Friday Hound Blogging

You know, sometimes even we feel sorry for the overlords. Think about it. The only people who come to the tracks anymore are Alzheimer's patients and people who are lost. Kansas, Texas and Florida have all come to the conclusion that it costs more to monitor the crooks and drug addicts that make up the industry than they get back in taxes. And now the overlords are getting pushed around by middle schoolers.

If you haven't already seen 13-year-old Amanda MacDonald on your doorstep, asking you to sign her petition, you'll likely see her in front of Old Town Hall this Saturday, where she'll make a public appeal to ban greyhound racing in Massachusetts.

You go girl.

"Probably not a lot of kids do stuff like this, but maybe I can get more kids to get involved in the community," said MacDonald. "I really want to help the greyhounds, to speak up for them."

A spokesperson for Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere agreed. "Kids this age are too young to understand adult issues like this. Why when I was in eighth grade...well...I never made it to eighth grade, but if I had, I wouldn't have done anything like this."

"I think we're going to get enough signatures," said MacDonald. "Because of the whole Michael Vick thing, it got a lot of people interested in dogs and how they're not treated fairly."

"Vick, Vick, Vick. That's all I hear about," said John Parker, head of Southeastern Greyhound Adoption. "Can we just move on here? Besides, everyone knows greyhounds are treated humanely when they're injured...OK they're not, but we make sure they're given every chance at a good life after they're done making us money...Well, that's not quite true either, but believe this, none of us are Falcons fans."

MacDonald said she got involved with the committee through a family friend, and is motivated by her own dog, Lemony, "I couldn't imagine my dog being in that position, because the dogs are really treated unfairly," said MacDonald. "They hardly have room to sit up, and a lot of times when they have injuries, they're not treated properly."

"Well, 'properly' is such a vague word," said the wonderland spokesperson. "With so many units being injured it's hard to keep track of each individual. Remember, these animals are in the care of people who washed out of Walmart Greeter School."

Hmmm...he may have a point there, huh Tamale?

She’s Hot a.k.a. Tamale is very sweet and shy with people. She is quiet, gentle and well-mannered. She will follow the other dogs when they greet people who come to the door. She is still not sure of many things but likes attention more. She gets excited and plays. She likes to chew on rawhide chips and has picked up a toy and taken it to her crate. She will play bow and wag her tail and bark a little when it is dinner time. She also gets excited and barks when it is time for a walk and when her foster family comes home. She is a “collector” of toys and is starting to play with toys. She will play bow with the other dogs. Tamale needs a quite, patient home that will give her time to blossom. She would do best in a home with another dog to show her that things are okay. Since she is so shy, she would do best in a home that only has older children, ages 10 and up. 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.