Friday Hound Blogging

Well another week is in the books and guess what? No tracks closed, no legislatures banned the heartless exploitation of innocent animals for profit...uh... greyhound racing, so that application to Walmart Greeter School can sit on the overlords' desks for at least one more week.

Ah, good times, good times. And they should be celebrated, right Jack PotBetting, aka, Jim Smith, aka Les Mutchie aka Michael Somers?

Greyhound Racing can steal a line from Mark Twain when he said "the reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated."

Yeah, well he also said, "The pains which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity towards it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further," but it has been a whole week, so do go on.

It seems that the impending demise of greyhound racing is a popular myth being propagated by hate groups that have a vested interest in promoting the story that greyhound racing is a dying sport and soon will be dead when actually the facts point to quite a different story.

Whoa! "Popular myth?" So you're saying hate groups convinced people to stop coming to greyhound tracks? Year after year after year. Made up those stories about Ron Williams? Cooked the books so it looked like greyhound racing was bleeding money and being propped up by the states with tracks? Bought off the people form Harrah's and the track owners in Florida so they'd try to get laws passed to get them out from under greyhound racing? Is that what you're saying? You related to Fox Mulder at all? Just asking.

Recently the Palm Beach Kennel Club located in West Palm Beach Florida hosted a Saturday afternoon racing crowd of over six thousand fans and counting bets from off track locations and a growing on-line community of greyhound enthusiasts there wagered over $700,000 on a single card of racing which is indeed the highest total of the current season and approaches the all time record handles dating back to the mid 1980's. So does that sound like Greyhound Racing is dead? I think not!

Um...that's real nice and all, but we wouldn't read too much into it. You can't link up with a nationally promoted, nationally televised horse race every weekend, you know? Not that we want to take anything away from you having a good day and all, but it's sort of like kissing your sister. While you're doing it, if you close your eyes you can pretend it's Angelina Jolie, but when you open them you're still staring at that big zit she has on her nose.

Now don't get me wrong Greyhound Racing has indeed retreated from its height of popularity during the 1980's when it was the seventh largest spectator sport in the United States.

Seventh largest spectator sport? Isn't that sort of like being the best ballerina in Boise?

During the last several years many greyhound tracks have suffered from a serious decline in business, much like bowling alleys and other once popular establishments, and as a result a large number of those facilities have closed their doors.

Oh no he dinnit! You dissin' bowling dude? Hey Bowling Proprietors Association of America, punk callin' you out. Whachu say?

“There’s no factor that has been more important in driving the growth and resurgence of bowling than our industry-wide focus on providing a great experience to our customers.  From the 71 million people who bowl every year to the more than 4,000 operators who are members of the BPAA to the major global brands that sponsor bowling – it is the industry’s ability to deliver a great experience to all of our stakeholders that has helped fuel our success,” said Executive Director Steve Johnson.

  Oh snap! Seventy one million people and 4,000 operators to your 6,000 fans and 20 some tracks. That's looking an awful lot like IN YOUR FACE BITCHEZ!! Overlords need to get some of their posse up in here. Hey Florida House of Representatives Budget and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee, help a brotha out, yo?

Florida is considered the nation‟s leader in greyhound racing. However, over the last ten years, the state‟s pari-mutuel wagering industry in general has experienced a 43.6 percent decline in handle, and total state revenue has decreased 54.6 percent; along with a 9.3 percent decrease in the number of racing days.

Not helping.  OK, Mr. aka whatever, looks like it's back to you.

These failed tracks and many of those still operating at far less than full capacity have been guilty of a failure to adapt to a changing demographic coupled with a much more competitive marketplace and those are the main ingredients responsible for the industry's decline.

Now you're on to something dude. You got a demographic changing from people who don't know about the barbaric exploitation, cruel injuries and senseless deaths suffered by greyhounds to a demographic that  is against the barbaric exploitation, cruel injuries and senseless deaths suffered by greyhounds. Got to change with the times, man. So what's your plan?

