This week, two of my coworkers asked me my opinion on ballot question #3, which would prohibit dog racing in Massachusetts as of January 2010. People in the office know that we adopted a retired racing greyhound two years ago, so it makes sense that they would want to know what I think.
I plan on voting yes on question #3, which is a vote in favor of the prohibition. It may not constitute animal cruelty, but even for dogs that do well, the life of a racing dog is difficult. Dogs are our domestic companions, and while greyhounds are gifted with exceptional speed, it strikes me as unfair to subject them to the stress and potential injury of track life.
Our dog still reacts when she hears the sound that certain diesel truck engines make; it's clear that it reminds her of her racing days, being transported to and from the track, and she's worried that hearing that sound might mean she has to go back. Then the noise subsides and she remembers her racing days are over, and she puts her head back down on her comfy dog bed and breathes a sigh of contentment.
Even if the question is approved, it won't mean the end of racing everywhere; although our dog was kenneled in Massachusetts, she ran all her races at the Seabrook track, just over the border in New Hampshire. Adoption groups have placed many happily retired dogs with loving families, but these sweet-natured, intelligent animals deserve a life of happiness and love without having to first earn their retirement on a race track.
I have to disagree. We also had a greyhound (he passed on October 16, 2008)and was a little afraid of home life. I consider it no big deal, if you were to put someone who their whole life never saw the outside world and was out of their comfort zone they too would be scared. That is why greyhounds are fostered in loving and caring homes. But we helped our "puppy" adjust to the outside world with love that he grew to know that we would never let anyhthing hurt him. He adjusted very quickly.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the Yes people is that they have been lied and decived by Grey2K.
There was a debate at Holyoke Community College on 10/29/2008. Carey Thiel stated that he was not a lobbyist...he is a registered lobbyist in Florida (anti-gambling). So that make me wonder if his drive is not for the greyhopunds but the gambling? His wife Christine Dorchak had a revelation after she was struck by a train and her dog pulled her away??? Why was a grown woman walking on live train tracks? Did you also know that one of the groups backing this is the MSPCA? Everyone is concerned about the crate size that the racing kennels use and the amount of time the dogs are in them...MSPCA recommends that people crate their dogs. So if someone goes to work for 9am and leaves the house at 8:30am, arrives home at 5:30pm the dog has been crated for 9 hours and not been outside to go to the bathroom. Then it is again crated from say 11pm till 6am that is another 7 hours, for a total of 16 hours, the same as the racing kennels. I know if it is banned here in MA the kennel owners will pick and more to a state that is not as strict as MA.
Please Vote NO Question 3
I find it difficult to believe that someone who owned a greyhound would vote against the question. You were lied to by a lobbyist? Well, you can now count yourself as a member of a very large club. And I don't have strong feelings about gambling either way; if dog tracks go away, the people of MA won't lack for other places to gamble.
ReplyDeleteYou manage to weave a lot of disparate thoughts into your statement, but you don't really offer a clear explanation as to why you are voting against the question, which makes me a bit suspicious, but I've posted your comment anyway.
I have listened to both sides and at one time I would have voted yes. I chose to go to the track and see how the kennels are run. BTW the track and kennels are completely separate. The kennels rent space from the track to keep their in one place on the property.
ReplyDeleteI believe 100% that the greyhound that races was bred to do what it was meant to do....run. Show dogs are the ones that live miserable lives.
No one gets out there and pushes it out of the start box. I watched them being brought to be weighed in and each and every one of them knew where they were going and were excited. I tried a shirt that you can buy from the store...a friend sells merchandise on the web, and my Grey got so excited thinking he was going to race. It is in their blood and being.
I also saw them when they got walked out to the starting box. Pulling to be the first there.
If a Grey decides not to run, then their career is over very fast, but that just allows people like me to adopt them and give them a loving retirement. And there are people waiting on lists for Greys.
Because I choose to take my Grey with me everyday to the office and have him with me 24/7 it will be a challenge to find one again. They are pack animals and even though we only had him, you could see he was happy because he was with his pack(his family). They are loved and cared for by the kennel owners and staff they have. Every dog I have come across that sees the kennel owner where it came from still wants to go to them. If such abuse was taking place this would not be happening.
I don't believe in my heart that the Greys are going to be any better off if this question passes.
The way that a racing Grey and other Greys are brought up are two different worlds. What breed of dog do you know lives with its siblings and mother until it is 12 months old? That is when the personality starts to develop. They are taught not to jump, to walk on the left side, and to listen when talked to. All things you and I do when we get a puppy.
By the time you adopt you have a companion animal not a dog.
I don't want these animals to disappear and I think if it passes here it will only be a short time before it is gone all over the country.
That is why I am voting
NO Question 3