Why Abolish Greyhound Racing?

Why Abolish Greyhound Racing?

Greyhounds are in my opinion the most beautiful breed of dog on Earth. My Molly is 8 years old and I have had her since she was 2. She came into the Greyhound Adoption Center at 18 months of age, a rescue from Caliente racetrack in Tijuana. She was underweight and malnourished and full of fleas. I had learned about the plight of the greyhound a few years before and knew that as soon as I was able to get a dog, this would be the kind I got. There are thousands of dogs out there that need homes but greyhounds have it worse than most. Greyhounds from the track are treated so poorly, it unbelievable. There isn't proper vet care at the track When a dog is hurt, nothing is done. The Greyhound Adoption Center gets in many dogs that have broken legs and other injuries. Sometimes, the dogs come in with huge scars on their back ends where the gate came down on them because they didn't get out fast enough. They are crammed in with hundreds of other dogs at the track. They are kept in crates that are too small for them and barely let out. The only time they are let out is to train and race. Most of the time they aren't even let out to go to the bathroom. They go right in the crates. When you first adopt a greyhound, they usually need to be housebroken because of this. Molly was trained in less than 2 weeks. They are incredibly smart animals. The food they're given is the worst thing imaginable. It is called the triple D diet, Dead, Diseased and Dying. Many people ask why they aren't fed top grade quality food in order to be winners. It's a great question. The only answer I have is that the owners have so many dogs that it's too expensive. Greyhounds are not looked at as pets, as part of the family. They are money makers and that's it. They are not given love. They live at the track and never see the outside world. When a greyhound breaks a leg, they are put down unless a rescue center takes them in. There are literally tens of thousands of greyhounds that are killed each year in the US alone. They over breed the dogs in order to find that 1 winner. The owners don't care that the losers are killed. The dogs race until 5 years old (if they're winners) and then put down or used for breeding until they die. Sometimes, when they are put down it isn't even done humanely because the owners don't want to spend the money. I could go on and on about the horrors of greyhound life at the track but I'm sure you get the basic idea. There are still 13 states that allow greyhound racing and in my opinion that's 13 too many!