Friday Hound Blogging

Oh what the heck, let's do FHB again, whaddaya say? And what better way to spend a beautiful late summer day than visiting with our old friend Tom (this place is the Taj Mahal of dog tracks) Taylor, head overlord at Tucson Deathcamp For Greyhounds.

Tucson's Greyhound Park has a new interim CEO after its former one was let go. But it's not because of anything having to do with the dogs at the south side track. For 12 years, former CEO Tom Taylor ran things at Greyhound Park. After many controversies, he was shown the door on July 3.

 Ah, Tommy. It's been a while huh? We were just...wait, what?

Taylor says he was already planning on retiring in January but the owners wouldn't let him stick it out.

Tommy fired? OH NOES!!eleventy!!!. How can this be? Who will protect the dogs now? Is this the final chorus in the overly long death dirge of TGP? Have we finally come to that last farewell, that final good bye, that long sought victory of people with souls over those perambulating sacks of semi-sentient cruelty who think killing and maiming innocent living creatures for dollars is a career. Uh. We mean, is the track closing? Are the other overlords on the way out too? Please explain the situation to us Tucson Weekly reporter Tim Vanderpool.

A melancholy lingers around Tucson Greyhound Park, the residual from fans who abandoned this track in droves.

Well, that doesn't sound encouraging.  Or maybe it does, depending on if you were actually born with human traits like empathy, sympathy and compassion or not.

But even in its twilight, Tucson's track still raises a ruckus. Much of this turmoil dates from a 2008 ordinance passed by voters in the city of South Tucson. Ever since those laws were enacted, the track has relentlessly mocked them.

Hey, come on reporter Tim. If the track is on the way out it's time to start thinking about legacy, you know? And what better legacy for a place that saw the meaningless injury and death of so many helpless greyhounds over the years than to stick your finger in the eye of anyone trying to make it a little better for the dogs. So what is the nature of this legacy?

It installed Crock-Pots in the kennels, for instance, claiming they were being used to cook the raw meat—an assertion even the meat's producer, Victory Greyhound Feed of La Motte, Iowa, called far-fetched. To dodge the steroid ban, dogs were injected in a parking lot just beyond the South Tucson city limits. But that parking lot was within the city of Tucson, prompting Ward 6 Councilman Steve Kozachik to have the injections banned within metro Tucson as well. Pima County soon followed. These mounting prohibitions might lead observers to conclude that dog doping has ended at Tucson Greyhound Park. Yet a July 11 inspection of its kennels found that not a single female dog—out of 202 checked—was currently in heat.

Now, those are some pretty serious accusations there reporter Tim. You know, don't you that activities at TGP are closely monitored by the Arizona Department of Racing and their job is to make sure that all the pain and suffering inflicted on greyhounds is on the up and up, right?

Here's where things get hinky: The Arizona Department of Racing demands to be notified of any pending Pima Animal Care Center inspections at Greyhound Park and there have been suspicions that state officials might be tipping the track off. Adding to this is the department's inherent conflict of interest, given that its own budget consists of racing proceeds.

Are you suggesting that the conflict of interest between the regulator, who is paid by the regulatee has lead to shenanigans? We are shocked, we tell you SHOCKED!

If that weren't weird enough, PACC must also rely on drug-testing results from the Department of Racing—which does not prohibit anabolic steroids.

Well, actually reporter Tim that first part was weird enough for us. Now we're just getting silly, but we think we see where you are going with this. These are all the reasons overlord Taylor was dumped, right? Now they're bringing in a guy to clean things up. Gonna be a new sheriff in town boys. Time to straighten up and fly right.

Filling Taylor's position is Tony Fasulo, who arrives toting his own questionable credentials. It so happens that Fasulo was the track's CEO in 2005, when it released 150 greyhounds to Colorado-based dog transporter Richard Favreau. Nearly all of those dogs later disappeared. According to records, Fasulo knew beforehand that Favreau's transport license had already been suspended by Colorado racing officials, after he'd been caught selling dogs for research without permission from their owners.

 Sounds like a little muck raking there reporter Tim. We're sure the situation was more complicated than that. Will you give Mr. Fasulo a chance to defend himself?

When we called Fasulo to ask about the Favreau scandal, he quickly hung up.

Oh. Uh, well on the bright side he's already smarter that Tom Taylor  who every time he opened his mouth just convinced more people that TGP was a hellhole and he was a monster, so, things are looking up right Wanderer?

I am a laid-back, gentle boy. I was trained in the prison system and can sit, down, and wait. I do stairs very well and love to get brushed and petted. I love attention and will follow you around, but can also be left home alone for long periods without trouble. I am well-mannered and will do great in a home with older children. You need to keep garbage closed up as I will try to get into it. When my foster mom puts my food down, I wait until I hear “OK” and then I will approach the bowl. I am good with stairs. I ride in car OK, but I am unsteady because I don’t want to lay down. I mind well. I really like to run in the yard. I will sit for a treat and lay down. You can touch my feet and body with no problems. I love to be brushed and get my ears cleaned. I am really not very interested in playing with toys. 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.