Treatment of racing dogs
Living Conditions
In many of the countries where there are large greyhound race tracks with gambling, the dogs live in kennels at or near the track or by their trainers.
In the United States, the 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 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.
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, mulnurishment, 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.
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 or four), 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.
In venues where greyhound racing does not involve gambling, the dogs are almost invariably pets and are, therefore, generally well treated.
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
