Friday, June 18, 2010

Friday Hound Blogging

Well, here's an interesting headline: Euthanized Racing Greyhounds Prompt Concerns.  Really? Concern from whom? Are you concerned track racing director Thomas Bowersox?
"It is just as in any racing sport that animals or things are asked to turn left at the speed (sic) are running, sometimes collisions occur with serious results," Bowersox wrote in the April letter to the state Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.
Animals or..."things"? So the welfare of the dogs is right up there with, what? Cars? Motorcycles? Speedboats? Things, Mr. Bowersox, sir, are not alive. They don't feel pain. They don't suffer as a result of a collision. Or die.

OK so the headline doesn't refer to Mr. Bowersox. Anyone else got something to say? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Uh oh. Look over there, it's Cary Theil, well known animal rights wacko. She's* He's bound to harsh Mr. Bowersox's mellow.
"That dogs are seriously injured on a regular basis is one of the greyhound racing industry's dirty little secrets," said Carey Theil, the executive director for the Massachusetts-based group GREY2KUSA -- a national nonprofit group that advocates for greyhound protection laws and eliminating greyhound racing.
 Hey, come on lady dude. How can it be a secret if they're writing newspaper articles about it, huh? Answer us that.
Florida's lack of policy on the reporting of greyhound injuries leaves Theil and other advocates questioning how many other dogs are being injured and euthanized at the Sarasota club and the state's 12 other tracks. "If the public understood how many greyhounds are being seriously injured and even dying at these racetracks, I think they would reconsider their support of this facility in their community," Theil said.
Oh don't you start with that tip of the iceberg stuff now, lady brother. There's a perfectly logical explanation for all this, right Mr. Bowersox?
Bowersox attributed the clashes to poor track conditions caused by heavy rains. A refresh of the racing surface was completed immediately after the collisions.
See? Problem solved. And, as Mr. Bowersox is compelled to point out, it's not really a big problem to begin with.
Bowersox pointed out in the letter that the 14 euthanized greyhounds were a "very small percent" of the dogs that raced at the Sarasota Kennel Club this season.
Right on. NASCAR can lose more cars on a percentage basis in a single race than the overlords lose dogs in a whole season. Let's get some perspective here people. And when a car wrecks, you can sometimes swap out parts so it isn't a total loss. Can't do that with dogs, so the overlords suffer a greater economic hit because you can't just put a new leg on a greyhound and send him back out there. Come to think of it though, you can soup him up a little.  OK, that's not our point.
"Tracks don't want to talk about dogs," Theil said. "They make them into statistics and numbers. Those are dogs that suffered and died."
Right. Numbers, see? Like Mr. Bowersox says, "things." You know, expendable and stuff. Wait, why are you looking at us like that Demur?


Demur is all girl. She is delicate, easygoing, sweet, well-mannered, quiet, mellow and feminine. She is a happy girl; her tail propellers when she is happy and she will wag when you talk to her. She loves to be petted and will rest her head on your knee. She enjoys playing with squeaky toys. She will throw the toy in the air. She loves to be outside. She likes to lay in the grass. She will “talk” to her foster mom from time to time. She wants to be near her foster mom and is a bit of a Velcro dog with her foster mom when she up and moving. She wants to please and is easily corrected with a slightly raised voice. Demur would do well in a working family home with well-mannered children, 6 and up. She is good with other dogs and is also fine as an only dog. 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.

*Edited for clarity. Through no fault of our own, because we seldom blog sober,  we inadvertently assigned Cary Theil the wrong gender. The staff at Ironicus Maximus regrets any inconvenience this may have caused Mr. Theil and assures him, he can return the dresses for a full refund.

13 comments:

Jen Krebs said...

Pssssst... I.M. -

Carey Theil is MR. Carey Theil, the Executive Director of GREY2K USA - http://grey2kusa.org/about/board.html

:-)

Jen Krebs said...

LOL - thanks for taking the word of an oft-questioned 'animal rights wacko' on that, I.M.!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Anonymous said...

