Hounds Home for The Holidays

As we enter the annual battle to save Christmas from Walmart...er...Target...er...democrats...yeah, heathens, we thought is would be appropriate to expand our weekly Friday Hound Blogging feature to cover the holiday celebrations and maybe get a few more hounds on couches to start the new year. That in mind we'll be highlighting some homeless hounds over the Thanksgiving break and again at Saturnalia. So get thee behind me Mithras and let's check in on the overlords:

First a review. Three tracks have gone belly up this year. The industry is in a ten year slide towards oblivion. States like Massachusetts and Oregon have organized movements to ban greyhound racing entirely. So what do the folks who once closed the Waterloo Iowa track because they lost their shirts want to do? Reopen it of course. And what do they do when the state gaming commission tells them the people of the state of Iowa don't want to have to bail them out again? Why they sue the state naturally.

These guys must have been sleeping in Intro to Business class the day they talked about...umm...everything.

The National Cattle Congress closed the Waterloo Greyhound Park in 1996 after financial troubles. The NCC is now is suing the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission for denying its application to reopen. "It's our position that they are denying it because we won't make any money," said NCC Board President Wally Mochal. "That's not their entitlement. This is America and if you can't be stupid here, where can you be stupid?"

The commission voted unanimously last month to deny the group's application. "We asked Mr. Mochal what he was going to do differently this time to assure the outcome wouldn't be the same as before and he said he had just bought a brand new rabbit's foot. We didn't think that was an adequate answer," said a member of the Gaming Commission.

Well, the dogs do chase the mechanical rabbit, but unless Mr. Mochal plans to run around the track trailing his new talisman behind him, the Commission probably has a point. What do you think Scrappy:



Scrappy is a very playful young dog who would love to find a family to include him in their daily activities. Scrappy is a typical young greyhound who is a Velcro dog because he loves being with people. He has a playful side but can be relaxed and easygoing. He has a tub of stuffed animals to play with so he definitely needs a toy supply in his adoptive home. Scrappy is good-natured with other dogs and greets all people with an eager tail wag in hopes to get some pets. He will make a wonderful companion for the right home. For more information about this dog, and other rescued racing greyhounds looking for homes, go here. If you don't know about the plight of racing greyhounds go here.