All greyhounds under 24 months are classified as puppies and introduced to the idea of running around the age of 12 months, after initial school trials, most young dogs that reach a “timely ranking” will make their race debut between 15 and 18 months. 3. Greyhounds are born to run and love running. There is a big difference between running and letting a dog enjoy a good run on a terrain. Dogs may look like they`re having fun on the track, but unfortunately that`s not the case. In Australia, Ireland, Macau, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, greyhound racing is for entertainment and pleasure, but also for the gaming industry. Each Greyhound adoption has its own fees. You can search for your local Greyhound Pets of America (GPA) chapter to get an introduction. Usually, fees range from $250 to $500. The fee covers the costs of castration, teeth cleaning, vaccinations and physical examinations. Greyhound racing in the United States is a sporting and gaming activity. The industry is regulated by state or local laws and greyhound care is regulated by the National Association of State Racing Commission and the American Greyhound Council (AGC).

[1] The MCO is jointly operated by the National Greyhound Association. [2] In the 1970s, concerns about overreproduction and humane treatment of greyhounds began to emerge. Many of these concerns are due to greyhound breeding practices that have been uncovered. Only 30% of raised greyhounds go to a race track. The rest are either given away or euthanized simply because they don`t have the potential to win. Greyhound Racing: The Controversy, Dogoday (last visited 25. April 2019), available at dogoday.com/2018/08/29/greyhound-racing-controversy/. Greyhounds that arrive on the track suffer numerous injuries such as broken legs and necks, cardiac arrest and spinal cord paralysis. Even when greyhounds are off-runway, they are housed in kennels for up to 20 hours a day or kept outdoors with minimal protection. Greyhound Racing, ASPCA (last visited May 9, 2019), available on www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty/other-animal-issues/greyhound-racing. In the 1990s, states began revoking their pari-mutuel betting license on dog racing. As a result, greyhound racing is now illegal in 41 states.

The History of Greyhound Racing in the United States, Advocacy for Animals (September 7, 2015), available at advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2015/09/the-history-of-greyhound-racing-in-the-united-states/. In addition to state laws and regulations, most routes adopt their own rules, policies, and procedures. In exchange for the right to drive their greyhounds on the racetrack, kennel owners must sign contracts in which they agree to respect all the rules of the track, including those related to animal welfare. If kennel owners violate these contractual clauses, they lose their track privileges and even their racing licenses. To obtain a license to own, handle a racing dog, or work in a kennel, canine professionals must complete an FBI background check and be authorized by the states. In addition, the National Greyhound Association adheres to strict standards regarding dog care and handling. Failure to comply may result in lifetime termination of membership and exclusion from sport. [ref. Abilene, the self-proclaimed “greyhound capital of the world,” is home to the National Greyhound Association, a nonprofit registry established in the early 20th century, and the 22,000-square-foot Greyhound Hall of Fame. Local racing retirees Ginger, 9, and Gary, 12, greet guests in the lobby. States with active trails have minimum regulations for dog racing, but those regulations don`t prevent thousands of dogs from living a life in captivity, or hundreds of dogs from being seriously injured. Amendment 13, approved by the Humane Society of the United States, Grey2K USA Worldwide, the Doris Day Animal League and other organizations, and overwhelmingly supported by Florida voters in 2018, included a 26-month phase-out period to close all 11 dog racetracks operating in the state.

Starting at 1. Since January 2021, dog racing has been illegal in Florida. In Florida, the number of gambling at dog racetracks decreased by 72% between 1990 and 2013. [18] According to a study commissioned by lawmakers, the state lost between $1 million and $3.3 million in greyhound racing in 2012. [19] As recently as 2016, industry experts in Florida asked if betting was down or switching to undeclared online formats. [20] Since then, our society has evolved and dog racing is not compatible with society`s values towards animals. Today, this kind of unnecessary and unnecessary suffering is dismissed as a form of gambling or entertainment. According to government records now available, the most common racial injuries include neck and back fractures, dislocations, muscle tears and paralysis. Electric shocks have also occurred when dogs come into contact with the high-voltage bait of a track. Some dogs die on the track, while others are euthanized because of the severity of their injuries or simply because of their diminished value as runners. According to state records, a racing greyhound dies every three days on a track in Florida. With only a few trails left, thousands of retired greyhounds will be looking for loving families to support their transition from the runway to the couch.

State tax revenue from greyhound racing fell from $77.2 million in fiscal year 1985 to $3.7 million in fiscal year 2012, a 95 percent decline. In addition to live dog racing, simultaneous greyhound betting is available in several states, including Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.2 In these states, Players support the dog racing industry, even though there is no active dog racing track in their community. Similarly, these simulcast signals depend on the existence of dog tracks in other states. From 2008 to 2018, more than 15,000 greyhound injuries were documented nationally. This is a remarkable underestimate, as injuries do not need to be reported in Alabama or Florida. The first state to legalize dog racing and pari-mutuel betting was Florida in 1931. Pari-mutuel betting is a form of betting where all bets go into the same pool and are divided equally between those who make the winning selection, with taxes levied on the house, which is usually a government organization or a private company. Pari-Mutuel Guide, Gambling Sites (last visited May 9, 2019), available at www.gamblingsites.com/sports-betting/types/pari-mutuel/.) Other states followed between the 1930s and 1980s. For more than a decade, animal welfare groups have portrayed greyhound racing as a dying industry supported by government subsidies and highlighted the mistreatment of animals, including the lack of available homes for overcrowding dogs after their racing careers. Greyhound racing has produced less taxpayer money for the states, as public interest has waned in Florida and other states. Meanwhile, other forms of gambling have gained popularity. In recent years, many greyhound tracks have been closed due to declining betting revenues, the incursion of Native American gambling and commercial casino games into states where greyhound racing is practiced, the legalization of sports betting, and concerns about the welfare of racing greyhounds, as well as general market failures in states that attempted to participate in greyhound racing, such as Wisconsin (where a track closed after only three years of operation, and the state`s constitutional amendment to allow greyhound racing also opened up Native American gambling in the state).

[3] While most tracks currently broadcast simulcast races from other tracks, only three tracks currently hold live races on-site, and only two tracks in West Virginia will remain in service in early 2023.