Things, per centages, items, units...you know what...everybody go back to the last Ironicus Maximus...
Friday Hound Blogging...
BP, Exxon,
JUDGE LYNN HUGHES...
TEXAS OIL TYCOONS...it's all in "the games".
Corruption and Crimes...just like Greyhound Pushers.

Anonymous said...

Grey 2 k has evidence of a worse scandals from Naples fort Myers greyhound park and Jen Krebs erased blog that gave numbers what are these people hiding? Do they only bash certain tracks are they getting paid? Don't all dogs count? Where does grey 2 k get there money? Off the backs off greyhound.

Jen Krebs said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jen Krebs said...

‘Anonymous’ -

'Evidence' is factual information we receive from state racing commissions in response to public information records requests.

An example of evidence we've received, compiled and presented in the past would be injury records from dog tracks that are required to document and report them. As a result, we’ve been able to reveal specific details on the hundreds of dogs that are seriously injured while racing, and show the dogs that have died or were killed as a result of their injuries. GREY2K USA has done this in 8 states. http://grey2kusa.org/racing/sheets.html

Florida tracks are not required to report the injuries and deaths of racing greyhounds. They are also not required to disclose how many dogs are ‘disposed of’ (read: KILLED) when they are no longer competitive.

In fact, Florida tracks have fought tooth and nail against past efforts to change the law to require such reporting.

I wonder why?

Yes, ALL of the dogs ‘count’ – to GREY2K USA.

Sadly, that’s obviously not the case for the racing industry at dog tracks in Florida, or in any other racing state.

As for the rest of the nonsense (read: LIES) -

GREY2K USA takes NO MONEY (zero, zip, zilch) from the racing industry. Never has, never will.

GREY2K USA's work is funded by donations from people who wish to see dog racing end in the United States.

Anonymous said...

grey 2 k is just another lobbyist group. How do they justify ending live dog racing in mass. But allow simulcast racing of greyhounds in there home based state? So as long as they can't physically see the dogs it's okay? But there state can still earn money off the backs off greyhounds?

Jen Krebs said...

'Anonymous', you have no clue what GREY2K USA is working on or doing, or where we are doing it.

Your comments here on I.M.'s blog have nothing to do with his post, and are seemingly just about attacking an organization you know nothing about. If you want to attack me, feel free to write to me directly - it's not hard to find my contact information. But please stop using someone else's blog to air your personal agenda, whatever the heck it is.

Ironicus Maximus said...

Now, Ms. Krebs, let's not belittle the efforts of Mr. Anonymous here. After all, he went to all the trouble of finding someone to read the post to him, then had to sit down in front of one o' them fancy computer thingies and press the keys until he could figure out which ones made words and stuff. A lot of effort there, and despite the spelling and grammar errors managed to occasionally a write sentence. Making sense is probably still a year or two away, but this has got to be a personal best for him today.

Jen Krebs said...

Awwwww, dang it, I.M. You made me feel bad now!

My sincerest apologies to Mr. (or MS.?) Anonymous.

I welcome further PRIVATE contact, especially if it will assist him (or HER?) in the reading/writing/making sense process.

Anonymous said...

Is that the best you bothcan do is to belittle people? I believe you both got the point or it wouldn't have bothered you. I thought this is for discussion. No, only if everyone agrees with you.

Jen Krebs said...

Actually, 'Anonymous', I make a concerted effort to NOT belittle people, as a general rule. Please pardon my slip-up.

That said - no, I didn't, and I don't, get 'the point'.

What is 'for discussion' is the post to which you are submitting comments.

You aren't discussing the post.
You aren't discussing anything.

You ARE making ridiculous accusations that make no sense and have no basis in fact or truth.

I 'discussed' your first attack.

Then, I welcomed you to air your grievances (or whatever the heck you think you are doing) with me directly, as it has nothing to do with I.M.'s blog or the post on which you are commenting.

I am absolutely certain that whoever you are, you will never agree with me on much of anything, so there's really nothing further to 'discuss', at least not here.

Jen Krebs said...

And about simulcast in Massachusetts...

http://jenkrebs.blogspot.com/2010/06/grey2k-usa-action-alert-massachusetts.html

'Nuff said.