Greyhound Protection at Tucson, Arizona, Dog Track

The following is from an email I received this morning from my pals at Michigan ReGAP (Rescued Greyhounds as Pets) about both the current status of dog racing in Colorado, and a ballot initiative in Tucson, Arizona, seeking to improve the lives of greyhound dogs at the track:

This appears to be one of those good news/bad news situations. The good news
is that the racing industry in Colorado is losing so much money that they
are having to close their tracks early -- some are afraid permanently (gee,
that would be horrible, wouldn't it?). The bad news is, that when this type
of thing happens, hundreds of dogs are at risk.

According to the Denver Post, the 2008 Colorado dog racing season will come
to an end this month after the Colorado Racing Commission and the Colorado
Greyhound Kennel Association could not agree on kennel contracts. Racing
will stop on June 28. It was scheduled to go until Sept. 1. The governing
bodies said they will work with area kennels and adoption agencies to
relocate the dogs. Bruce Seymore, director of operations for Mile High Dog
Track, says they will be reaching out to rescue groups to help place the
dogs. While that is commendable on his part, it certainly highlights the
fact that the industry has no plan in place for finding homes for the
hundreds of dogs that are continually displaced when they are no longer
profitable.

There is some speculation (Colorado's Channel 2 News) that this may be a
tactic by international investors to bring video gaming and satellite racing
to the Colorado tracks, something that is currently illegal in Colorado, but
has become a popular plan in other states.

This is definitely a situation that merits watching...

ALSO -

This article is too important for us to edit. Please click on the link and
read the entire piece. We all know that Arizona is one of the worst states
for greyhounds -- remember the 150 dogs that got "lost" on their way to
adoption groups, or the little girl that was put down while a rescue group
was en route to get her because the track didn't want to be bothered?
Arizona is also often the last stop on the way to Juarez Mexico tracks
where, believe it or not, conditions are even worse. The Tucson Dog
Protection group has proposed a ballot initiative that would mandate basic
protections for the dogs at the tracks. We need to write everyone we can to
help support this legislation.

Read the guest Op-Ed Greyhounds need the protection offered by South Tucson initiative by local veterinarian Janet Forrer.

Find out more about Tucson Dog Protection.