Friday Hound Blogging

Well, we hope you're happy animal rights wackos. You took greyhound racing, which was a perfectly legal, efficiently regulated, profitable family oriented business that had entertained thousands over the years and turned it into a crime just because a few of the units we damaged. Can you tell us any business that doesn't have some inventory loss? Huh? Can you? Thought so.

Oh and you still weren't done. Somehow you got to the governor and, as if you wanted to punish the greyhound racing workers convinced him to make sure the track never opened again under any circumstances. You didn't fool Roger Powers though, right Roger?

“The governor could have saved Wonderland,” said Roger Powers, 71, of Danvers, a 43-year employee of the Revere track who picked up his last paycheck yesterday. “I’m surprised the governor didn’t support us.”

Don't be too surprised Roger. The governor is obviously in the pocket of those latte' sipping Birkenstock wearing east coast elites who thinks greyhound racing is inhumane because a couple of dogs get hurt from time to time. Hey, governor, football players get hurt from time to time too, and we don't outlaw the NFL. Course, we don't euthanize football players either, but let's not quibble about the details.

State Rep. Kathi-Ann Reinstein (D-Revere) said she spent the day at the track “crying and hugging” workers, who are often family members. “Some of these people are husband and wife. They’re going to have to talk to their kids about holding off on college,” said Reinstein. “The tragedy of this is that it was unbelievably preventable. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in the governor."

Heck of a job Governor. How about you Cary Theil? You happy now?And don't go telling us those kids are going to get more financial aid now because their parents income has changed because everyone knows greyhound racing pays its own way. You know what? Representative Reinstein said it best, "He doesn’t value these people.”

Darn straight. You got anything to add  Paul McMorrow?

In all the breathless finger-pointing following the closure of Wonderland Park last week, one detail got lost. It’s an important one, too. Neither Governor Deval Patrick nor the state Legislature deserves the blame for the Revere dog track’s closure. The track owners’ decision to shutter Wonderland was long in the making. Patrick’s decision to block slot machine licenses at racetracks may have accelerated the process, but it didn’t change the fate of Wonderland’s employees one bit.

Right on Paul. It's time we had politicians that cared about the common folk instead of being in the pockets of the special interests. It's time that we took back...wait, what?

Wonderland CEO Richard Dalton told the Revere Journal yesterday that the property would be sold to East Boston thoroughbred track Suffolk Downs within 90 days and then to an undisclosed developer. But long before that, it was a poorly kept secret in Boston real estate circles that the executives who control Wonderland — Dalton and Boston restaurateur Charles Sarkis — were keen on remaking the 33.7-acre site.

 But but...what about racing? What about all those minimum wage no benefit jobs?

What’s more, two sources in the real-estate world told me that retail developer Steve Karp and his firm New England Development were floating plans months ago to bulldoze Wonderland and replace it with a new complex. Neither Karp nor the Wonderland executives returned my calls for comment. But Dalton told the Revere Journal in April, when the gambling bill was still alive, that Wonderland wouldn’t pursue a slots license and would likely be redeveloped.

So it was always going to close? But why Mr. McMorrow?  Why?

But all the gambling bill’s failure did was deprive Wonderland’s ownership of a better payday. The prospect of a slots license might have let the track owners hold out for a higher sale price, but the site remains hugely valuable. That land is one of the largest development parcels in metro Boston, and is currently assessed at $15.5 million by the City of Revere. It is close to the beach and a Blue Line station, and it abuts the proposed Waterfront Square development, a 9-acre oceanfront development project that is backstopped in part by a federal economic stimulus grant.

It's just about the money? It's just about business? So as long as the place made money the workers were safe, but now that there's no more money to be made they've become expendable? It that it? Sound familiar  Daucus?

Daucus is very laid back, but curious. He is affectionate; he will approach for pets and will sometimes give kisses. He likes to rub his face up and down on your legs. He is a big boy and will try to herd the humans to get his way. He will sleep on his back with his tongue hanging out. Daucus would do well in a working family home with another mid-size to larger dog to keep him company and would probably be okay as an only dog with a family that had someone home more often. He would do better in a home with larger well-mannered children, as he does not always understand his size. 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.