http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/story/Langford-Named-In-Another-Gambling-Lawsuit/rP5S2hN_FkWmNuAykRZW8g.cspx

Langford has been named in a civil lawsuit claiming, in effect, that he was given favorable treatment when he allegedly won a $50,000jackpot on an electronic bingo machine at the Quincy’s777 Casino in Macon County on August 28,2009. This was just weeks after a federal court grant Langford indigent status in a separate federal bribery case. That ruling means the taxpayers are picking up Langford’s legal costs in that federal criminal case.

This is the second such allegation involving Langford andVictoryland/Quincy’s 777. A similarcivil suit was filed last year also claiming that the casino rigged machinesand led Langford to them so that he could win jackpots.

Both lawsuits were filed by Birmingham attorney Ted L. Mann. Langford is not a defendant in eitherlawsuit. Mann’s clients, both casino customers, are suing the Macon County GreyhoundPark which operates Victoryland and Quincy’s 777.

Both are owned by Milton McGregor who also owns the Birmingham Race Course. McGregor has been a major figure pushing for changes in Alabama’s gambling laws and is also a major political contributor to Langford.

CBS42 spoke with Langford this morning. The mayor said he was tired of being dragged into lawsuits when someone has a problem with Victoryland or Quincy’s. He also told CBS42's Phillip Ohnemus that he only wished it was possible to rig electronic bingo machines. See the Mayor's full comments on CBS42 News at Five.

CBS42's Stephen Hauck spoke by phone with attorney Ted L. Mann this morning. Mann says "These games are supposed to be conducted under certain rules and regulations. And if Macon County Greyhound Park is arranging for certain people to win money, than it inherently invades the fairness of the game."

Mann says this claim differs from the 2008 lawsuit because the current client was playing the same bingo "game" that Langford was playing in...one patron playing against another patron while "one of her competitors was being favored." Stephen Hauck will recap his conversation with Mann tonight on CBS42 at Six.

Efforts to reach McGregor or his spokespeople are being made. McGregor’s e-mail response to the story last year was "I don't respond to garbage such as this that is filed by dishonest trial lawyers."...a reference to Mann.

By Michael J. Mooney
Published on May 19, 2009 at 2:42pm

Jerry Berlin, a volunteer with Friends of Greyhounds, has owned seven retired racers. He tries not to think of what his dogs went through before he got them.
Jerry Berlin, a volunteer with Friends of Greyhounds, has owned seven retired racers. He tries not to think of what his dogs went through before he got them.

A deep, scratchy voice announces their presence over the loudspeaker. "Heeeere comes Hollywood!" The gates open, and eight muzzled greyhounds spring forth in a speedy, thundering mass of bobbing fur, each wearing a brightly colored, numbered jersey. Tiny puffs of dirt follow their sinewy legs. This is the seventh race of the night at Mardi Gras Racetrack and Gaming Center in Hallandale Beach, the highest-paying dog track in Florida. It's August 19, 2006. The race begins at 9:23 p.m. At 9:24, the audience will witness something horrid.

The dogs set off sprinting around an oval-shaped dirt track, chasing a loud, buzzing mechanical lure. The lure is attached to a metal arm speeding along the inside edge of the track. Like bulls who see the flick of a matador's cape, the dogs lunge madly after the lure. Greyhounds can hit 45 miles per hour in just two steps, but the lure always stays just out of their reach.

A sleek, shiny, black 2-year-old wearing a red jersey with a white "5" on it — his name is BB's Story Book, but in racing parlance, he is simply "the five" — is quick out of the box. A few strides into the race, however, the six dog nudges Story Book inside. Then the eight bumps him again. This time, Story Book struggles back, running neck and neck with the eight. As the dogs lean left into a turn, Story Book's hind legs slip. There's a cloud of dust. Story Book is sucked under the eight. The eight stumbles but recovers, hurrying off to catch the pack. Story Book, however, rolls out of the picture.

The announcer says matter-of-factly, "Going down, that was the five."

As the rest of the dogs continue around the track, Story Book rolls to a stop deep in the first turn. He stands back up, dizzy and weak. He can still hear the mechanical lure buzzing around the track. Then, with that amazing greyhound eyesight, he spots it.

The three dog is in the lead, just entering the final turn, when the announcer realizes what's about to happen. "Get the five!" he commands. Then again, with an added degree of disgust: "Get the five!"

Still mixed up from his fall, Story Book sees the lure making its way back around the track. Now it's on the straightaway coming toward him. He takes off at full speed — in the wrong direction.

This is a no-win situation. If the lure operator stops the arm, the seven dogs following behind it will collide in a terrifying pile of snapped bones and broken necks; if he doesn't, it will drive right through the fragile body of the dazed, 73-pound black dog.

The lure doesn't stop.

The bar hits Story Book at the collarbone, shattering his chest and bending each leg in a new, unnatural direction. Knocked end over end, the dog lands on his back. He lies there convulsing in front of the grandstand. The other dogs barely dodge Story Book's flailing body. The announcer lets out an abhorred grunt.

As I watch video of the tragic race, I notice that Story Book has a white belly and white feet, just like my newly adopted greyhound — who raced on the very same track just a few months after this incident. Jailamony (her racing name) is 4 years old. She is sweet and revels in human affection. But there are constant reminders of her racing life: missing teeth, patches of missing fur (called "kennel butt"), tattoos in her ears, and a noticeable limp.

The longer Jailamony lives with me, the more questions I have: What were her racing days like? What happened to the other dogs from her litter? And what really happens to greyhounds that aren't adopted when they're done racing?

To answer my questions, I visited my dog's old track. I spoke with industry veterans and racing opponents. And I ventured where reporters rarely tread — inside the heavily secured compound known as the Florida Kennels.

Florida, with the majority of breeding farms and nearly half the tracks in the country, is the epicenter of dog racing. Although a well-organized antiracing lobby now has its sights set on the Sunshine State, it's hard to tell if legislative efforts are hastening or hindering the end of this moribund industry.

When I answer the front door, I'm greeted by 60 pounds of twitchy curiosity waiting to come inside. Jailamony has a sleek, shiny, black coat with a white chest, what look like little white socks, and a matching white tip at the end of her wagging tail. She's all muscle, ribs, and light-stepping legs, like a pony. She wiggles through the door, eager to sniff every square foot of my small, two-story apartment.

When my girlfriend and I visited the Friends of Greyhounds Inc. adoption kennel in Hialeah, we saw Jailamony pressing her face against the inside of her cage. Workers told us black dogs don't get adopted as often because some people think they might be evil. Jailamony gave us big take-me-home eyes, and when kennel staff tried to put her back in her crate, she hid behind my girlfriend's legs.

We adopted her in March, on her fourth birthday.

Michelle Weaver likes to deliver all the adopted greyhounds to their new owners herself.

The reminders of Jailamony's racing life are disturbing: missing teeth and fur, tattoos in both ears, and worst of all, a noticeable limp.

Moments after being personally delivered to my house by Michelle Weaver, president of the adoption agency, Jailamony discovers the stuffed chipmunk we had waiting for her. She prances around the furniture with it dangling from her mouth. Her tail whacks everything. She has never lived outside of a kennel. The stairs completely confound her — she figures out how to go up, but once at the top, she peers down, befuddled by the steep, carpeted obstacle before her.

"You're gonna change her name, right?" Weaver asks.

"We haven't really decided yet," I say. "Jailamony really is a horrible-sounding name, though."

Cute as she is, Jailamony bears inescapable remnants from her mysterious past as a racer. In addition to the missing teeth and fur, both ears are marked with faded, green tattoos. The left ear has a series of numbers, and the right reads: "ESV." Weaver explains that it was supposed to say 35A, since Jailamony was the first, or A, puppy tattooed in a litter "whelped" (born) in March 2005 (3/5). "Sometimes [trainers] get nice and drunk before they tattoo the dogs," she says, "and the first one gets screwed up like this."

Then there's Jailamony's right hind leg. It swings out awkwardly from her otherwise sleek, graceful gait. At the bottom of the hoc (the equivalent of a human calf) is a hard bulb of bone. In her last race, I learn, she broke her hoc and the bone had been set at the track. Jailamony never puts that foot straight down, and when she squats, her leg shakes.

Greyhounds are sight hounds; Jailamony can see a black cat in the dark at 300 yards. They were first brought to the United States in the mid-1800s to help farmers control the jackrabbit population. They've been bred for thousands of years for speed, beauty, and the gentle demeanor that makes them great pets. Ancient Egyptians considered them royalty. Arabs admired them so much that they were the only dog permitted to sleep in tents and ride atop camels. Greyhounds are the only breed mentioned by name in the Bible (Proverbs 30:29-31). In medieval England, the law permitted only noblemen to own greyhounds.

So seeing one of these magnificent creatures limping around my living room, I wonder about their lives as professional athletes. What did my dog go through before she came to me? The question haunts me, and the answer seems unknowable — like wondering about the past dalliances of someone you love.

Long before spring break — before professional football, basketball, baseball, or ice hockey; before slot machines, card rooms, and cruises to nowhere; before most of the cities in South Florida were even incorporated — there was dog racing. The dog tracks were as synonymous with Florida as fat men in floral print shirts.

The first track in the country opened in Hialeah in 1926. By the '30s and '40s, dog racing was South Florida's top tourist attraction. Every night, the grandstands were packed with young and old, rich and poor. Greyhound racing was the shared pastime in a land devoid of Babe Ruths and Joe DiMaggios.

And racing made a lot of people rich. After purchasing the Pittsburgh Steelers with money he won betting on horses, Art Rooney purchased the Palm Beach Kennel Club in 1970. His grandson, Pat Rooney Jr., remains managing director of the track, and Pat's brother Tom is a U.S. representative from nearby Tequesta.

Over time, however, the industry began to develop a backlash. Stories began trickling out about dogs being killed if they weren't fast enough. There were rumors that trainers dumped slow greyhounds in oceans and swamps to be eaten by sharks and gators. In the '80s and '90s, the debate was over the use of live lures, such as rabbits, which have since been banned.

An Arizona woman named Joan Eidinger has tried to collect every published report of greyhound abuse over the past 15 years. In the Greyhound Network News — a quarterly newsletter she publishes — the headlines are horrifying: Three racing dogs found dead at a Daytona Kennel, Seven greyhounds die from extreme heat in Arkansas, Iowa hauler accident kills five greyhounds, 17 dogs die of smoke inhalation in Naples. There are stories of respiratory infections and equine influenza. One article tells of a thousand Wisconsin racing greyhounds sold to a cardiac research lab. Using industry breeding numbers, Eidinger estimates that between 1986 and 2006, about 600,000 greyhounds were killed — about 80 every day.

Antiracing groups like Massachusetts-based Grey2K USA point to these sorts of atrocities when they call for states like Florida to ban greyhound racing. Working with local organizations like the Fort Lauderdale-based Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, activists lobby legislators, take out antiracing ads in newspapers near tracks, and post videos of incidents like Story Book's on the internet.

