Friday Hound Blogging

Ah, man. Ever have one of those days? Or if you're an overlord one of those lifetimes? Just when you think you've found the perfect place to live your dream of...erm...well you don't really have dreams do you? There's the whole wetting the bed thing when you...well never mind. Anyway, so you think you're in the clover because you found a state where the legislators are dumber than you are  and Wham! A bunch of animal rights wackos show up and want to drop you in the deep end of the labor pool just because a few units...er...dogs are damaged.

Plans are under way to shutter the waning Iowa greyhound racing industry during the next state legislative session, but dog racing supporters in the state say they will fight the effort.

Darn straight we're going to fight. Right after we figure out what "waning" means. Is that a legal term? Do we need a license to wane?

Bob Hardison of Onawa, president of the Iowa Greyhound Association and a greyhound owner, said his group will fight the effort. Greyhound racing provides more than 1,300 jobs in Iowa and there are more than 350 owners and 70 farmers in 30 Iowa counties.

Uh...Bob? Might want to stay away from the numbers argument. See you got 1300 part time, low wage, no benefits jobs that make a Wal-Mart greeter look like the vice president of Lotsa Dough Inc in a state with over 1.6 million workers; you got 420 overlords directly benefiting from the injury and death of innocent animals in a state with a population of  over three million people. Heck, there's more people working over at Karl Chevrolet ( We have a commitment to excellence in everything we do) in Des Moines than in your whole industry.

“I don't know of any animal industry in the state of Iowa that is more regulated than the raising of greyhounds. Our facilities are taken care of and our animals are taken care of,” Hardison said.

Oh, jeez Bob. You just come from listening to Gordon Bissett or something? When someone asks how the greyhounds are being treated you don't say they're "taken care of." And talking about how regulated you are isn't a good thing to bring up either. See, people think, Hmmm...lots of regulations huh? Must be a reason for that.

Iowa's two tracks have seen declining wagers over the last 20 years. In 1988, about $67 million was wagered at Dubuque Greyhound Park. That figure fell 97.5 percent to less than $1.7 million by 2009. And at Bluffs Run Greyhound Park in Council Bluffs, greyhound betting was $123 million in 1987, falling 96 percent to less than $5 million in 2009.

Yipes! Declining at over 4% a year for 20 years in a row? What do you think Red? Maybe old Bob should give Karl in Des Moines a call?

Red is loving, warm, cheerful, friendly, and affectionate. He smiles a lot and he wants to lean against you for attention. When you approach him, he starts wagging his tail- back and forth. He “chitters” his teeth when he is happy. He wants to shadow his foster family. He “roos” when he wants to see you. He has a big overbite which is endearing. Red would do well in a working family home with well-mannered children, 8 and up. He would probably do better in a home with another dog to keep him company. 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.