Why My Greyhounds are a Gray Matter

When you live in Florida, which boasts (?) the highest number of Greyhound race tracks and breeders in the world, you get to know a little something about dog racing. If you want the whole story, go to Grey2K USA, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Greyhound racing is not a vibrant industry, and is often subsidized with ridiculous tactics such as installing slot machines (Broward County can claim that bit of genius), and they even get the state involved by contributing to campaigns that no doubt result in tax breaks totalling in the tens of millions to keep the industry alive. Here’s a factsheet about the industry, including the economics, cruelty, and politics. (Download national_fact_sheet.pdf)

I’ve written about Greyhounds so much that they have their own CATEGORY, so click on Greyhound Matters for lots of other posts. But I haven’t written about my Gray Matter.

When you adopt a rescue Greyhound, you are essentially supporting the industry because you are cleaning up its mess. Rescue groups must maintain good relationships with trainers, handlers, and the tracks, because that’s where they get the dogs from. Believe it or not, if a rescue group comes down against racing, the industry penalizes it by not giving it dogs, and killing them instead. Sometimes they are just abandoned, particularly when they’re injured. They’re often left in a kennel or dropped on the side of the road to die.

Violet Rays, offspring of a Hall-of-Famer and a champion in her own right, was discarded after several years of making money for her owner. She was suffering from pancreatitis, as a result of injectable steroids, and she became an insulin-dependent diabetic. Within a year she had two mature cataracts and was completely blind. After her successful cataract surgery (see photo below), and several months of great vision, her left retina detached and she is now blind again in that eye. Forever.

This is what happens in the Greyhound racing industry.

Now, back to my Gray Matter. I supported the industry by giving it an easy way out for two dogs. The owners don’t have to worry about making arrangements to have the dogs killed, and they don’t have to spend a penny on veterinary care (injured dogs are discarded, and rescue groups pay for their veterinary care and many vets donate their time). The owners don’t even spay or neuter the dogs–rescue groups do that, too.

So I made it easy for them, and that nauseates me a bit. But I also saved two lives, and that makes it worth it.