The campaign seems to be working. A ballot measure in the 2008 election will end greyhound racing in Massachusetts. In the past five years, 15 tracks nationwide have either shut down completely or ended live racing.

Bring on the industry's demise, says Grey2K President Christine Dorchak. When I call to get her perspective on the industry, Dorchak rattles off a litany of greyhound racing's alleged offenses: "[Trainers] feed them grade-D meat. The dogs don't have access to dental work. They get the bare minimum medicine and medical treatment, if they're lucky. And they suffer industrialized confinement in these standardized cages for up to 22 hours a day."

One thing about greyhounds: They aren't likely to die of old age. When dogs turn 4 or 5 and are finished racing, she claims, "it's more cost-efficient for trainers and owners to kill a dog than to house and feed it."

Pro-racing folks balk at that claim, saying that today, most greyhounds are humanely retired, not killed. But in 2002, Alabama investigators found the bodies of thousands of dead greyhounds on the property of 68-year-old Robert Rhodes, a part-time security guard at a track in Pensacola. Rhodes admitted using a .22 caliber rifle to shoot more than 2,000 dogs from all over Florida during the 20 years he worked at the track. He was paid $10 per dog, which he said covered the cost of digging the holes across his 18-acre property. Investigators called the graveyard "a Dachau for dogs."

All across the open room, grown men are shouting at televisions. "Come on, Two! Move your ass, Two!" The betting parlor at the Mardi Gras racetrack consists of a long line of TV sets simulcasting races from most of the 13 tracks in the state, plus a row of betting machines and cashier windows. Quiet, white-haired men in polyester pants and mismatched jackets from the '70s sit at Formica tables, clenching handfuls of betting tickets. A group of men in their 40s — the youngest in the room — prefer to stand. A few businessmen, still donning the shiny shoes and pressed slacks they wore to the office, wait impatiently as the dogs they've bet on are loaded into starting boxes in Daytona, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach. Collectively, these men — or the soft, folded American bills they're handing over — are the lifeblood of the industry.

The scene is a far cry from racing's heyday. Even now, on a "busy" Friday night, only about 200 men (and virtually no women) are here to watch the greyhounds. The throngs of humanity around the slot machines and poker tables dwarf the dog-betting crowd.

By the time I march up to the offices to interview the director of dog racing at Mardi Gras, I've heard so many horrific details about the industry, I'm wondering how these people can sleep at night.

But when I meet Aldo Leone, he is no monster. He's a mild, friendly man with short hair, an easy smile, and a slight New England accent. His office is small, and the wood-paneled walls are covered with paintings of greyhounds. He tells me he got into the business as a lead-out (the track employee who walks the dog from the paddock to the gate) in Hollywood when he was 16. He's 46 now. It was just a job when he started, but he fell in love with the dogs.

Leone says "radical animal rights groups" like Grey2K take rare incidents out of context and sensationalize them to scare people away from a family-friendly industry. "They'll tell you the dogs don't like it, that they're being abused. They want to shut these tracks down, but they don't realize they'll just be putting more dogs out on the street." If not for racing, he says, the breed probably would have died out centuries ago.

"But aren't thousands of dogs euthanized every year?" I ask.

Leone says that the antiracing groups' breeding figures are "ridiculous." He says that 98 percent of racing dogs are adopted out and that the other 2 percent return to breeding farms. "Retired greyhounds are very popular. As you probably know, they make great pets." Then, without a hint of irony, he adds, "They're becoming a commodity."

Leone says that because Mardi Gras is the top track in the state, the dogs who can't make it here "grade off" to other tracks, like being sent down from the big leagues to a farm team. Although I'd spoken to a former track veterinarian who told me he treated about one broken bone per week, Leone says that injuries occur at a rate of "less than one a month" and that most are "minor, one dog stepping on another's foot, that sort of thing."

And that incident with BB's Story Book? Leone says that night was the only time he's seen an accident with the lure. "That was a terrible thing," he says. He stares out his office window. The sun is setting on the track. "Nobody ever wants to see that."

Before leaving the track, I walk through the trainer's area behind the paddock. There are at least a dozen pickup trucks, each with a load of barking dogs waiting to go back to the kennel, 15 miles away in Hialeah.

A thin man with a mustache and dark-brown hair parted on the side — the old-fashioned way — walks a panting, exhausted brindled dog. The dog has just come in third, earning roughly $80 that will be split between the trainer and owner. The man hoses him off and walks him through a cooling pool.

This is Joe Trudden, a trainer and the owner of Tru-Paws Kennels. He wears a polo tucked into his unbelted Levi's. He tells me that if I want the truth about racing, I can go to the compound to see his kennel.

"Come see for yourself if you think these dogs are being abused," he says.

I show up unannounced on a Sunday morning at the massive, gated compound called the Florida Kennels that includes Tru-Paws. The 70-acre plot consists of about 50 buildings able to house 50 to 100 dogs each (there are around 2,000 dogs total), a full-sized practice track, and several fenced sprinting runs.

All the dogs running at Flagler Dog Track and Entertainment Center or Mardi Gras are kept here. Outsiders — especially reporters — are not welcome on the compound, but Trudden gets me past the security guards at the gate.

Trudden is just finishing preparation of the dogs' food. He starts with 75 pounds of raw meat, which comes in giant blocks labeled: NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. Trudden adds the contents of a tall, industrial pot that's been simmering on the small stove at the front of his building. It's got chicken broth, some carrots, a few different kinds of pasta, and rice. He mixes it all together with his bare hands.

To the food concoction, he adds a few small scoops of powdered Gatorade "to build their electrolytes." He scoops the mixture into silver bowls and weighs them. Then he adds a large scoop of a standard grain dog food. Before he hands out the bowls to the dogs in their crates, he squirts some with pancake syrup, "in case they have low glucose." He has a bottle of Tums handy in case he suspects one of the dogs has a bellyache.

"There's nobody who loves these dogs more than we do," he tells me. "I feel like I have 60 pets."

Trudden asks me how often I've taken my dog to the vet since I've had her.

Once.

"Well, these dogs each see a vet twice a week." He points out: "It behooves us to take good care of the dogs. If they're not in good shape, they're not going to win."

In the back of Trudden's kennel, the Rolling Stones play from a stereo to 62 dogs in individual crates stacked two high along both walls; each standardized crate measures 26 inches wide by 30 inches high and is 42 inches deep. The females are on top. "They jump better," Trudden says. Females receive hormones so they can race with males without fear of "accidental breeding."

The dogs all look healthy. Most wag their tails when they see us. The few I look at closely have good teeth and soft fur. Trudden knows each dog by name and kisses some of the females' heads, calling each "mama."

There's a large industrial scale — each dog must weigh within one pound of what it weighed in the previous race, per track rules — and near the front door is a chart detailing each dog's racing schedule and special needs. On the walls are photos of Trudden and his family with past champions.

Trudden was introduced to greyhounds by his grandpa Joe, who played the dogs every day. He fondly remembers studying the program together every afternoon and waiting anxiously to learn whether the dogs they picked had won. When his grandfather died, Trudden scraped together $1,200, bought a dog, and named it Joe's Unicorn. The dog won early and often, and by the early '90s, Trudden was able to quit his job at the telephone company to become a full-time trainer. Not long after that, he bought his own kennel.

One of the dogs he trained was BB's Story Book. I ask him about the incident with the lure.

"I was here that night," he says. "It's one of the worst things I've ever seen. I scooped him up with my own arms." His voice gets softer and his eyes become glassy as he describes speeding to the animal hospital. He kicks a rock. "There's nothing they could do," he says. BB's Story Book was euthanized.

As Trudden works, he defends his beloved industry. He says he has never had a healthy dog euthanized and has even kept dogs in his kennel for more than a year — at an average cost of $5 per day — before a spot in an adoption kennel opened up. Trudden estimates that the industry employs 20,000 people in Florida alone. "That's not counting the people who sell the trucks and the tires and the gas and the food."

Still, Trudden acknowledges that public opinion has swayed and that the end of dog racing is inevitable. "I just hope it's not in my lifetime," he says.

We walk out back to the two fenced runs where the dogs are "turned out" at least twice a day. Alongside the kennel is a small, metal whirlpool for the dogs, on the day after they race. It's a greyhound Jacuzzi. After the "hydrotherapy," he says, each dog gets a hand massage.

Trudden turns to me: "Do these dogs look abused?"

Joe Trudden might be a conscientious guy — but not every trainer is. In December 2007, state investigators from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering — the state agency overseeing greyhound racing in Florida — discovered a gruesome scene. In building four, just a few hundred yards from Trudden's kennel, 74 dogs were left in dirty cages with almost no food or medicine for months.

According to the DBPR's report, the owner, David Dasenbrock, lived in Oregon and had stopped sending money for food or flea and tick medication. The dogs were found emaciated, lying in piles of their own waste. Many had gnawed themselves bloody and raw. The floor was covered with blood, ticks, and rodent droppings. There was a dead rat in the corner. There was no edible food on site, and the dogs had no water. "The smell of urine in the kennel was unbearable," an investigator wrote.

But the DBPR has only limited power, and all it could do was issue a warning. Four months passed and conditions only got worse. When they returned, investigators found a trainer dipping greyhounds into a bucket of Malathion, a cheap insecticide that's highly toxic to dogs. It was the cheapest way to take care of the flea and tick problem. The trainer had also been cleaning the building — with diesel fuel.

In May 2008, Dasenbrock's pari-mutuel license was suspended and the trainer was charged with animal cruelty, a misdemeanor. A year later, all 74 dogs have either been adopted or are in the hands of adoption agencies. The worst part: Nobody really knows how often this happens.

There are whispers at the track of a veterinarian nearby who will put down any greyhound, healthy or not, for $75, no questions asked, but obtaining reliable statistics about casualties is impossible. Florida tracks have no legal obligation to report injuries, deaths, or cases of neglect and abuse to the state. Breeders, owners, and trainers never have to report how many dogs are culled, euthanized, or killed during transport. The vast majority of regulation in Florida relates not to the welfare of the animals but to how profits are divided.

Meanwhile, in November of last year, there were two more horrific incidents two days apart. On November 17, a 3-year old brindled greyhound named Birthday Toy was electrocuted after being bumped into the lure line at Sanford Orlando Kennel Club. Then on November 19, Jawa Spock, a 2-year-old fawn, was euthanized at Palm Beach Kennel Club after breaking both back legs during a race.

This is why Grey2K USA is targeting Florida's greyhound racing industry. The group has video footage of both incidents on its website (grey2kusa.org), and this April, Christine Dorchak traveled to Tallahassee to oppose new legislation that would expand gambling and subsidize greyhound racing. She held a news conference on the back steps of the Old Capitol Building in Tallahassee with the help of Scooby and Molly, two retired greyhounds.