Track management must accept the majority of the blame for the failure of Greyhound Racing to thrive considering the fact that of all of the forms of gambling that exist, Greyhound Racing offers the most honest, most exciting and potentially the most profitable game to wager on in the world today. Greyhound Racing was saddled with being managed by a historically inept group of individuals who failed to recognize trends and whose response to those trends was mostly ineffective or in many cases nonexistent.

Uh, Mr. aka sir? That's the landlord you're talking to. The people who own the real estate. The people who came within a hair's breadth of kicking your freeloading butt into the street in Florida, Iowa and Arizona this year. We're thinking this is not the time to be speaking truth to power. Just saying.

Another negative factor in play currently impacting greyhound racing has been a nonstop public relations campaign against both racing and the greyhound breed itself being waged by a hate group that ironically has a name that is similar to one of the biggest frauds ever seen in this country, Y2k. This Y2k hate group has found a sweet spot and is basically operating a money machine that is supported by the unsuspecting victims that fund this fraudulent scheme with their donations in the name of saving the greyhounds.

Y2k is like Grey2K. Ha Ha Ha! That's pretty funny, except the last time we checked the year 2000 did come,  so we're not quite sure where you're going with that. And the public relations campaign? Are you saying Ron Williams was a publicity stunt? Or the fact that when you search for greyhound abuse history on Google you get 6,270 hits, along with a nice graphic showing the growth of stories since the industry began? Got to be  as serious conspiracy if the Grey2k folks were carrying out a nonstop public relations campaign before they were even born. You know Fox Mulder?

The talking points of this unscrupulous bunch focus on the so called inhumane treatment of the racing greyhounds which again is ironic because as anyone with even a slight knowledge of greyhound racing is aware that the greyhounds are quite possibility the most well cared for animal in the world.

Darn straight. And if you want proof, Mr. And Ms John Q. Public, the overloads have the proof. Just ask Ron Williams,  or the folks who give Viagra to the dogs, or Dr. Joe Robinson, or the trainers at the Mardi Gras track, or well, walk into a kennel yourself and look around. Oh wait, you can't.

Ryan Reed recently wrote a book about greyhounds and greyhound racing called BORN TO RUN and the book is written from the prospective of someone coming from the greyhound adoption side of the business. Ryan wrote "I quickly discovered that people had incredibly strong opinions about racing, but when asked how many racetracks or breeding farms they had been to the answer was almost always "None". I was struck by the fact that a person could have such strong feelings about something he had never seen for himself."

Umm...Mr. Ryan? That's because people can read the stories in the newspaper, and see the videos on the tee vee.  You need to get out more often.

Recently this Y2k hate group has backed off the animal abuse issues as it has become more and more obvious that the facts just don't support their story.

Erm...apparently the fellow who writes the Grey2K blog didn't get that memo, Mr. aka. He's still writing about abuse.

Their latest attacks on greyhound racing are based on the declining popularity of the sport which is actually true to a great extent however the sport is far from dead and recent advances and a general acceptance in the industry that the base product needs to be refined to appeal to a younger customer base indicate that just maybe greyhound racing is on the rebound.

Appeal to a younger crowd huh? Good luck with that.

It is quite possible that greyhound racing has yet to see its finest hour and the turnaround might be just getting underway.

Their finest hour is just getting underway? Aw, Audrey, you were born a little too soon. Just think, if you'd only been born a couple of years from now you could have participated in the finest hour. Or more likely you could have been born as a pet in the first place and not had had to risk your life for a couple of years first so some deadbeat losers could make their trailer payments. Ah, tomato tomahto, huh?. 

Audrey is a loving, playful, outgoing, friendly girl. She loves her tummy and ears to be rubbed and she has no problem locking her big brown eyes with yours to let you know that she trusts you. She is curious about everyone and everything that she sees. Audrey is like a puppy she is very energetic. She likes to sleep on her back, like playing dead. Her foster mom hasn’t caught her playing with toys, but she can be in the basement and she can hear Audrey playing with them. Audrey is a Second Chance at Life Dog from the Coldwater Prison Program. Audrey would do well in a working family home with well-mannered children, 8 and up. She is young and playful and would do well with another dog to keep her company, or as an only dog in a family that will exercise her often. 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.

And if you 'd like to know more about the good work the Second Chance for Life program is doing for the dogs, and the prisoners, go here.