Replies

Here is grey2k's website...I cringe as I copy and paste it:

http://www.grey2kusa.org/

While they are a non-profit group, they have paid employees and channel a lot of their resources into lobbying lawmakers to ban greyhound racing. If you'd like to donate to a group that actually places retired racers into homes, Here's a link to the group I volunteer with:

www.greyhoundadoption.org

Click on the Panhandle Haul fund. We are all volunteers, not paid. We PLACE dogs in homes when they are retired. Not waste money on stupid political stuff and try to deprive hard working people of their right to participate in a legal business. Our group hauled over 500 retired racers from the panhandle of Florida to adoption groups from SC to PA to OH.

Ten years ago, the garbage that Grey2K currently spews forth may have been true. But now days, the greys are treated well in most cases. There are bad apples in every crowd. And G2K goes out of there way to publicize these bad apples and paint the whole industry as such.

I have 3 retired racers, the joys of my life. I've actually been I(N a racing kennel, helped with turnouts, etc... You'd be hard pressed to find a G2K person who's even been to a track, much less behind the scenes. The dogs I've seen in the kennels are happy and well cared for.

If you abuse or mistreat a dog, he ain't gonna run fast. These dogs are athletes in the truest sense of the word. They run like the wind and must be in good condition to make money for their trainers. The health and well being of a trainer's hounds are in his best interest if he plans to stay in business.

G2K will tell you that tens of thousands of greys are killed each year. Not true. The number is more like 2 or 3 thousand. Of course, I think that 1 is too many. But, percentage wise, any dog would be lucky to be born a greyhound. G-d knows how many tens of thousands of shelter dogs are put down each year. A greyhound's odds of being placed into a home after retirement are much higher than many other dog's.

G2K is a propaganda machine.

If you want to donate to a local group, tell me where you are and I'd be happy to point you in the right direction.

Hi...I'm a retired racing greyhound trainer. Grey2K is a political action group, who contributes not dime one to the adoption of retired racing greyhounds. Their leader, in MA, doesn't even own a retired racing greyhound. They do, however, make a whole heap of money pushing an animal rights agenda on an unnsupecting and uninformed public, and by propaganda and outright lies, demonizing an entire class of people---racing greyhound professionals----as animal abusers. They managed, in 2001, a ballot initiative which sought to ban greyhound racing in the Commonwealth of MA----and which was defeated by the voters.

The HSUS is another political action group, the richest of its ilk in the country. They have nothing to do with the support of local humane societies....their former vice president was quoted by the AP as having said...."the life of an ant and the life of my child should be accorded equal respect".....they are a rabid animal rights organization, and have been since the late 1980s.

Racing Greyhounds are the most perfectly adapted canine specimens in the world. They are the perfect expression of form following function, and they are selectively bred from only the most fit, well-bred and well-performed specimens, to themselves perform a specific function.

They are the only breed of large dog completely free of the degenerative and crippling defects of congenital hip dysplasia, and have the most well-developed and efficient cardio-pulmonary systems in the canine world. They also have the highest muscle-to-bone ratio of any purebred (including non-racing greyhounds), and to put their athleticism in some kind of context, pound for pound, they are over 10 times faster than a thoroughbred racehorse.

There are 46 distinct female families of racing greyhounds, and racing greyhounds have inbreeding coefficients that are among the lowest of all canines. Their life expectancy is 12-14 years, much higher than is the norm for other large breeds.

Recently, Rooftop Gizmo, an untried and unraced sapling, sold at the National Greyhound Association auction in Abilene KS, for $70,000. Of course, it is possible that his new owner bid on him and purchased him solely for the purpose of neglecting and abusing him----but not likely----- as he is now racing with distinction in the top grade, against the top greyhounds, at the premier track in the nation, in Wheeling, WV.

During the 75-plus year history of greyhound racing in the US, there have been only couple of scandals concerning alleged doping and/or race fixing-----as greyhounds run on their own, with no jockeys. Daring criminals who desire to fix races, or to dope the contestants have traditionally looked to other racing sports to perform such deeds.

At all US racetracks, the greyhounds are unrine tested after each race.....the winner and the last place finisher, and usually a random contestant, are tested. These urine samples are controlled and regulated by the states, and tested by gas-chromatography---an acutely sensitive method.

During the time in question, there were over 35,000 urine samples tested in FL------a handful of them came back positive for cocaine.

Historically, there have been numerous instances of false-positives and of drug contaminents in the meat that greyhounds are fed as part of their racing diet----which also result in positive urine tests (for example, procaine from procaine penicillin)......my guess is that the racing greyhounds exposure to cocaine is less than the canine population's at large...but we wouldn't know that, because racing greyhounds are the only breed which routinely undergoes unrinalyis.