Whether it's pressure from groups like Dorchak's or because people have vast entertainment options these days, the dog racing industry is indisputably in decline. In fact, it might have died out already if it weren't subsidized by tax breaks and other forms of gambling.

In 2000, the Florida Legislature approved a $20 million tax break for the struggling pari-mutuel industry (horse tracks, dog tracks, and jai-alai frontons). Then, the pari-mutuels lobbied for the right to offer slot machines and high-stakes poker. Since South Florida voters approved them in 2005, slots and card rooms have become so profitable that most track owners would probably be willing to drop dog racing entirely. (In 2007, the state collected less than $6 million in taxes from the greyhound industry, compared to $125 million from slot machines.) But the way the law stands, in order to keep a pari-mutuel license and have access to that juicy income flow from slots and poker, dog tracks are required to race at least 100 days a year.

Greyhound racing won't end unless that law is changed.

Dorchak says her group would support any bills that would rid pari-mutuels of the racing requirements. Every year, such bills are introduced in the state Legislature, but they never make it out of committee. In her quest, she's found an odd ally. Mardi Gras CEO Dan Adkins showed up at the capitol. Dorchak says Adkins even jokingly wore an "End Greyhound Racing" button.

"He might not be able to say it as publicly, but he hates giving that money to breeders too," she says. "Racing is a losing game he has to play to get the cards and slots. They could take or leave the dogs. It's all about money."

Still, the more I learn about the industry, the more I want to know about my dog. The longer I have her, the more I see that she really does love to run, even if it means she's hopping on the hurt leg. Most of the time, though, she just lies around the apartment looking adorable. We also decided to keep her name. Although Jailamony evokes something dark and degenerate, her past is part of who she is and what brought her to us.

The truth is, the world of greyhound racing can be just as heartbreaking and complicated as that twisted black leg with the little white sock. It hurts to think of the toll this industry has taken on that sweet dog. If she hadn't raced, she wouldn't have a limp, a bald ass, and grey hair at 4 years old. Then again, if she didn't race, I wouldn't have her now.

Through the adoption group, I learn that Jailamony was trained by the delightfully titled company Bad Boy Racing. At the kennel, I see a smashed-up dog truck with those words blasted across the top of the windshield. But I don't find the truck owner, and I later learn the company has been sold.

In hopes of finding someone who might remember my dog, I make another trip to the track.

A funny thing about racetracks: There are always a few old handicappers who remember every horse or dog in every race they've ever seen, going back decades. In another life, these men could have been great mathematicians or literature scholars; in places like Mardi Gras, where the floor is littered with beer-drenched stubs of daily heartbreak, they are the revered wise men.

During short breaks in the action at Mardi Gras, I ask around to see whether anyone remembers betting on Jailamony. I get a lot of "that name sounds familiar" and "if I could see the books, I'd know the dog." Then someone directs me to Norman Grant.

A fidgeting, wiry black man in a ski cap, Grant recognizes the name immediately. "A black dog," he says. "Your dog's a black dog. I remember."

I nod.

"Your dog don't break. Don't break worth a damn. But she's a closer. She's a strong, strong closer."

Indeed, most of the races in which she placed, Jailamony came from behind. Through a website called greyhound-data.com, I find Jailamony's racing history and trace her heritage back 34 generations, to 1820 — about 32 generations more than I know about myself. Her sire's sire was Molotov, a member of the Greyhound Racing Hall of Fame who set track records in Colorado that still stand today.

The site says there were two other dogs from Jailamony's litter registered as racers: a female named Jam It Up and a male named Speed Bump Brent. Brent never made it past the schooling races, and like the dogs from the litter that weren't registered racers, there is no record of where he is now. Jam It Up is still racing in Naples.

Each dog's racing history includes racing notes written in a cryptic, handicapper code. If a dog broke away from the pack on the back stretch and won, for example, the note might say: "Pulled Away Md Trk."

Jailamony dominated her practice races (to qualify at a track, a dog must finish in the top four). She won her second race at Mardi Gras. She worked her way up the ranks and earned nearly $2,000 in all. But then, her firsts and seconds turned into sixths and sevenths.

The handicapping notes tell the story. Over and over, Jailamony was "bumped 1st turn mid trk" or "crowded early." In race after race, the notes say she "stumbled, fell" or "broke to outside, collided" or "bounced around early." After 25 races at Mardi Gras, she was downgraded to Flagler in Miami.

It was there, on June 13, 2008, that she had her final race, the 32nd of her career. She was wearing the 6 jersey the day she broke her leg. The note is short. It says: "Dropped Back 1st Turn, DNF."

Like so many greyhounds, my dog's life as a racer ended with those three ominous letters, DNF: Did Not Finish.

Kennel No. 1
An October inspection of Tucson Greyhound Park reveals a situation that transcends mere 'filth'

"It seems that Kennel No. 1, recently home to 58 dogs, was a filthy mess. A smattering of dog
diarrhea-affectionately known as "blowout" in the business-covered one wall. A bucket of putrid
water sat next to cages. Dog crap was abundant."

See http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/kennel-no-1/Content?oid=1176193 for full story

Please feel free to forward/crosspost/circulate this message.

WMBB-TV - Florida

April 17th, 2009

A national group working to end greyhound racing releases video of two greyhounds killed during
races at Florida dog tracks.

GREY-2-K USA hopes the video helps persuade lawmakers not to pass any legislation that gives a boost
to the dog racing industry.

The first incident happened last November at Sanford Orlando Kennel Club. A greyhound named
“Birthday Toy” rolled against a live wire during a race and was electrocuted.

Two days later at the Palm Beach Kennel Club, another dog named “Jawa Spock” suffered a bad fall
during a race, broke both back legs and had to be euthanized.

Christine Dorchak of GREY-2-K says 13 of the 29 dog tracks nationwide are located in Florida. She
says Florida also has the most greyhound breeding operations in the country.

GREY2K is calling on state lawmakers to oppose any bills that would allow dog tracks to install
video slot machines.

Dorchak says expanding gambling at the tracks would help prop them up for the future, which is what
the group is working against. A proposal in the Senate would allow the state’s pari-mutuels to add
video lottery, or slot-style gaming machines.

Dorchak says the trend nationwide is to eliminate dog tracks. She says 14 dog tracks have ended live
racing since 2004 and 9 states have made it illegal since 1993.

She says 10 states still allow dog racing, including Florida.

An employee of the Humane Society was alerted to the dogs by the stench coming from the creek. It is
believed there is an illegal underground market for dog fur - especially greyhound.

Please click here to view the television news item and report.

http://www.wdtn.com/dpp/news/WDTN_Dead_dogs_found_in_Logan_County_creek

The first time I saw Homer, I didn't know he was going to be my dog. He knew it, though.

We were in the yard at Nittany Greyhounds near State College. He saw me and ran over, clacking his teeth, jumping up and down on his front legs and barking. I remember thinking that the greyhound people said these dogs don't bark. Apparently, nobody told Homer that.

He wasn't supposed to be my dog. My then-girlfriend Cine -- now my wife -- had always wanted a greyhound. She read books about them and was all prepared to get a greyhound. She liked the idea of rescuing a dog that was seen as a disposable commodity.

That's what greyhounds are to the dog-racing industry. The lucky ones find their way to places like Nittany Greyhounds. The unlucky ones wind up in mass graves. (Not long ago, there was a story about a guy in Georgia who was convicted of animal abuse after it was discovered he was paid $10 a piece to get rid of the old greyhounds by shooting them in the head.)

The really lucky ones, well, this is the story of one of those.

Homer didn't start out as Homer. He had some kind of stupid dog racing name, Jo Doe, or something like that. Cine changed his name to Homer. It fit.

We drove home with Homer and settled him into Cine's condo. He seemed OK.

Everything seemed OK, and I went home.

Not long after that, Cine called me. She told me that when I left, Homer stood by the door and cried. He kept going over to the windows and looking out.

I went over and Homer was glad to see me. He'd do this thing when he got excited, kind of jumping up and down and twirling. He'd get so excited, he'd fall over.

After a while, Cine saw what was happening.

"Take him," she said. "He's your dog."

Homer moved into my house. He refused to get into his crate. The greyhound people said the dogs liked their crates and were comfortable in them. Homer didn't. Homer settled on the couch, and if it weren't for eating and walks, he would have never gotten off of it.

After we adopted him, the people at Nittany Greyhounds said they were glad we were taking him. They were afraid nobody would adopt him. He wasn't like other greyhounds. Other greyhounds look dignified and carry themselves with grace and dignity. Homer was goofy and didn't act like the other greyhounds. And his nose was crooked.

His story was he was retired from the track when he was 3 years old. Usually, greyhounds race until they're 5 or older if they keep winning. After people kept asking about his record on the track, I tried to look it up. I found the track he came from, in Connecticut, and the people I talked to there couldn't find any record that he ever raced. Once, I was talking to a woman who had gone to dog races at that track and she recalled one race where, shortly after the dogs sprinted from the gate, one of the dogs, a black one, stopped and, noticing the people in the stands, went to the railing where he jumped up and down and barked at people.

I have no proof, but that sounds like Homer.

I always called him the smartest dog in the world, and Cine would accuse me of lying to him. She did try that dog intelligence test - the one where you cover your dog with a blanket and see how long it takes him to extricate himself.

If we hadn't uncovered him, he'd still be lying there on the floor, under a blanket.

Homer loved everybody, and he'd get upset when other dogs or people were afraid of him because he was huge.

He was afraid of a few things - flags and elderly women. When we'd walk past a house flying a flag, he'd cower away from it. If we encountered an elderly woman while walking, he'd try to hide behind me. I was never sure what either of those things meant.

He was also afraid of thunder. He'd walk the floor and whimper during storms. If it was bad enough, he'd stand in the corner of the room.

He was a strange dog.

He spent most of his time sleeping. I'd tell people he spent 23 hours a day sleeping and they'd laugh. It was no joke. He spent the other hour eating.

He ate everything. He once ate something he found on the sidewalk while we were walking; I think it was a dead bird.

He also ate everything in the house. He ate a piece of fish from a plate on the kitchen table. I got the fish out of the refrigerator, put it on the table, turned my back for a second and it was gone. He ate an entire plate of beef fried rice when Cine left it on the coffee table to answer the door.

He liked beer too. I discovered that when he knocked over a beer and began lapping it up.

He liked to climb into bed with us at night. He was stealthy about it. He'd wait until he thought we were asleep and then he'd put one foot up on the bed and wait. Then, he'd put both front paws on the bed and stand there for so long that he'd start shaking, finally jumping onto the bed when the shaking reached about eight on the Richter scale. He'd try to lie down, which was difficult because he was like having a little horse that weighed about 95 pounds climb into bed with you.

