Greyhound racing

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Photo finish of a greyhound race in Tampa, Florida, USA on February 9, 1939.
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Photo finish of a greyhound race in Tampa, Florida, USA on February 9, 1939.

Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure (an artificial hare or rabbit) on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner.

In many countries, greyhound racing is purely amateur and conducted for enjoyment. In other countries (particularly the US, UK, and Australia), greyhound racing is a popular form of parimutuel gambling, similar to horse racing. There is some popular concern in the latter countries regarding the well-being of the dogs; the effectiveness of industry efforts to address these concerns is controversial. A greyhound adoption movement has arisen to assist retired racing dogs in finding homes as pets.

Contents

[edit] History

Modern greyhound racing has its origins in coursing. The first recorded attempt at racing greyhounds on a straight track was made beside the Welsh Harp reservoir, Hendon in 1876, but this experiment did not develop. The sport emerged in its recognizable modern form, featuring circular or oval tracks, with the invention of the mechanical or artificial hare in 1912 by Owen Patrick Smith. O.P. Smith had altruistic aims for the sport to stop the killing of the jack rabbits and see "greyhound racing as we see horse racing". The certificates system led way to parimutuel betting, as quarry and on-course gambling, in the United States during the 1920s. In 1926, armed with the Smith patents and a hand shake, it was introduced to Britain by an American, Charles Munn, in association with Major Lyne-Dixon, a key figure in coursing, and Brigadier-General Critchley. The deal went sour with Smith never hearing from Munn again. Like the American, International Greyhound Racing Association, the In.G.R.A. Munn and Critchley launched the Greyhound Racing Association, and held the first British meeting at Manchester's Belle Vue. The sport was successful in cities and town throughout the U.K. - by the end of 1927, there were forty tracks operating. The sport was particularly attractive to predominantly male working-class audiences, for whom the urban locations of the tracks and the evening times of the meetings were accessible, and to patrons and owners from various social backgrounds. Betting has always been a key ingredient of greyhound racing, both through on-course bookmakers and the totalisator, first introduced in 1930. Like horse racing, it is popular to bet on the greyhound races as a form of parimutuel gambling.

In common with many other sports, greyhound racing enjoyed its highest attendances just after the Second World War—for example, there were 34 million paying spectators in 1946. The sport experienced a decline from the early 1960s, when the 1960 Betting and Gaming Act permitted off-course cash betting, although sponsorship, limited television coverage, and the later abolition of on-course betting tax have partially offset this decline.

[edit] Greyhound racing today

Several greyhounds before a race.
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Several greyhounds before a race.

Irish Greyhound Derby

Today greyhound racing continues in many countries around the world. The main greyhound racing countries are:

Smaller scale greyhound racing is ongoing in:

[edit] Treatment of racing dogs

[edit] Living Conditions

In the United States, greyhound racing is not governed by the Animal Welfare Act, so treatment of the dogs depends largely on the industry's self-regulation [2]. Kennels are indoor crates stacked two levels high, with the females usually kept on the upper level, and males on the lower level. While the space allocated to each dog varies between locations, typical crate size is 3-1/2 feet wide by 4 feet deep by 3 feet high. While living on the track these dogs will spend most of their time in these kennels.

In addition to state regulation, most tracks adopt their own rules, policies and procedures to ensure greyhound welfare. In exchange for the right to race their greyhounds at the track, kennel owners must sign contracts in which they agree to abide by all track rules, including those pertaining to animal welfare. If kennel owners violate these contract clauses, they stand to lose their track privileges and even their racing licenses.

In several European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland) greyhound racing is carried out by the owners of the dogs without financial interest. This amateur form of the sport is also found in some countries, such as the United States, where professional racing exists. In these countries the dogs often live as pets.

[edit] In Australia

In Australia greyhounds live in kennels at night that meet guidelines set by The Greyhound Racing Authorities in Australia, and by day many greyhounds are put into running yards or day yards to keep them entertained and exercised. This is aimed to keep greyhounds as fit, happy, and healthy as possible.

Greyhounds are checked for parasites, malnourishment, or any other medical conditions by an on-course vet before being able to compete.

The Greyhound Racing Authorities in Australia regulates greyhound welfare and living conditions and all racing authorities in Australia finance Greyhound Adoption Groups, which house dozens of greyhounds a month.

