Hounds Home For The Holiday

OK, so political discourse in the ruins of America has devolved to the point where national tee vee pundits best offering is to call the president a Cheney. We're going to have to abandon the olds so we can keep fighting to preserve anarchy in Afghanistan, but it really doesn't matter because soon we'll all be welcoming our new Chinese overlords, so let's do Hounds Home For The Holiday, then go get drunk and look at real estate catalogs from Belize.

And speaking of overlords, looks like they're still out there a carin' for the welfare of the units...erm...dogs.

...greyhounds raced last night at Tucson Greyhound Park, despite the fact that it was 104 degrees when the races began.

Now, in the overlords' defense we do have to say that while the dogs were running they were getting a little breeze as the wind blew over them.

On the previous night, the track only held four races before cancelling the remainder of races that had been scheduled. That was the right thing to do, but it raises an interesting question: why would the track do the right thing one night, but then turn around and put greyhounds in peril a day later?

Umm...because no racing means no money. This has been another installment of simple answers to simple questions.  Of course that's here in America. They take much better care of the greyhounds in England, right Rubin Morrow?

A major issue is that while most Greyhounds live for up to 13 years, their speed peaks at 3 or 4 years after which they lose speed. Since they cannot win races, they are often abandoned or put to rest. The Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare reported in 2007 that 4,728 greyhounds disappear from racing in Britain every year and stated that "We can assume that the majority of these dogs are destroyed."

Hey, that's not fair. You can't blame the overlords because the dogs live longer than they can make a profit. Blame god or something. What was he thinking giving them lives that long anyway? There's no way a 13 year old dog is going to make any money.

And another thing--just because the overlords...um...practice efficient inventory control doesn't mean the dogs aren't well taken care of when they are making money.

Another issue haunting the industry is the existence of medical problems in hounds from the tracks. Dogs often have teeth problems as well as parasitic and tick-borne diseases, which can be easily prevented, but occur due to negligence. But with proper vaccination, these diseases can be dealt with. All that is needed to deal with this is good healthcare.

 Come on now. Negligence? That's a pretty strong word. It's almost like you don't believe the overlords when they tell you they care about the welfare of the greyhounds. After all, these dogs are professional athletes who represent a sizable investment in time money and training. It would be stupid to treat them like they could easily be replaced by another if they didn't break in the money right away, right Rosie? What's that you say? Disposable as a bic lighter?

Rosie is very friendly, happy and well adjusted. She is affectionate and likes to give kisses. She is playful and likes to play with toys. She will entertain herself. She likes to “shop” and will find things to play with. She does not chew things but likes to find things. She moved the bar of soap from the bathroom to the living room. Rosie would do well in a working family home with well-mannered children, 7 and up. She is good with other dogs and would probably be 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.