His best friend was Shmuley, a terrier with anger-management issues. Shmuley loved Homer in a way that Homer didn't quite appreciate, if you catch my drift. He'd lick Homer's ears and rub his butt on Homer's face. Homer tolerated it. He was a tolerant dog.

Homer liked chasing squirrels in the back yard. He once chased one right into a fence post, resulting in a close encounter with the emergency vet.

He lost his tail along the way. He suffered from what's known as happy tail. He'd get so happy that he'd wag his tail violently into walls, door jambs and furniture, causing some serious bleeding. His tail would spray blood all over the room. We often had to clean blood off the ceiling.

And then, last year, he was diagnosed with cancer. He had surgery and was OK for a while. Then the disease spread to his bones, and that was the end for Homer.

Even to the end, when Doc came to the house to end his life, he was Homer. He was happy to see Doc. He was always happy.

I wasn't there when the end came. I couldn't face it.

We buried him in the backyard, out in the corner where he chased squirrels.

He never did catch one.

Mike Argento's column appears Mondays and Fridays in Living and Sundays in Viewpoints.

ADOPT A GREYHOUND

If you're interested in adopting a retired racing dog, check out the greyhounds at Nittany Greyhounds at

nittanygrey.org

or Personalized Greyhounds at

pgreys.org.

Lots of good greyhound information is available at adopt-a-greyhound.org.

Baltimoresun.com June 27th 2007

By John Woestendiek

Nine greyhounds suffered broken legs at Massachusetts dog tracks in May,
according to state reports completed by racetrack veterinarians.

That brings to 820 the total number of dogs injured since the state began keeping such reports in 2002, greyhound advocates say.

“These broken legs are indisputable evidence of the cruel nature of this industry,” said Michael Markarian, Executive Vice President of The Humane Society of the United States.

“Dogs should be treated like part of the family, not profit machines at constant risk of suffering a serious injury.”

Broken legs comprise nearly 80 percent all greyhound injuries reported to the state each year. Other reported injuries include spinal cord paralysis, death from cardiac arrest and a broken neck, according to The Committee to Protect Dogs, an animal welfare organization dedicated to passing stronger dog protection laws in the state.

Last week, supporters of a ballot question to phase out commercial dog racing in the Massachusetts announced that they had collected 45,000 signatures with an all-volunteer effort, more than four times the number needed to place the Greyhound Protection Act on the November ballot.

If passed, the proposal would phase out commercial greyhound racing by 2010. Committee co-chairs include representatives of the MSPCA-Angell, the Humane Society of the United States and the greyhound protection group GREY2K USA.

Last weekend, GREY2K USA board member Charmaine Settle attended an auction at the recently shuttered Cloverleaf Kennel Club in Loveland, Colorado.

One hundred people were on hand, bidding on vehicles and equipment, signs, and even a mechanical rabbit. But Charmaine drove all the way from Boulder to celebrate the end to dog racing.

When she was asked by a local reporter why she was there, she made it clear it was for the greyhounds. “I guess I wanted to give one last farewell from someone who cares about the dogs,” she said. “I thought of the decades, of all the the dogs that ran there and what that meant to them.”

Hooray for the greyhounds! Cloverleaf is just one of eleven tracks to close or end live dog racing since 2004!

We will continue to update you as tracks close and the campaign to end dog racing thrives nationwide.

An audit shows Dairyland Greyhound Park at Kenosha lost $2.8 million in 2007. The parimutuel racetrack lost about the same amount in 2006, following a loss of $2.4 million in 2005.

Dairyland offers live greyhound racing, as well as simulcasting of thoroughbred and greyhound racing.

The Menominee Tribe has an option to buy the track for $40.5 million. The Menominee in partnership with the Mohegan tribe in Connecticut are awaiting regulatory approval to build a casino-convention center at the dog track.

Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com

They show 76 greyhounds broke their legs, an increase of 18.7 percent. The total number of injuries also increased to 462, up 19 percent.

The records said 363 of the 462 dogs hurt suffered muscle-related injuries, sprains or fractures.

Jenifer Barker, a state veterinarian who treats most of the injured dogs at Dairyland — which is the only remaining dog track in Wisconsin, said the condition of the track's surface and deterioration of the greyhound industry in general are reasons for the increased injuries.

The leader of a national organization opposed to greyhound racing has criticized oversight of dogs at the Dairyland, saying the number of injuries to them there in recent years "far exceeds the acceptable norm in dog racing or any other sport."

"This has been the case since the track was built in 1990," Susan Netboy, head of the Penn Valley, Calif.-based Greyhound Protection League, said Monday.

"Eighteen years of high injury rates suggests structural defects that cannot be fixed with resurfacing and grooming. For all of these years, management has been unwilling to effectively address this underlying problem, and hundreds of greyhounds have paid the price."

Bill Apgar, the track's general manager, dismissed Netboy's comments.

"Their agenda to shut down the industry is well-documented," he said. "We won't comment on such propaganda."

Apgar said the track has not been completely resurfaced since at least 1995. But he said the track is constantly maintained and groomed for the dogs.

"Nobody likes injuries," he said. "This is an athletic contest, and injuries do happen. We spare no expense in making the track as safe as we can."

Dave Picard of De Pere, president of the Retired Greyhound Athletes, a nonprofit that doesn't take a stance on the greyhounds racing issue but helps find homes for retired greyhounds, said the report of injuries is a concern.

"I hope they would take some steps to improve the track if that's the problem," Picard said. "If the statistics are correct, then perhaps the condition of the track can be improved."

Apgar said four full-time workers were employed to groom the track, as well as three part-timers. He also said that he, the maintenance director and the track's racing director monitor the track.

Not every injury is attributable to the track, Apgar said.

"A third of these injuries were injuries when the dogs were bumped in turns. Other injuries could be the result of genetics. Maybe the dog got bumped, didn't show any effects right away and the next time he ran, he broke down," he said.

Barker said there was not a policy among veterinarians around the country on how often a track needs to be resurfaced, but she said a rule of thumb is every three to five years.

Dan Subach, the state Gaming Division's chief steward at Dairyland, also said weather plays a role in injuries at Dairyland.

"And there is a concern that the quality of dogs Dairyland is getting is not as good as they've seen in the past," Subach said. "And that quality may be related to past health issues, or previous injuries. Finally, when dogs run well, they tend to be moved out to other tracks.

"We want to look at the kennels and the education and training at the kennels, and make sure they are putting a sound animal on the track."

Barker said the greyhound industry has been in decline for years, a victim of differing tastes and the growth of casino gambling.

"Some have called it a dying industry," she said. "There's not much money in it, and there isn't as high caliber of help as there used to be."

— Tony Walter/Press-Gazette

Greyhound Friends (USA) press release.

http://www.greyhound.org/newsDetails.cfm?newsID=37

On Monday, March 3rd, Kevin J. Schneider of Spruce Street, Watertown is expected to plead guilty in the Waltham District Court to charges that he starved and abused two greyhound dogs, Sari and Talca, who were in his custody for several months. Schneider adopted the dogs from Hopkinton based, Greyhound Friends, in the Spring of 2007.

He was arrested in November 2007 by Watertown Police after the MSPCA received reports that the weak and severely emaciated dogs had been dumped in Connecticut and Rhode Island. An intenstive investigation lead by Watertown Police Detective Joseph Kelly later connected Schneider to the abuse of the dogs who had lost more than half of their normal body weight when they were found. Sari died a few days after she was abandoned by Schneider in Rhode Island. Talca is recovering and has been adopted.

Schneider was arraigned in Connectiuct on related charges last month and faces an ongoing investigation by Rhode Island law enforcement authorities. Greyhound Friends and other greyhound advocates throughout the world have been watching Schneider's case closely. A representation of gravely concerned citizens is expected to appear for the Court proceeding on Monday. They remain hopeful that Schneider will be severely and appropriately punished for his crimes - not only for the extreme suffering he caused these dogs but also to send a strong message that animal abuse will not be tolerated. Schneider's criminal history in New Hampshire is expected to play a role in his sentencing.

On the night of October 27, a local man watched a black Chevy Suburban slow down on Route 6, a heavily travelled secondary road in the tiny town of Killingly, Connecticut. The passenger door opened, and while the vehicle was still rolling, something was pushed out. It hit the ground hard,and seemed to move slightly as the SUV sped off. The man walked over to see what had been thrown from the car. He was shocked to find a skeletal, white and black Greyhound looking up at him. As he reached for her, she wagged her tail, weakly.

An hour later, a black Suburban pulled up in a dark corner of the parking lot of the Miriam Hospital, in Providence, RI. It was pouring rain, and the driver was seen to get out of the vehicle, lift something from the back seat, and place it under a bush. After the Suburban sped off, a nurse investigated the object. She found a white and black Greyhound, so weak, she couldn't move.

Both dogs were transported to veterinarians. The Connecticut dog at 40 lbs, and was so thin, they weren't sure she was going to make it. The Rhode Island dog was 33lbs, and in even worse condition. Through their tattoos, it was discovered that both dogs had been adopted to a man in Watertown, MA, just five months before. Talca, the CT dog is now recovering: she has gained nearly 15lbs in the last two weeks. Sari, the dog found in Rhode Island lived for four days before she lost her battle.

The deaths of seven greyhounds at a West Memphis track this summer have prompted Arkansas racing officials to call for a review of the rules for handling racing dogs.

Members of the Arkansas Racing Commission said they were concerned about an Aug. 9 fight that erupted among a group of greyhounds at Southland Gaming and Racing's track. A state veterinarian told commissioners that one dog was dead when she arrived at the track. The others had to be euthanized.

Shane Bolender, Southland's racing director, told the commission the fight broke out among the dogs during 100-plus degree heat that afternoon when the dogs were in a "turnout pen."

"A fight erupted in the male pen, and it was two males going at it. There was a lot of extracurricular activity and excitement generated in the pen with the other dogs," Bolender told the commission. "It didn't take long for the dogs to overheat."

Bolender said the track discontinued its contract with the kennel company that oversaw the pen where the fight erupted.

In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, Southland said it won't renew its contract with the company, Washburn-Oregon Trail Kennel, for the 2008 season.

"We expect for those trainers and kennel owners who race at our venue to abide by the strict rules and best practices governing greyhound racing at racetracks around the country," the track said. "We have a zero tolerance for any mistreatment of animals in any kennel who race at Southland Park."

Lisa Robinson, a racing commission veterinarian assigned to the dog track, said one dog was dead when she arrived at the track and she had to euthanize two others. The other dogs were euthanized by a local veterinarian, she said.

"We had been at 102, 103 or sometimes higher...and basically we needed the proper amount of help there," Robinson said after Tuesday's commission meeting. "It was just a combination of things that just kind of came together."

Robinson said she couldn't remember any similar incidents occurring at the track during her 10 years there. She said only one person was supervising both the male and female turnout pens when the dog fight occurred.

