Friday Hound Blogging

Frequent reader(s) of this blog remember when the future was a bright path under a cloudless sky and the dark and sinister clouds gathering on the horizon were hardly noticeable...erm...we mean will remember friend of the blog, overlord and knockabout scientist Rory Goree. Now, when last we visited Mr. Goree he had just been appointed to the Arizona Racing Commission due in no small part to the strength of his resume and his record as United Greyhound Racing, Director of Welfare and Advocacy, not to mention his full throated defense of the First Amendment. Also too, the cogency and professionalism of his arguments when facing the animal rights wackos.

Well, when you bring that much expertise and talent to your job, it shouldn't take long for your contribution to be noticed, so let's see what impact overlord Goree has had on the Commission, shall we?

We have now learned that shortly after we reported this troubling information about dogs racing on little rest, dog track regulators changed their official Daily Stewards Report forms. Sometime between July 2012 and January 2013, the Arizona Department of Racing made the following changes:

• It stopped publicly reporting the number of dogs that had raced on only two days of rest. Instead, the new form contains a check box titled "Dogs on 2 Days Rest Approved."

• It stopped publicly reporting whether there had been a "track safety meeting" that day.

• It removed an entire section of the Daily Stewards Report titled "Racing Comments." This is where regulators had been reporting on serious greyhound falls and other race incidents.

• It stopped publicly reporting whether any official hearings had been held at Tucson Greyhound Park.

 Now, this level of efficiency and transparency would be difficult to achieve even for someone with the expertise of Mr. Goree were it not for the support of a dedicated team and his boss, Arizona Department of Racing Director William Walsh, who is Obi Wan to Rory's Luke as Walsh's response to requests under the Arizona Public Records Law seems to be "these are not the documents you are looking for." Especially since we've shipped them off site.

Oh snap! You see what he did there? Pretty soon whenever anyone requests any documents referring to how greyhounds are treated at the track they'll get a sheet of Commission letterhead with the date...and that's it! You see, if no one knows how many dogs are injured or killed, how many race without adequate rest, or what a godawful shape the track is in, those things really aren't happening. That's like totally existential, right Buddy?

Buddy is a very friendly but a little shy around new people. He is a little nervous when dogs bark at him. He loves to be petted and doesn't mind being in the crate. He will even go in on his own to take naps. Buddy loves to go for walks and does really well on the leash. 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.