of people who open up their homes to these adult dogs sometimes bite off more than they can chew, and end up having to surrender the dogs anyways.

Even though Greyhounds are typically gentle and sweet, being trained all their lives to chase and kill rabbit can often result in dead cats.

There are no doubt many, many good Greyhound owners. But the fact that there even has to be an article about it on the humane society website, to me, means the entire industry has failed standards and is only an outlet for cruelty. If I am ever a powerful billionaire, I will buy all the tracks, destroy them, and build some kind of giant animal shelter in their places.

But cruelty is in almost every industry where money can be made off of animals. I'm an avid aquarium keeper, and there is a lot of cruelty in that industry as well.

I don't think the world would suffer if Greyhound racing was terminated.

Also, every rescued Greyhound I have ever known (and I have know many) never ran on their own. They were always generally relaxed, but were more content to lounge about and relax. Unless they spotted a rabbit outside the fence or something. My basset hound does the same, however.

To anyone here that owns racing dogs, no offense to you is intended. But I am sure your dog would be just as happy running around in a backyard or a park, rather than on a track. Track running is something people like. If you treat your dogs well, however, more power to you, and I respect that.

-Hideo


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