Commission members asked Robinson to meet with track officials and members of the Arkansas Greyhound Association to discuss ways to prevent future incidents and possibly new rules for the supervision and operation of turnout pens at the race track.

"This has never happened before. I don't know if anyone anticipated something like this happening," said Byron Freeland, the commission's attorney. "If this could be a problem in the future, we may need a rule requiring proper supervision."

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The odds may be getting longer for dog and horse tracks in Florida.

An industry already hit heavily in recent decades by competition for the entertainment dollar is worried that a compact signed this week that gives the Seminole Indian tribe the nearly exclusive right to expanded gambling in much of Florida could hasten the demise of other forms of betting.

"I think it will probably put the nail in the coffin on this thing," said Richard B. Winning, one of the owners of the Derby Lane track in St. Petersburg and president of the American Greyhound Track Operators Association. "They never once came to the pari-mutuels and spoke to us."

The Seminoles and Gov. Charlie Crist signed an agreement Wednesday that allows the tribe to add Las Vegas-style slots and card games including blackjack at seven casinos on tribal land.

The state gets at least $100 million annually from the deal. The Seminoles get a situation in which it's unlikely any other expansions of gambling will occur in Florida outside of Miami-Dade or Broward Counties. If lawmakers do allow new forms of gambling in the rest of the state, the Seminoles will no longer have to give the state the money.

Among the tribe's casinos that will now be able to add full Vegas-style slots and new card games is the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in the Tampa area. It's already been blamed for poor attendance 10 miles away at the Tampa Greyhound Track, which ended live racing in August after 75 years.

Izzy Havenick, vice president of the family-run Naples-Fort Myers Dog Track, said he is deeply troubled by the compact, fearing that patrons will shun the track for a Seminole casino 37 miles away in Immokalee.

He called the deal between Crist and the tribe "a slap in the face of the entrepreneurial spirit of Florida," and to the hundreds of employees of the track in Bonita Springs.

Opponents of the move _ which also include those simply opposed to expanding gambling in the state _ are pinning some hopes on the Legislature, where there is also opposition to the agreement, particularly in the House. Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, has suggested lawmakers may sue to try to block the compact from going into effect.

Havenick said the racing industry is also trying to figure out how they might be able to help fight the deal.

Winning said the state could have raised more money than it gets from the deal if it had allowed the heavily taxed pari-mutuels to add slot machines.

While pari-mutuel facilities _ horse and dog tracks and jai-alai frontons _ in Broward County will still be able to add slots, some officials of those facilities also feel slighted, because they pay more of their take to the state than the Indians. Those facilities also aren't allowed to have expanded card games like blackjack or baccarat that are now permitted in the Seminole facilities.

Crist's chief of staff, George LeMieux, said negotiators in the governor's office did take into account the concerns of non-Indian gambling operations in Broward County, where voters have approved slot machines, noting three tracks there have already spent money to add slots. The state Constitution also would allow slots in Miami-Dade County, if voters approve it, though so far they have not.

"There's nothing in this agreement that prevents them from having more gaming," at pari-mutuel facilities in those two counties, said LeMieux.

But in other counties, the inability to push for more gaming adds to anxiety by track officials that theirs may be a business heading down the backstretch toward its end.

The Melbourne Greyhound Park cut most of its racing program this year, although it continues to host poker, which has proved very popular. The three tracks in the Jacksonville area have consolidated racing at one venue, and tracks in Orlando, the Miami area and Key West have all closed in the last couple decades.

___

Associated Press Reporter Mitch Stacy in Tampa contributed to this report.

We are proud to announce that over 100,000 signatures have been collected to help put the Massachusetts Greyhound Protection Act on the 2008 ballot!

In an all-volunteer effort, over 2,000 people worked together to help the greyhounds. As we send this update to you, a team of volunteer drivers is now delivering thousands of signatures to city and town clerks statewide.

The Greyhound Protection Act is a humane measure that will phase out the cruelty of dog racing, and close two dog tracks in Massachusetts. The initiative is sponsored by the Committee to Protect Dogs, which is comprised of GREY2K USA, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Humane Society of the United States.

Dogs at Wonderland and Raynham Parks are kept confined in small cages barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around for typically twenty hours per day. When racing, they face the risk of serious injury. According to state records, over 700 dogs have been hurt while racing since 2002. Injuries include broken bones, cardiac arrest, paralysis and seizures.

The closing of a dog track is the best possible news for greyhounds, and today we bring confirmation that two more dog tracks will be shut down within days.

On August 7, local Kansas voters rejected a proposal to approve slot machines at Wichita Greyhound Park. Within moments of the news, track owner Phil Ruffin announced the shutdown of his struggling facility. WGP will wind down activities within three months time.

Two days later, on August 9, the general manager of Florida’s Tampa Greyhound Track also announced an end to live racing. Citing low attendance, track owners will cease live racing operations on August 18.

With these closures, 36 operational tracks remain in 13 states.

Thanks to the efforts of greyhound advocates like you, six tracks will have closed and an additional two ended live racing within the past three years.

This trend will continue, and thousands of greyhounds will be spared if we all keep working.

Greyhound Protection Update - July 27, 2007

Greyhounds Win Victories in New Hampshire!

Friends,

We write today to report several wonderful advances in our campaign to end dog racing in New Hampshire!

The biggest news came last week, when Hinsdale Greyhound Park announced it is ending year-round racing. This means that as of Labor Day, all dog tracks in the state will race only seasonally, for just a few weeks each year. There will no more winter racing in New Hampshire!

Additionally, in June, lawmakers voted to end a taxpayer subsidy the tracks had been receiving for drug testing. Had it not been repealed, this ridiculous corporate welfare plan would have amounted to a $2 million subsidy for the tracks over the next four years. Earlier this year a broad coalition, including GREY2K USA and lawmakers from both parties, filed legislation to end this wasteful program.

This is the second time in two years that GREY2K USA has helped end a taxpayer subsidy to New Hampshire dog tracks. In 2006, we worked with lawmakers to eliminate an $325,000 annual subsidy the racetracks were receiving from the state’s Educational Trust Fund.

The tide is truly turning for greyhounds in the Granite State. Our promise to you is that we will keep working until Seabrook Greyhound Park, Hinsdale Greyhound Park and The Lodge at Belmont shut down for good.

It is hard to think of someone abusing greyhound dogs, but that is exactly what the state is investigating after dogs tested positive for cocaine and three others died from heat exhaustion.

The same trainer at the Daytona Beach Kennel Club cared for all of the dogs.

We are now learning that cocaine is not a performance-enhancing drug for race dogs and the animals may have ingested the drug by accident.

As for the heat exhaustion, each track has cooling procedures for the dogs after practice or race sessions. The kennel club general manager says he believes two of the three dogs that died were in fact cooled.

State workers say they test at least two dogs after every dog race for drugs, the winner of the race and another dog.

Derrick Z. Jackson

Michael Vick isn't alone

By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist | August 22, 2007

As Michael Vick plummets from celebrity to our national symbol of animal cruelty, there is an
unsettling question unanswered in all of the press coverage. Was he uniquely brutal or merely a
spectacular outlier for canine atrocities we allow every day?

This is not an apology for Mr. Vick and his accomplices in his dogfighting ring. The act of hanging,
drowning, electrocuting, and shooting pit bulls, just because they did not win, easily calls for
prison, penance, and other impoverishment, not to mention many therapists.

But the national outrage rings a bit hollow. It feels a bit too easy to condemn only this fool sick
enough to throw away a 10-year, $130 million football contract with the Atlanta Falcons and his
residual millions in endorsements for his mad dashes as quarterback.

It feels a bit easy because I am a former owner of a rescued greyhound.

You can go down last month's 18-page federal indictment against Vick and his codefendants and see
plenty of snippets such as these: "train and breed . . . for. . . competitions"; "destroying or
otherwise disposing of dogs not selected to stay"; "executed at least one dog that did not perform
well"; "executed at least two dogs that did not perform well"; "Vick possessed. . . approximately 54
American Pit Bull Terriers, some of which had scars and injuries."

Of course, you can apply the same phrases or similar ones to greyhound racing. Yet dog tracks
operate in about a quarter of our states, including Massachusetts. In 2000, animal rights activists
were able to place a ballot question before the Commonwealth's voters to ban greyhound racing.
Supporters of racing outspent the activists by nearly 4 to 1 and barely beat back the proposed ban,
51 percent to 49 percent.

Activists this month submitted an initiative petition to Attorney General Martha Coakley to put a
ban back on a statewide ballot, reasserting that "commercial dog racing is cruel and inhumane." How
cruel and inhumane is a bitter debate.

The California-based Greyhound Protection League estimates that in the two decades from 1986-2005,
606,633 dogs from the industry were killed: 184,604 puppies judged to be inferior for racing and
421,129 after their "careers" ended, usually by 4 years old.

Things are nowhere as bad as they once were. In its worst years, critics said greyhound racing was
death row for dogs. The website of the Greyhound Racing Association of America says that the peak
year for the sport was 1992, when $3.5 billion was bet at more than 50 tracks. That year happened to
come right at the end of a frenzied era in which, according to the Greyhound Protection League,
between 42,000 and 58,000 dogs were killed in the search for winners.

The Greyhound Racing Association says that dog betting, which is being supplanted by other forms of
legalized gambling, is down to about $2 billion at about 40 tracks. Hammered by bad publicity from
animal rights groups, the killing of dogs has dropped dramatically, down to 12,000 in 2005,
according to the Greyhound Protection League.

The Greyhound Racing Association and industry defenders deny there was ever any mass abuse. They say
that 90 percent of greyhounds are either adopted or kept alive for breeding. But over the years,
there have been dreadful stories, such as the man in Alabama who was arrested in 2002 for
slaughtering up to 3,000 used-up or losing dogs from the Florida tracks over a 10-year span.

Throughout the 1990s, there were several news reports of mass killings, dog abandonments, and
squalid kennel conditions. One trainer said that alleged dog electrocutions at one Idaho track were
akin to Auschwitz.

Those reports include the 1,200 over-the-hill greyhounds that were dumped on a Pittsfield shelter
from 1986 to 1991. In 2000, the Globe quoted John Perrault, the shelter manager for the
Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, on the conditions at Pittsfield. "I
saw wounds, gashes, infections, broken legs that were left untreated. I saw dehydration, starvation,
infestation of parasites," Perrault said. ". . . Owners made it clear they wanted the dogs killed."

There is no difference between this and what Vick did, other than that dogfighting is illegal and
greyhound racing remains legal in many states. For his depraved hobby, Vick will be shamed with
prison stripes. Greyhound racing, despite its primitive exploitation of dogs, remains a $2 billion
business even today.

