November 10, 2018

2 visions of the aftermath of greyhound dog racing.

I'm reading "Thousands of Greyhounds May Need Homes as Florida Bans Racing" (NYT). I'm picturing:

1. Greyhound buses with a greyhound dog in every window, headed north, where, they've heard, southern dogs go to be the "rescue dogs" of soft-hearted midwesterners.

2. The cremains of thousands of euthanized greyhounds incorporated into the concrete of a monumental statue of a greyhound, erected on the site of a closed-down Florida racetrack.

34 comments:

tcrosse said...

There's not much meat on them once you dress them out. They were not bred for the table.

Hagar said...

Greyhounds are killer dogs; very useful for hunting coyotes.

rhhardin said...

Iowahawk had one he was very fond of.

robother said...

People down the block have rescued 4 greyhounds, and walk them every morning. They leave really big piles of poop, some of which (being 4 dogs to keep track of) they miss. At least the pitbull rescue craze seems over around here.

rhhardin said...

There will be no place to leave old people with notes pinned to their shirts.

rhhardin said...

Poopage depends on quality of the dog food. More filler = more poop. Not breed specific taking size into account.

Wilbur said...

Send them to San Francisco. They don't seem to object to poop in the street.

I vote against every proposed constitutional amendment like this on the ballot. This junk is something to be decided by elected representatives, not cluttering up the constitution.

Ralph L said...

Did they ban it for "humane" reasons or to reduce competition with a state lottery?

After the UK banned foxhunting, I'll bet the farmers killed most of the foxes (hopefully, the hounds were sent abroad). But that was a class war Act of P.

They finally shut down the popular slot-machine gambling den up the street from me. It was a hundred yards from police HQ for over a year.

John henry said...

Ralph,

I don't think British farmers ever liked fox hunting, did they? What's to like about a large group of people riding roughshod over one's fields?

Farmers also widely regarded foxes as pests. Among other things attacking livestock like chickens.

Trollope's novel The American Senator addresses this quite well.

Farmer poisons foxes, local squire and fox hunter takes offense, visiting senator interferes. Hilarity ensues.

John Henry

Eleanor said...

Is horse racing next?

mockturtle said...

Bid adieu to thoroughbred horse racing, farewell to Ascot. So long, Kentucky Derby.

Is it really cruel to euthanize a dog after his running days are over? I suspect most greyhounds live to run.

Ryan said...

Next up: rodeo, the ponies.

Ralph L said...

It's pushing 3 decades since I read that Trollope novel, and I'd forgotten the plot. The preservation of foxes shows up in a lot of his novels, since he was an avid hunter.

robother said...

Like most confrontations between farmers and herders over the ages, I assume the peaceful resolution was to begin fox hunts after the crops were in. The horse (and dog) manure was free fertilizer and the foxes killed were a pest.

Deer in America are similar farm pests, but the risk that city slickers toting guns will shoot livestock has closed a lot of farm and ranch land to hunting.

narciso said...

Trollope who was a liberal (and failed candidate) is still remarkably prescient 150 years on.

Greg Hlatky said...


suspect most greyhounds live to run.

No, they live to sleep on the sofa.

Ralph L said...

You're correct, robother, it's a fall & winter sport. The problem is the farmers want all the foxes gone but the hunters want a continuous supply available for sport.

Around here, some landowners go to considerable trouble and expense to plant patches to feed deer and birds (some for profit) while the farmers hate their losses and nests in the fields.

I Callahan said...

Is it really cruel to euthanize a dog after his running days are over? I suspect most greyhounds live to run.

I wouldn’t think that such a dumb question would need an answer, but apparently it does. The answer is “yes”. Christ.

We’re involved in a greyhound adoption group. They’re wonderful pets and yes, they like to run, but that doesn’t mean they can never run again just because they’re not racing anymore.

The idea that they should all just be killed because someone “suspects” something reminds me of why my disdain for humanity grows more every day.

mockturtle said...

Callahan, I think it's wonderful that greyhounds are adopted out after their racing careers are over and have known people who have adopted them as lovely pets. But is it really CRUEL to euthanized them?

mockturtle said...

Incidentally, your 'disdain' for humanity is quite common among the PETA folks. Yes, it's easier to love animals than to love people. There's no challenge to it.

Michael said...

The wonderful thing about banning greyhound racing and bull fighting is all the little shits put out of jobs. Ticket takers and breeders and sign makers and vendors and the whole deplorable lot. Because animals.

Jason said...

This was a play from the Seminole/Miccosukee Indian tribes. As soon as the dog race track is out of business they'll build their own on the reservation, right down the road.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Deer in America are similar farm pests, but the risk that city slickers toting guns will shoot livestock has closed a lot of farm and ranch land to hunting.

That is really not that much of an issue. Only the most moronic of hunters mistake a cow, horse or goat for a deer.

The carelessness and destruction that they leave behind is. Leaving gates open. Campfires. Trash. Driving over pasture lands, over wetlands. NOT ASKING FOR PERMISSION FIRST!!!! Those are the issues.

Yancey Ward said...

Can the Indians run the tracks despite the amendment passing? I would thing "yes" on that question.

Amy said...

I tried to adopt a greyhound about 10 years ago. It was the most stressful six weeks of our lives until we finally had to relinquish. I have had several dogs in my lifetime and was a confident and experienced dog owner (I thought). After the fact, I did more thorough research (beyond just listening to the greyhound adoption people). The problems with adoption are rampant. They are not like other dogs. In many ways they are more like horses.

Ron said...

Maybe have competing statues of greyhounds made from the ashes of greyhounds....and have people bet on which design should win!

ALP said...

I worked for an attorney (in WA state) really into dogs that adopted an ex racer from Arizona years ago. The whole greyhound adoption network appears to be nation-wide, runs deep, and probably goes all the way to the top. If there is one thing Americans are good for, it is adopting homeless animals from wherever.

Hagar said...

DBQ is right, but the old jokes also occasionally come true. I remember when a "city slicker" shot Mrs. McMillan's pet pheasant from under a rosebush in her fenced front yard, and Frances was not happy about it. Also a good thing that her boys were not home at the time.

Heartless Aztec said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Heartless Aztec said...

"There goes Rusty!" the announcer would bellow as the mechanical rabbit took off and the hounds were released. I loved betting on the dogs at the Orange Park track. But I voted againt them running. To much abuse factored into the money end of racing. Things change and time does indeed move on.

Douglas B. Levene said...

Retired Greyhound racing dogs make great family pets. They are very gentle, people oriented and affectionate. The only downside is that they don't like other dogs, aggressively don't like them.

tcrosse said...

Retired Greyhound racing dogs make great family pets. They are very gentle, people oriented and affectionate. The only downside is that they don't like other dogs, aggressively don't like them.

Yeah. That's what they say about Pit Bulls.

Anon said...

I have a retired greyhound and hope that scenario one comes to pass.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Greyhound adoption displays much virtue. All can see.