Federal Bill Would End Greyhound Racing in America

Posted on: July 30, 2020, 08:22h.

Last updated on: July 30, 2020, 10:47h.

Philip Conneller Read More

Expertise: Crime, Regulation, Retail betting.

Greyhound racing may be on its last legs in the US, but a federal bill introduced Wednesday by two Democratic lawmakers would kill it off entirely.

The text of US Reps. Tony Cárdenas’ (Calif.) and Steve Cohen’s, (Tenn.) Greyhound Protection Act (H.R. 7826) has not yet been published. But the bill would amend the Wire Act to “clarify that gambling on commercial greyhound racing and field coursing using wire communication technology is prohibited.”

The Wire Act of 1961 prohibits the use of telecommunications for betting across state lines. Dogs bred for the greyhound racing industry are transported across state lines for racing, and meanwhile, races are broadcast to numerous states for simulcast gambling.

Greyhound racing is cruel and must end,” Cárdenas said in an official statement. “These docile animals are kept in stacked cages for 20 hours or more a day and are subjected to brutal training practices and races, facing the risk of injury and death at every turn.

“My bill allows for a sensible wind down of an already-declining industry that will ultimately outlaw greyhound racing,” Cárdenas added. “As a longtime animal welfare advocate, I am committed to always speaking up for the voiceless.”

Live-Lure Training Exposed

The bill comes just days after an investigation by greyhound protection NPO Grey2K found evidence of live-lure practices at three dog-training farms in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. Live-lure training involves dogs being baited with live animals, which are then mauled to death in order to enhance the dogs’ “chase instinct.”

The practice is banned by the greyhound racing industry and is illegal in most states. It may also be illegal under the federal Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (2019). But H.R. 7826 would make live-lure training specifically illegal.

Greyhound racing will soon end in the United States, and this bill allows for a managed phase-out of the activity to enable planning to provide homes for the dogs and certainty for the owners, workers, and breeders in the industry,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action, in a statement.

“Greyhound racing is dying, and it’s best to manage the shutdown of the industry to allow for a soft landing for the people and the animals involved,” he added.

Dog Days of Racing

Greyhound racing’s days have been numbered since residents of Florida — which was formerly the epicenter of the sport in the US — voted in November 2018 to phase it out by the end of this year.

At the time of the vote, Florida was home to 11 of the 17 tracks in the country that offered live greyhound racing. Of those, just four intend to continue offering live races up until the end of the year, when the ban comes into effect.

When Florida goes, only four tracks will remain nationwide — two in West Virginia, one in Arkansas, and one in Iowa. The Arkansas track, Southland, has pledged to discontinue racing in 2022.

Last month, the last track in Texas, Gulf Greyhound Park, closed its doors, citing declining public interest in the sport.

A legislative push to defund greyhound racing in West Virginia earlier this year was approved by the state House, but came unstuck in the Senate.

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Cynthia Cash May 21, 2021

Scott - Want to take your chances w/the GH industry?...well, go ahead. You clearly have not seen it upfront and first hand. Many of the images I saw 20 years ago still haunt me. Like the 3 page "Dead Dog List" from Greene Track in Eutaw, AL. Like all the spent racers I picked up at Mobile to bring back to our rescue group in LA...dozens of ticks between the toes and in the ears, so thin that every rib and vertebrae showed, coat like straw, hindquarters w/out hair from a lifetime of sleeping 22-23 hours a day on a nasty carpet remnant. OK, things were so much worse then, but trust me, that is not where you would want to be :>((((.
Cynthia Cash May 21, 2021

Kevin - Not sure of your addition. You said the dogs are _not_ locked up 20 hours a day. If you are in the racing 'industry', you know that the dogs are allowed several turnouts a day to go potty. The boys go in one pen and the girls in another. Each turn out is 15-30 minutes. While every racing kennel differs, even with 4 turnouts a day of 30 mins, that only 2 hours. 24 hours in a day, big boy. If the kennel is rushed or someone doesn't show the turnouts are quick w/less than 60 minutes a day. That leaves 23 hours a day in a small, 30 x 48" wire stacked kennel (one on top & one on bottom) laying on a carpet remnant. Need to check you facts...
Cynthia Cash May 21, 2021

Never thought I'd live to see this day!!! Hip-hip-hooray!!! If this passes there might need to be a huge celebration and maybe even a reunion of all of us "old GH rescue warriors" who back in the day sounded the alarm at the the many injustices that racing Greyhounds faced on a daily basis...abuse, neglect, drugs, life-threatening injury, death, and last but not least...medical research. In the early years, I would transport the spent racers from Mobile to our local rescue group here in Louisiana. The condition of the dogs (many had just raced a few days before) would make you want to hurt someone...dozens of ticks between the toes and in the ears, every rib and vertebrae showing, a coat that looked like straw, bald thighs from a lifetime of laying on a carpet remnant in a tiny cage, and then those lovely soulful eyes looking back at me through the rear-view mirror. The racing industry's cover-up line was always that the dogs were well cared for in order to perform...BS. Sounds logical, but that was not the reality I saw. Then my volunteering expanded to the national stage, arranging the transport of hundreds of dogs out of closing tracks and into the safe hands of dedicated adoption groups around the country. Whenever a track would close, either seasonally or permanently, there were always dogs that were no longer competitive, often up to 600-800 per closing. Years before these dogs were all killed. But the public started watching as Greyhound adoption became more popular. Guess I quit counting when I had coordinated the transport of over 3,500++ into adoption groups. The dogs were _always_ in the same sad shape, to varying degree, but still not right. So the racing 'industry' can spare the PR spin. And now they might to go completely DOWN. Ironic thing is, all they had to do was to care for the dogs. Karma bites!
Scott October 24, 2020

I’m not in industry but what will happen to greyhound dogs now? Will they become extinct? Greyhounds nearly became extinct during times of famine in the Middle Ages. They were saved by clergymen who protected them and bred them for the nobility. From this point on, they came to be considered the dogs of the aristocracy. In the tenth century, King Howel of Wales made killing a greyhound punishable by death. What I don’t understand is per humane society and other agencies “ Over 115 million animals – mice, rats, dogs, cats, rabbits, monkeys, birds, among others – are killed in laboratory experiments worldwide for chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing every year.[8]” Millions of dogs in American households are abused way worse then greyhound racing dogs. I’m mean seriously these dogs in racing are taken care of better than 80% of dogs in US households. Now the breed will die out and become extinct. We focus on a couple thousand dogs vs 100 million. Just doesn’t make sense. If I was a dog and had a choice, I’d take my chances with dog racing kennels over the any American household.
Juggler August 15, 2020

Some are, some are not, Kevin. Most get 3 to 5 hours of outdoor exercise a day when housed at the track. Rehomed greys that are in retirement are couch potatoes because they spent their formative years is an extremely structured environment. That is why they make great pets - yet some suffer from sleep aggressiveness. Never wake a sleeping greyhound. But, you are correct. This sport will end when WV and IA shut down, probably in two years
Kevin R Tunaley August 3, 2020

A lot of lies in the article, greyhound are not locked up in cages for 20 hours a day. Yes the sport is dying out so there really is no need to push so hard on ending the sport a tiny bit sooner.