Two-week suspension spurred by confrontation over euthanizing dog

By Dale Quinn

arizona daily star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.05.2007

A Tucson Greyhound Park kennel owner, widely supported by dog-adoption groups, had his operations shut down and his license suspended for being drunk on the job, the track's Board of Stewards ruled Tuesday night.

The suspension stems from a Friday night incident when kennel owner David Blair tried to keep a veterinarian from euthanizing an injured greyhound, said Tom Taylor, the track's general manager.

The Arizona Department of Racing charged Blair with intoxication, disorderly conduct and disrupting the orderly operation of racing.

The department director, Geoffry Gonsher, said he could not speak directly to Blair's charges. However, he said "any time a licensee is under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, he poses a risk to other licensees and the animals."

The Board of Stewards, which consists of two state track officials and one local official, fined Blair $500, suspended his license for two weeks and referred the case to Gonsher.

Blair said he will appeal the decision.

Blair, who had been working as a trainer Friday night, was asked to go to the paddocks at the greyhound track at 2601 S. Third Ave. because he was intoxicated and acting belligerent toward customers, Taylor said.

"He was pretty drunk," he said.

Blair said he did not act confrontational with any customers and, if that was the case, he should have been kicked out.

Blair said that while caring for his dogs in the paddocks he noticed someone carrying a greyhound into a veterinarian's office and he went into the office to check out the dog's condition.

The dog didn't appear to have a serious injury, Blair said. He asked if the vet was going to wrap the injured leg and he learned the decision had been made to euthanize the animal.

Taylor said the dog suffered a fracture, and while it could have walked again, it would have been in pain the rest of its life.

Once the track vet and the owner decided to euthanize the dog, a state vet looked at the animal and approved the decision, Taylor said.

"Both vets felt it was the humane thing to do and the owner felt it was the humane thing to do," Taylor said.

Blair acknowledged he'd been drinking in the afternoon and he said refused to let track officials kill the dog. He said in his more than 20 years' experience with greyhounds, he's never euthanized a dog.

Taylor persuaded the dog's owner to try to sell it and Taylor offered it to Blair for $200. Blair said he didn't have that much money and he was afraid to leave the dog alone.

"They wanted to put it down because that's the easiest thing to do," Blair said.

The dog continued suffering as Blair stalled the vets, Taylor said, so he called the South Tucson Police Department and Blair was escorted off the property.
Once outside, Blair learned his license to operate his kennels in Phoenix and Tucson had been suspended by the Arizona Department of Racing. Blair said he owns about 140 greyhounds and the suspension, which went into effect on Friday, means none can race.

So far this year, Taylor said, five greyhounds have been euthanized after suffering injuries at Tucson Greyhound Park. Four had broken legs and one had a broken back.

"We have many dogs that have minor breaks and they are never euthanized," Taylor said.
But Joe Romack, who came to the hearing in support of Blair and is connected to many adoption agencies, said killing the dog was unnecessary.
"There have been some injuries where a dog needs to be put down," he said. "But in this case it's a dog that could easily have been saved."

Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 629-9412 or dquinn@azstarnet.com.

Comment from a USA based greyhound campaigner: I went to this kangaroo court hearing and took a few notes:

Although David Blair said he had a few beers during the afternoon, TGP called the South Tucson police to remove him from the premises. The police did not handcuff him. They did not give him a breath-o-lyzer test. They dropped him off at a nearby Circle-K (convenience store) where there were children and families.

The dog in question had a broken hock. She was not screaming out in pain. Blair offered to take her and even called the kennel coordinator from Arizona Greyhound Rescue who was on her way to pick up Missy.

Since Blair was not the owner of the dog, a phone call ensued and he was told he could have the dog for $200. He didn’t have $200. While he was taken away by the police, the dog was euthanized.

The trainer Kevin Matthieu said (I wrote this down verbatim), “It’s always my standard option to put down dogs…” Sixty supporters of Blair collectively GASPED.

If David had $200 in his pocket that night, Missy would’ve lived.

There was some discrepancy by the track personnel as to how many people have to sign off on a dog before putting her down.

David Blair claims that in his 30 years of racing, he has never euthanized a dog. Arizona Greyhound Rescue receives many dogs that he brings to us who were going to be put down because of oops litters, older brood mamas, broken legs, etc. I’m sure other groups receive these dogs too.

The state track vet said that if Missy had surgery – yes, she could be a pet.

Tom Taylor is the GM of TGP and the acting president of GPA-Tucson. Scary. That just goes to prove how in bed GPA is with the racing industry. I would think this is a conflict of interest.

The bottom line here is that greyhound racing is indeed a blood sport as dogs are still dying – needlessly. The above quote from Taylor leaves out some other dogs that died over July 4. One is Bert who was taken by a TGP kennel operator to a local emergency vet to be euthanized -

http://www.azgreyhoundrescue.org/html/bert-ernie.html and the other is a dog that went to another greyhound adoption group and died after vomiting up stones/rocks and seizures. Do these deaths just fall through the cracks? Is this a reason the NGA doesn’t have a good count of how many dogs die every year?

The three stewards made their unanimous decision quicker than it takes most people to order dinner that Blair was guilty, his license is suspended for 14 days, and a $500 fine. He’s appealing.

The issue is not so much about David Blair but rather how arrogant Tucson Greyhound Park is and how disposable greyhounds are.

Read the following story for more info:

BOSTON, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

In anticipation of a debate over the proposed ballot question to phase out
dog racing in the Bay State, the Committee to Protect Dogs today released
a report outlining animal welfare problems at two commercial dog tracks in
Massachusetts.

"This report documents our concerns with greyhound racing, which
includes the number of injuries and the almost constant confinement of
dogs," said Carter Luke, Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA)-Angell.

The report documents specific animal welfare issues at these
facilities, including:

-- Since 2002, there have been 728 reported greyhound injuries at these
tracks. Nearly 80% involved broken bones, and other reported injuries
include dislocations, ruptures, lacerations, head trauma, instant
death, cardiac arrest, paralysis and seizures.

-- At Massachusetts racetracks, dogs live in small cages for 20 or more
hours per day with barely enough room for them to stand up or turn
around. Both tracks require a population of over 1,000 dogs in order
to function as gambling businesses.

-- In the Spring of 2005, 19 dogs at Wonderland Greyhound Park died from
a mysterious illness that was later proven to be a form of horse flu
that had never before jumped species.

-- To reduce costs, dogs at these tracks are fed meat that has been
deemed unfit for human consumption. Because this meat is fed to the
dogs raw, it can cause dogs to be exposed to serious pathogens such
as Salmonella.

-- In late 2003 and early 2004, a dog tested positive for cocaine twice
at Wonderland Greyhound Park.

-- Efforts to protect greyhounds through the legislative and regulatory
processes have not succeeded. Voters have no choice but to seek
relief through the initiative process.

-- Commercial dog racing is a dying industry in Massachusetts. Between
2002 and 2006, the total amount gambled at Wonderland Greyhound Park
and Raynham Park declined by 57% and 35%, respectively.

All information contained in the report relates specifically to
Wonderland Greyhound Park and Raynham Park. In addition, all information is
recent, and based on state records, industry statements, and/or reports by
mainstream news organizations. All photographs were taken by the
Massachusetts dog tracks themselves.

The Committee to Protect Dogs is a state ballot question committee
dedicated to passing stronger dog protection laws in the Commonwealth.

Committee co-chairs include representatives of the MSPCA-Angell, The Humane
Society of the United States and greyhound protection group GREY2K USA. For
more information, visit http://www.ProtectDogs.org.

ELECTRONIC COPY OF REPORT AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Read the following story for more info:

Racing foes to release report detailing dog injuries
Seek referendum to ban the sport

By April Simpson, Boston Globe Staff | September 5, 2007

Massachusetts racetracks reported 728 injuries to greyhound dogs in the past five years, with nearly 80 percent involving broken bones, according to a report by an animal rights group to be released today.

The report by the Committee to Protect Dogs - culled from reports submitted to the state by racetrack operators - also details incidents in 2005, when 19 dogs died at Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere from a form of horse flu. A couple of years earlier, the report said, a dog tested positive twice for cocaine.

Calling the toll inhumane, the Committee to Protect Dogs hopes to put a referendum on the 2008 ballot asking voters to end greyhound racing in the state by 2010. A referendum bid to end dog racing narrowly failed in 2000.

"There are dogs that are breaking their necks," said Christine Dorchak, cochairwoman of the committee. "It's just not acceptable. Every dog injured counts."

But officials at the parks argue that the state's numbers tell an exaggerated story, because, unlike the owners of dogs kept for pets, the tracks must report every injury regardless of how minor it is. Track operators said racing greyhounds are neutered by a veterinarian authorized by the state Racing Commission, are kept in crates large enough for a Saint Bernard, spend most of their time outside their cages, and maintain a healthy diet. Park officials said that the veterinarian checks the dogs after each race and that the parks typically have a 100 percent adoption rate for dogs that are no longer raced.

"They have to get out, they have to run around, and they have to exercise," said Gary Temple, kennel manager at Raynham Park, the only other track in the state. "I'm a dog lover myself. I would never work at a place that inhumanely treated dogs."

Between 2002 and June 2007, the antiracing group's report states, 439 dogs were injured at Raynham and 289 dogs at Wonderland. The report also alleges that, to save costs, the dogs are fed raw meat unfit for human consumption. Racing officials contend the meat is of high quality.

The report is being released as Governor Deval Patrick considers whether to support casino gambling, a measure animal rights advocates are concerned could jump-start dog racing.

"If there were no casino-style gambling permitted, it would just be a matter of time before greyhound racing stops, because the fan base is limited and aging," said Wayne Pacelle, president of the national Humane Society.

April Simpson can be reached at asimpson@globe.com.

The owner of one of the other kennels called Arizona Greyhound Rescue and alerted them about the dog and they were en route to come get the dog and take care of his medical needs.

The owner of the dog decided instead to put him down, which was totally not necessary. The police were called to prevent the other owner from trying to save the dog and stop the murder.

Sadly, the owner of the other kennel now faces disciplinary action for stepping in and getting involved.

On Tuesday Sept. 4th at 5:10 pm there will be a meeting at the state offices at Tucson Greyhound Park to determine his future. Please show up and support him as well as protest the inhumane behavior towards dogs.

GA comment: Just another example of the global nature of greyhound abuse ... wherever there is organised greyhound racing ... there is also cruelty.

Dogs play an important role in our lives. They are friends, companions, and part of our community. They are dependent on us for food, shelter and compassion, and deserve to be protected from individuals and industries that would do them harm.

That is why we must work together to end commercial dog racing, a cruel activity in which dogs are used as racing machines to generate gambling profits for wealthy racetrack owners. It is also why we must defeat the latest casino scheme by racetrack owners that is designed to keep their cruel racetrack businesses alive.

Dogs at commercial racetracks live lives of nearly endless confinement. At two racetracks in our state, more than two thousand dogs are confined in small cages barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around for long hours each day.

