Friday Hound Blogging

You know, you have to give the overlords credit. Rather than admit no one wants to have anything to do with the industrialized animal cruelty from which they draw their meager incomes, they keep telling themselves if they could just find that one angle, that one idea, that one connection with people times would be better. It's a hard slog. Take the overlords at Hall Green Greyhound Stadium for example. They face quite a challenge.

Greyhound racing has been a familiar part of Northern British working class culture, and it is one of the few elements of that culture to escape a renaissance in the last 20 years. Sadly, it has remained resolutely uncool.

"Resolutely uncool." Well, that's one way to put it. Certainly if you walked up to any odd bloke on the street and said, "Bloke. How'd you like the chance to spend an evening in a broken down old facility with people who don't have all their teeth watching greyhounds risk severe injury and death and lose money too?" That bloke is likely to say, "That's resolutely uncool man."

You see the problem.

Well, the folks at Hall Green Greyhound Stadium are not giving up.

Hall Green Greyhound Stadium is leading the way in this relentless charge into the new. The changes at the Hall Green Greyhound Stadium have widened their audience far beyond the traditional greyhound racing fan base. Now people from all walks of life are visiting the stadium, and it is continually being recognized as one of the best things to do in Solihull.

Yeah. Well the population of Solihull is less than 95,000. You can get more people than that in the football stadium at the University of Michigan, so we're thinking the competition for things to do isn't that intense, but do go on.

The main change in perception has come from the new restaurant. Food available at greyhound stadiums has traditionally been a long way from haute cuisine, but the restaurant at Hall Green has completely defies those prejudices by serving up a culinary offering that is being widely described as one of the finest places to eat in Solihull.

Being "one of the finest places to eat in Solihull" is probably similar to being the best ballerina in Boise, but seriously dude, a restaurant? That's your big idea? OK, OK, it's a good restaurant but even if you're sitting down to Italian Herb Crisps topped with balsamic glazed tomato salsa followed by Linguini Alfredo marinated pasta noodles with mushrooms tossed in a white wine garlic sauce and you top it all off with a Caramel Fig Crepe, all while sipping on a fine Rasteau 2011 Ortas, Côtes du Rhône Reserve, when you look out the window and see dogs flying through the air, breaking their legs and fracturing their skulls, it's bound to have a bad effect on the ambiance, know what we mean?

You'd be better off shutting down the track and going with the restaurant. Just saying.

You got to give the people what they want, like the Palm Beach Post.

We’ll reallocate the space we save to give you more information about the topics you have told us you care about most, such as football — pro, college and high school —baseball and pro basketball. For example, when conference play begins in college football, we’ll print conference standings every Monday.

See that? Giving the people what they want. And what was it that the people apparently didn't want that got its space "reallocated" away?

Starting Monday, the Palm Beach Post no longer will carry entries or results for greyhound racing at Palm Beach Kennel Club.

Oh. Um...OK bad example, but it does point up the importance of good community relations between the track and its neighbors. Take Tucson Greyhound Park in the city of South Tucson  for example. They didn't take the time to explain to their neighbors the benefits of injecting female greyhound with steroids to interrupt their cycles and so the City Council passed an ordinance outlawing the practice. Luckily, the overlords learned their lesson and when they began trucking  the dogs into the city of Tucson to skirt the ordinance, made sure to explain themselves and that was all the difference.

The city of Tucson has joined South Tucson in banning the use of steroids in racing dogs.

 So, the lesson here is make the investment in a little PR and educate...wait, what?

The Council then voted unanimously to ban the practice.

 Oh. Apparently the people of Tucson think greyhound racing is resolutely uncool. What's that you say Stardom? They should just tear the place down and open a Burger King? Do they serve wine at Burger King?

Stardom Aim is a very sweet boy. He was somewhat afraid of people at first but he is warming up to them now as he is finally around people who are loving and caring towards him. He is playing with toys, especially the stuffed animals. He is curious and interested in people and then can become outgoing once he gets to know people. He is housebroken and does not mind going in his crate. As Stardom Aim does not mind being in his crate, he would do well in a working family. He would do best in a home with no children or older well-behaved children due to his slight nervousness. He would also do best with other dogs in the household. 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.