10 Reasons Why Greyhound Racing Should Be Banned

Greyhound race tracks operate legally in more than a dozen of the fifty states in the US and many countries around the world. There is a lot of controversy over how well greyhound racing actually is regulated. In the US, there is very little oversight for the welfare of the greyhounds. There are strong advocacy groups petitioning for banning this “sport” in the US altogether, however, race supporters have a lot more money than these volunteers and argue that allegations of dog abuse are overblown. We do know, however that abuse does happen and for the following reasons greyhound racing should be regulated:

1.) Race dogs live in crates or pens an average of 20 hours per day. Pens are for the most part not climate controlled and the dogs are subject to weather extremes and the elements. Pens and kennels have been found to be squalid.

2.) Even with the greyhound rescue groups, greyhounds continue to be euthanized simply because they cannot run fast enough or have outlived their racing usefulness. This happens at 3½ to 4 years of age, when a companion greyhound can live to be 13 years old.

3.) Many more greyhounds are bred than are actually used for racing; puppies are culled, which is just a nice word for killed off, if they do not appear to have racing potential.

4.) Many times the dogs endure inhumane treatment with no real professional veterinary care and very little human contact.

5.) Greyhounds are very prone to injury and greyhound racing needs to have stronger regulations to ensure proper and professional care of injured animals.

6.) Small animals such as rabbits are used as live bail during practice sessions and are maimed and killed. The argument that this is necessary because it enhances the greyhounds “taste for blood” is totally invalid as greyhounds are sight oriented in hunting. They will chase moving objects; they are not motivated by the scent of blood.

7.) In the US greyhound racing is not governed by the Federal Animal Welfare Act, which is enforced by the United States Department of Agriculture. There are regulations in some countries such as the Australian Greyhound and Harness Racing Regulatory Authority, but unregulated tracks still persist.

8.) In 2000 the Wall Street Journal reported on a disreputable greyhound racing track that was under criticism from the neighborhood. When neighbors attempted to have the track shutdown the owners greatly inflated the number of employees, citing that a shutdown would send all these people out on the streets looking for work. Since there is no regulating body for greyhound racing in the US, there was no way to know if these numbers were true. It was only through investigation by the newspaper that they discovered the owners were lying.

9.) By regulating greyhound racing, greyhounds will be registered; coming under the protection of Animal Welfare and recording of ownership and transfer will be enforced. However unregulated tracks will still exist.

10) Current regulations for greyhound racing are applied only to the gambling aspect of the track and need to be applied equally to the welfare and oversight of the animals.