Ironically, the primary release from confinement that these dogs are afforded – the few times per month when they are transferred from the kennel compound to a nearby racetrack to compete – is also wrought with peril. According to the State Racing Commission, over the past four years more than six hundred dogs have been injured while competing at commercial racetracks in Massachusetts, including dogs that suffered broken legs, cardiac arrest, seizures, spinal cord paralysis and a broken neck. Three quarters of these injuries were broken bones.

For years, grassroots volunteers and animal protection organizations have worked to end this cruelty, and are on the verge of achieving this important goal. In 2000, a ballot question to outlaw dog racing was defeated by the narrowest of margins, 51% to 49%. To defeat the proposal, wealthy racetrack owners spent nearly two million dollars on glossy television ads in an attempt to reassure voters that dog racing is somehow humane.

Earlier this year, a ballot question that would have phased out dog racing and strengthened other dog protection laws was poised to go before voters after volunteers collected over 150,000 signatures. However, at the eleventh hour the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the measure could not be voted on due to a legal technicality.

Despite this setback, we are optimistic that voters will be given a chance in 2008 to end this animal cruelty. If they are given a chance, we believe that voters will make the compassionate choice and end commercial dog racing.
Our efforts to end dog racing, though, may be running short of time.

The same wealthy racetrack owners who have profited from this animal cruelty for decades have found a way to try to save their dying businesses: prop them up with casino gambling.

While there is no logical connection between slot machine gambling and commercial dog racing, logic has rarely stopped lobbyists and political insiders on Beacon Hill from writing laws that benefit their clients and campaign contributors. Thus a strange marriage of convenience has been forged on the casino gambling issue: lawmakers will try to give commercial racetracks the exclusive right to operate slot machines, with the caveat that the racetracks will be required by law to continue holding dog races, and if racetrack owners will agree to use millions of dollars in slot machine profits to subsidize dog breeders.

Passing this kind of backwards gambling proposal would not only legalize casino gambling in the Commonwealth, it would also guarantee that the cruelty of dog racing would continue for decades, regardless of whether racetrack owners were profiting from the races themselves or not.

Please help us defeat this cynical gambling proposal. Tell your state lawmakers that you are opposed to propping up dog racing with casino gambling profits. Then join with us to collect signatures for a ballot question in 2008 to end dog racing altogether. The dogs that are now suffering at commercial racetracks in our state don’t have a voice, and are counting on us to speak for them.

For more information on how you can help

www.grey2kusa.org

The document, released by the greyhound protection organization GREY2K USA, is a compilation of injury records maintained by the Massachusetts State Racing Commission. This is the first public release of this information since the passage of a 2001 state law requiring that area dog tracks report on greyhound injuries.

"This is the first time lawmakers will know what is happening to racing greyhounds in Massachusetts," said GREY2K USA Vice President Chrsitine Dorchak. "It is our hope that this new information will cause them to rethink a cruel industry and support a phase out of dog racing."

According to state records, 481 greyhounds were injured between 2002 and 2004. Reported injures included broken legs, fractures, dislocations, cardiac arrest, spontaneous seizures, sudden collapse before or after racing, spinal cord paralysis, severed tails, bleeding toes, lacerated eyes, a puncture wound and a broken neck. A total of 28 greyhounds died
or were reported euthanized.

"Racetrack owners claim this is a safe sport, but the catastrophic injuries described by track vets refute that claim," said Dorchak. "When voters learn the truth about this cruel industry, they will outlaw dog racing."

Greyhound Action Comment:

This report makes horrific reading, but the situation in the UK is certainly no better.

Unlike in Massachusetts, the UK greyhound racing industry does not keep a record of injuries (wonder why?) and there is no legal requirement for information on injuries to be released to the public.

However, according to experienced greyhound vet Paddy Sweeney, an average of over 10,000 greyhounds per year have suffered injury on British tracks since commercial dog racing began in the UK.

PROVIDENCE -- Lincoln Park may have to shut down its racing simulcast
arrangement with 10 gambling entities across the country that are named
in a federal indictment tying them to the Gambino organized crime
family.

The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation will hold a hearing
this afternoon demanding that the park, which still has problems of its
own stemming from a federal indictment, show cause why its permission to
transmit to the 10 entities should not be suspended.

Lincoln Park spokesman Michael Trainor said the track "is going to
follow the direction of the DBR."

In January, federal prosecutors in New York issued an 88-count
indictment charging 17 defendants with operating an illegal gambling
business that, over the last four years, brokered more than $200 million
in bets on horse racing and other sporting events.

Among those named in the indictment were Richard Hart, general manager
of Lakes Region Greyhound Park in Belmont, N.H., and his assistant,
Jonathan Broome. The DBR order for the hearing says Hart and Broome "are
alleged to have illegally transferred gambling wagers and proceeds
through International Players Association LLC," of which Hart is a
principal and Broome is an employee.

Besides the Lakes Region race track, the other entities named in the
indictment include Racing and Gaming Services (St. Kitts); Euro Track
(Isle of Man); Tonkawa Indian Reservation (Oklahoma); Coeur d’Alene
Casino (Idaho); International Racing Corp. (Curacao); Elite Turf Club
(Curacao); Excelsior Casino (Aruba); Capital Sports Limited (Australia),
and Darwin All Sports (Australia).

Following the indictment, Churchill Downs, Inc., the race track that
holds the Kentucky Derby, cut off its simulcast races at Lakes Region
Greyhound Park. Two tracks in Florida suspended their broadcasts, and
racing regulators in New York barred New York tracks from broadcasting
their races to the New Hampshire track.

Most of the wagering at Lakes Region is from televised races. Lincoln
Park currently has a contract to send simulcasts of its dog races to
Lakes Region Greyhound Park. The indictment was brought to DBR’s
attention by the greyhound protection group GREY 2K USA.

Not suspending its simulcast signal, said Carey Theil, president of GREY
2K USA, "would leave Lincoln Park out of step with other facilities
resolving this difficult problem."

At the time the indictments were handed down, Lincoln Park’s Trainor
said, "we checked with the New Hampshire Racing Commission and they
(Lakes Region) were still licensed and properly regulated."

Trainor differentiated this case from the track’s ongoing legal problems
-- the U.S. Attorney this week announced he would retry 20 counts of a
bribery conspiracy case that a federal jury failed to reach verdicts on.

"In New Hampshire, the integrity of the gaming process is in question,"
Trainor said. "That is not the case with our pending situation."

The DBR "emergency order" says Lincoln Park’s "relationship to the
defendants in the federal indictment and the 10 racing entities may
affect the operation and integrity of (Lincoln Park’s) gaming activities
and public confidence in (its) operations. It scheduled a hearing at 2
p.m. today at its offices at 233 Richmond St. in Providence. Catherine
R. Warren was appointed hearing officer.

Jeff Neal, spokesman for Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri, said the
governor "believes DBR is making the correct public policy decision to
examine whether Lincoln Park should be able to continue to simulcast"
races to the New Hampshire track.

The Oregon Racing Commission fines three workers who set up an alias
account for wagers in 2004 at Multnomah Greyhound Park

In an effort to reverse the decline in betting profits at Multnomah
Greyhound Park, track managers encouraged an employee who is a skilled
and high-volume bettor to set up a wagering account using a fake name,
according to the Oregon Racing Commission.

Three employees of the company that runs Multnomah Greyhound Park,
including the dog racetrack's manager at the time, were sanctioned and
fined by the Oregon Racing Commission for violating state wagering rules
during the dog park's 2004 racing season.

Tom Weaver, the presiding state judge for the racing commission, said
Jeff Grady, who was general manager of Multnomah Greyhound Park and
Portland Meadows, and Patrick Kerrison, the tracks' operations manager
at the time, were both fined $1,000 for asking a mutuel manager to use
an alias for betting on greyhound races, a violation of the racing
commission's rules. Kevin Ciula, the mutuel manager, was fined $1,100
and suspended for six months.

No criminal investigation is being conducted because no laws appear to
have been violated.

The amount of money bet on live racing at the greyhound park has seen a
precipitous drop in the past 10 years, from $25 million in 1995 to $8.2
million last year, racing commission officials said.

Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns and operates the greyhound park
and Portland Meadows, is weighing whether to extend its lease when it
expires at the end of the year because of increasing competition from
the lottery and tribal casinos.

Irregularities in wagering by employees came to light in mid-May.

"We got wind that wagering was occurring, and I ordered an
investigation," said Weaver, who's worked in greyhound racing for more
than 40 years and also works in retail advertising at The Oregonian.

Weaver said that on March 29, Ciula, who worked at the greyhound park in
Wood Village for 17 years, used the name "Steve Stevens" to place bets
through the so-called players reward club run by Magna. To be admitted,
members must wager at least $8,000 to $10,000 a month, Weaver said.

He said the racing commission found that Grady and Kerrison had set up
Ciula's account using the false name.

"We had never seen anything like this before," Weaver said, "so we
turned over the results of the investigation to the commission, and they
levied the fines against Jeff and Patrick."

In August, Weaver found that Ciula had set up a wagering account using
an alias and set up another account using his wife's name.

Weaver said that neither Grady or Kerrison stood to gain financially
from Ciula's wagering and that their actions did not affect the outcome
of races.

Ciula bet on 41 greyhound races during the 2004 season. On July 7, he
cashed in a winning ticket under his wife's name that paid $21,649,
according to Weaver's ruling.

"Ciula was a heavy bettor and a great handicapper," Weaver said. "They
(Grady and Kerrison) wanted to take care of him to increase business,
and in doing so violated ORC rules."

Ciula asked for a stay of his punishment, but the racing commission's
executive director, Jodi Hanson, denied the request.

According to the minutes of a Sept. 22 meeting, the five-member
commission heard arguments from Ciula's attorney, Charles Williamson,
who said Ciula was asked by his employer to use the fake name while
wagering at the track for the rewards program.

Williamson also argued that no one ever suggested that Ciula was not
allowed to bet and that he never kept his wagering a secret. Although he
sometimes performed the duties of a manager, he held the job title of
mutuel clerk for the past nine years. Under racing commission rules,
track managers and race officials are forbidden to bet while on duty.

Ciula told the commission that Steve Roden, the racing commission's hub
wagering supervisor, was "well aware that he was betting on races"
according to racing commission documents. In his defense, Ciula
submitted an affidavit from Keith Jones, the greyhound park's director
of mutuels, also saying that Roden knew about Ciula's betting.

Roden tendered his resignation last week, effective Dec. 31. He declined
to comment on the investigation Wednesday. But he; Steve Walters,
chairman of the racing commission board; and Hanson said the wagering
irregularities at the greyhound park had nothing to do with his
departure.

Hanson said Roden was placed on administrative leave Sept. 9 based on an
outside complaint filed against him that was unrelated to racing.