[edit] In Great Britain

In the UK Greyhounds are not kept at the tracks and are instead housed in the kennels of private individuals (usually the trainer, in the case of licensed NGRC tracks - unlicensed greyhound racing is known as "flapping") and transported to the tracks to race. Unfortunately this can sometimes leave the dogs exposed to substandard treatment from their owners. Dogs health and condition are checked at the track, and drugs tests are conducted to check for tampering with the dogs. Due to the high number of dogs going through the system each year the National Greyhound Racing Association have set up The Retired Greyhound Trust to rehome the Greyhounds who have left or were unable to start racing, it is a charity but is partly funded by the National Greyhound Racing Association and presents a better view of Greyhound racing to the public. There are also many independent organisations who do not agree with racing who are finding homes for retired Greyhounds.

[edit] In South Africa

In the Republic of South Africa dogs are kept with their owners. Due to the amateur state of racing, owners are usually also the trainer and rearer of the dogs. Each owner train and race his own dogs. It is very rare that a dog is kenneled with a trainer. Racing is controlled by a partnership between the United Greyhound Racing and Breeders Society (UGRABS) and the South African Renhond Unie (SARU - South African Racing Dog Union). The studbook is kept by the South African Studbook and organization who keep studbooks for all stud animals. Racing takes place on both oval and straight tracks. Racing is technically illegal in South Africa, which is strange as any other form of animal racing, i.e. horse racing, pigeon racing and even ostrich racing is perfectly legal. Great controversy rage because the use of greyhounds to hunt wild animals is a fairly common occurrence. The supporters of dog racing believe that legal racing, as an industry similar to that of Australia of Great Britain, would cause hunting to eventually stop.


[edit] Medical Care

In places that allow gambling on Greyhound racing the owners often treat the dogs as short-term investments. This often means that the care they receive is intended only to help them perform on the track, not for their long-term health. Greyhound adoption groups frequently report that the dogs from the tracks have tooth problems the cause of which is debated although it is likely related to either a low-quality raw meat diet or damage to the gums from chewing on metal cage bars. The groups often also find that the dogs carry tick-borne diseases and parasites due to the lack of proper preventative treatments. Due to the dense living conditions in the kennels, the dogs require regular vaccination to minimize outbreaks of diseases like kennel cough.

After the dogs are no longer able to race (generally, a greyhound's career will end by the age of three to five), owners either keep the dog for breeding or dispose of the dog. They will sometimes kill the ex-racing greyhounds if they do not want to go through the expense of finding the dogs homes. The ratio of dogs killed to those adopted is greatly debated. There is much debate between the racing industry and anti-racing activists about the quality of the dog's care making the exact details hard to determine.

Recently, doping has also emerged as a problem in Greyhound racing. The racing industry is actively working to prevent the spread of this practice; attempts are made to recover urine samples from all greyhounds in a race, not just the winners. Greyhounds from which samples can not be obtained for a certain number of consecutive races are subject to being ruled off the track. Violators are subject to criminal penalties and loss of their racing licenses by state gaming commissions and a permanent ban from the National Greyhound Association. The trainer of the greyhound is at all times the "absolute insurer" of the condition of the animal. The trainer is responsible for any positive test regardless of how the banned substance has entered the greyhound's system.

Several organizations, such as British Greyhounds Retired Database, Adopt-a-Greyhound and National Greyhound Adoption Program, try to ensure that as many of the dogs as possible are adopted. Some of these groups also advocate better treatment of the dogs while at the track and/or the end of racing for profit. In recent years the racing industry has made significant progress in establishing programs for the adoption of retired racers. In addition to actively cooperating with private adoption groups throughout the country, many race tracks have established their own adoption programs at various tracks.

In recent years, several state governments in the United States have passed legislation to improve the treatment of racing dogs in their juristiction. During the 1990's seven states banned live greyhound racing.[3]

In venues where greyhound racing does not involve gambling, the dogs are almost invariably pets and are, therefore, generally well treated.

[edit] Notes or Footnotes

  1. ^ A listing of US Tracks
  2. ^ Charity Guide discussion of greyhound rescure.
  3. ^ Greyhound Racing Facts from the Humane Society of the United States

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Racing Websites

[edit] Critical Websites

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