Friday Hound Blogging

Frequent reader(s) of this blog recall those days when potential seemed limitless and the Lidless Eye of disappointment had yet to spy them...erm...we mean recall the name Tom Taylor head overlord at Tucson Deathcamp for Greyhounds.Tom has been a guest on this blog many times over the years and each time he visited he brought with him that special brand of clueless cruelty and heartless disdain for the pain and suffering he inflicted on hundreds, perhaps thousands of innocent living creatures that are marks of true distinction in the Tower of Barad-dûr, where only the uppermost levels of overlord society are allowed.

When last we met he had retreated to his Mordor on East 36th street after having been defeated in the Battle of Steroid Plains by the forces of Gondor, Tucson and the wizard Kozachik. Ever defiant, Tom sent a cry through the land that the sons of Mordor would rise again. In fact only the sons because...um..no ladies allowed.

Several moons have traversed the heavens since then and we thought we'd peer over the Fence of Shadow and see how things were going.

Like the US military poster of old, Tucson Greyhound Park (TGP) is looking for “a few good men.” Actually, they’re looking for male greyhounds in large enough quantity (minus the females) to keep the South Arizona track in operation.

Apparently the market for Orcs has dried up considerably since the Battle of the Morannon.

Despite the testimony of numerous veterinarians well-versed on that subject and on the sport of greyhound racing itself, the City of Tucson passed an ordinance banning the use of steroids on racing females, traditionally and universally administered in the sport to prevent them from coming in season. The City of South Tucson had passed a similar ordinance in 2008.

And by "numerous"  they mean Dr. Joe Robinson (Wally's College of Veterinary Medicine and Truck Driving School class of '95) who, it should be pointed out, did not help his case when he tried to inject Councilwoman Regina Romero during the hearing.

The emotion-charged issue—intensely pushed by critics of racing and the track—resulted in TGP General Manager Taylor actually receiving death threats and alot (sic) of hate mail, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

Yeah, well to be fair, Tom was only threatened. Missy was actually killed.

Taylor says a lack of racers could threaten live racing at the track. “If we can’t get enough dogs to run year-round, we’d have to consider the options of running a 100-day meet,” he says, pointing out that this scenario would be unrealistic to most kennel operators. The only other options open to TGP, Taylor said, would be to look at closing the track altogether, or to seek permission to run a simulcast operation without live racing.

OK, if you don't have any dogs to race, that would be a "threat" to live racing. We get that, but live racing is a "threat" to the life and well being of the dogs who do it, so which threat do you think is the greater one C?

CTR Executive is a four year old boy who did most of his racing in Alabama once winning six races in a row and eight out of nine. He's a friendly guy who likes to run in the yard, play with toys and be petted. He gets along well with everybody, even cats. 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.