Despite advice from the attorney general's office not to stay the
sanctions against Ciula, the commission met in executive session and did
issue a stay, reducing Ciula's suspension to three weeks and making him
pay the $1,100 fine. He was also placed on six months' probation.

"In granting the stay," Walters said, "we considered the hardship on
him. He had a clean record. He knows that if he violates the rules
again, the penalties will be more severe."

Chris Dragone, who replaced Grady on Oct. 1, said Grady no longer worked
for Magna.

Racing commission officials said Grady left his position to move to
Pennsylvania and be with his family, a decision they say he'd made
earlier this year.

Kerrison now works at Portland Meadows as director of publicity, Dragone
said. Magna's chief executive and president, Jim McAlpine, did not
return phone calls made to his office Wednesday.

In addition to the fine, Kerrison was placed on six months' probation,
Walters said. Kerrison and Grady could not be reached for comment
Wednesday.

Cary Theil, president of the Boston-based advocacy group Grey2K USA,
which opposes greyhound racing in Oregon and the United States, said he
was disappointed that illegal wagering took place at the track.

"When multiple track employees, including high-level managers, are
caught plotting a scheme to wager under a false name, the integrity of
the entire operation is called into question," Theil said.

The commissioners' decision to overrule Hanson's decision not to order a
stay of Ciula's suspension showed that their relationship with Magna was
too "cozy," he said.

"It's a classic case of the fox guarding the henhouse," he said. "They
turned to the attorney general's liaison, who said they were not on
solid ground, and then granted the stay. It calls into question the
objectivity of the commissioners."

Hanson said that the commissioners deserved "a lot of credit for taking
all violations seriously" and that the punishments meted out in this
case fit the violations.

Stuart Tomlinson: 503-294-5940; stuarttomlinson@news.oregonian.com

Greyhound electrocuted, maimed during race
California group wants investigation of incident at Mobile Greyhound Park

By RON COLQUITT
Staff Reporter

The Greyhound Protection League of California has called for an investigation into the Sept. 26 death of a greyhound named Gallant Dixie that the organization said was electrocuted and maimed during a race at Mobile Greyhound Park.

A similar accident resulted in the death of a greyhound at a race track in Birmingham about three years ago, according to the Associated Press.

Based on an eyewitness account by Rachel Logan of Mobile, described in a letter Logan wrote to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the 3-year-old dog bumped into other greyhounds in a turn and fell, Lenka Perron, a League representative, said Friday by telephone from her Michigan home.

Perron said the dog was dazed by the collision and staggered backward into the electrically charged rail that powers a motor that runs the lure the dogs chase.

At MGP, the lure is a large, white, fake bone attached to a pole a few feet off the ground that juts out in front of the dogs and coaxes them around the track.

Gallant Dixie suffered an electric shock when she staggered backward into the rail, Perron said. Track workers shut the electricity to the rail off, but the motor and the attached lure continued around the track striking the dog, she said.

In a letter written by Logan, and faxed to the Mobile Register by Perron, Logan says the badly injured dog "cried for a few seconds," after suffering the electric shock.

"The lure came back around (the track) and ripped her back, right leg off," the letter says. "She (dog) died from blood loss and the electrocution."

Contacted at home Friday, Logan said she wrote the letter because she "couldn't rest until something was done because it was so horrible."
Perron also faxed the newspaper a letter she sent to Eddie Menton, chairman of the Mobile County Racing Commission.

The letter to Menton calls for a thorough investigation of the dog's death and asks that MGP update its equipment to prevent similar accidents in the future.

The motor with the attached lure continues around the track even after electric power is shut off, Perron said. She said it's designed that way so that the dogs don't collide with each other and the pole if electric power is cut. Newer versions, she said, have a retractable arm that flies up when the electric power is cut.

By raising the pole automatically, there is no danger of the dogs running into the pole or being struck by it as it continues around the track while slowing down after the electric power is cut.

Perron also asked that the rail and other electric equipment operating the lure be better insulated so there is no danger of dogs or humans suffering electric shocks.

Menton said Friday that he had gotten the letter from Perron and track officials are investigating the series of events that led to the dog's death, but he didn't think the track was at fault.

"It's an unfortunate accident, and we are all saddened when something like this happens," Menton said. "This happens to all athletes. They sustain injuries and sometimes with these dogs and (racing) horses the injuries can be fatal."

Menton, of Mobile, confirmed that the dog had been killed in the accident and said he was not aware of a similar incident at the Mobile track, but had heard of the fatal accident at a track in Birmingham.
According to Menton, MGP has the very latest equipment to operate the lure and its motor and he was not aware of other tracks with better or newer equipment.

"Our procedures are fine, the equipment is fine," Menton said. "I don't know at this time of any planned changes."
But if necessary, the track will make changes to the equipment in order to prevent future deaths and injuries, Menton said.

"We operate a very safe racing commission and we make sure the rules are followed and the equipment is up to the standards it is supposed to be," he said.

Severely injured greyhound put to sleep

Officials at Palm Beach Kennel Club destroyed a greyhound Sunday after it was severely injured during the seventh race. Shortly before 3 p.m., as the dogs left the gate, a dog bumped Leta's Princess into the rail, said Theresa Hume, director of public relations for the kennel club.

The dog did not get up in time, and the mechanical lure struck her as it traveled around the second time, Hume said.

The track veterinarian quickly decided to put the dog down, she said. The races continued after the accident.

GOOD NEWS FOR GREYHOUNDS IN CONNECTICUT

Another victory for animals! The Connecticut legislature's Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee has not released legislation that would allow high-stakes bingo and keno at the Plainfield and Bridgeport racing tracks. In the absence of casino gambling, attendance at these Connecticut tracks will no doubt continue to decline--hopefully marking the beginning of the end of greyhound racing there. Connecticut animal lovers, to find out how you can get involved in current efforts to pass humane legislation in your state, please visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center online

http://www.aspca.org/site/R?i=8PDTzo4hDyIXSXLRAGHJvQ...

HASKINS -- The Wood County sheriff is investigating a gruesome case of animal mutilation.

The bodies of about a dozen greyhounds were found along railroad tracks in northern Wood County Thursday night.Fred Pine, a volunteer for Team Greyhound, was notified of the heinous crime and then he notified the sheriffs department.

The dogs were skinned and had their ears removed* to make it impossible to track their origin.

Team Greyhound is a rescue agency for the breed because they are frequently disposed of in this manner.

If you have any information on this crime contact the Wood County sheriffs department at (419)243-3441. All tips will be kept anonymous.

*Note:every racing greyhound has an identity code tattooed in their ears for purposes of identification. The fact that the ears were removed is proof that these dogs were racers.

Distemper suspected in greyhound deaths

As a kennel cough epidemic continues to suspend live greyhound racing at tracks across Florida, necropsies have shown that two animals from a St. Petersburg track died of different pathogens, according to David Roberts, director of the state's Pari-Mutuel Wagering division.

Possibly more alarming: Tissue samples from a dog housed at Florida Kennels in Hialeah have tested suspicious for distemper.

Kennel cough is a flulike condition that's temporarily debilitating but seldom fatal. Distemper, a viral disease, is often fatal. Racing greyhounds are supposed to be vaccinated against both.

Dr. Peter Fernandes, who runs Aardvark Animal Hospital in Hialeah, said he recently has seen several fatal cases of what he believes is distemper among greyhounds at Florida Kennels, near Flagler Dog Track.

Article from GREY2K USA, 6/11/2002 www.grey2kusa.org or info@grey2kusa.org

GEORGIA: Amendment 6 - VICTORY - 71% to 29%.

The approval of Amendment 6, to create a special spay/neuter license plate, will bring sorely-needed funds to spay/neuter programs. Money from the sales of the special "animal-friendly" license plates will subsidize low-cost companion animal sterilization programs in the state, preventing the birth and ultimate euthanasia of tens of thousands of unwanted cats and dogs. Georgia joins nineteen other states that already have a special animal-friendly license plate and, like them, Georgia will help raise millions of dollars to combat the problem of companion animal overpopulation and the suffering it causes.

Three More Arrested in Connection with Greyhound Killings in Alabama

Authorities in Baldwin County, Alabama arrested three more people on felony animal cruelty charges on November 7 in connection with nearly 2,000 greyhounds found shot to death in May on an 18-acre property in Lillian, Alabama. The town is just across the state line from Florida, where more than a third of the greyhound race tracks in the United States are located.

All three people arrested were based in Florida. They are Ursula O'Donnell, who was arrested at Melbourne Greyhound Park in Melbourne, Florida; Paul Discolo, Jr., who was arrested at Ebro Greyhound Park in Chipley, Florida; and John W. Smith, who was arrested in Marathon, Florida.

The total number of arrests now stands at four. Back in May, authorities also charged Robert Rhodes, 68, with three separate felonies. Rhodes admitted he was paid $10 a dog to kill thousands of greyhounds since the 1960s, using a .22-caliber pistol to shoot the animals in the head. At the time, Rhodes claimed ignorance about any laws concerning humane euthanasia of animals.

The method used to kill the dogs in Lillian has animal-protection advocates and investigators alike wondering how much the animals suffered before death. Investigators said that some dogs may not have died instantly and could have been struggling for survival in a corpse-laden pit where they were thrown after being shot. According to an Associated Press story dated November 8, investigators believe the dogs were shipped from greyhound tracks across Florida to Pensacola, located across the state line from Lillian, where Rhodes would pick them up.

"We commend the prosecutors and investigators for following up on their initial arrest, and pursuing this matter across state lines. This situation appears to be a conspiracy, originating from Florida and ending in Alabama, and we look forward to an aggressive prosecution of these charges and a meaningful sentence, including prison time, for all who are found guilty," said Brian Sodergren, an issues specialist with The Humane Society of the United States.

"For years, the greyhound racing industry has vehemently denied its involvement in the disposal of unwanted animals, but this case would appear to blow the lid off their claims," Sodergren added. "The only way to put an end to the killing of greyhounds is to put an end to greyhound racing.

" The greyhound industry breeds tens of thousands of dogs every year. While some race for several years, many more aren't fast enough to compete. A small percentage of greyhounds are adopted, but many more are killed, sold for research, or sent to overseas tracks where conditions are far worse than in the United States. In 2000, an estimated 19,000 greyhounds were killed.

Of 46 greyhound race tracks operating in 15 states, Florida is home to more than a third of them. Seven states have bans on live greyhound racing; yet in the states where greyhound racing exists, a strong lobby ensures its survival despite dwindling attendance and revenue. In the past decade, 16 tracks have either closed or stopped hosting live racing. "The public knows this so-called 'sport' is nothing more than exploitation and cruelty to man's best friend, which is why the tracks keep losing customers and continue to ask for government handouts," says Sodergren. "It's time lawmakers stop the tax break, stop the handouts, and listen to the will of the people. Greyhound racing must end."

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