Saturday, November 21, 2009
Chicagoland / Sports / News What's Really Happening to Dairyland's Greyhounds
Posted by Sam Adams on 11.21.09 at 10:00 AM
- Greyhounds racing at Dairyland
If you're on Twitter or Facebook, you've probably already come across the message that Dairyland racetrack in Kenosha is closing and "900 Greyhounds need to be adopted or they will be euthanized." It's been shared and retweeted so many times by so many people that finding the original author is an exercise in futility.
But according to Ellen Paulus, president of the Wisconsin chapter of Greyhound Pets of America, the largest nonprofit group for greyhound adoption in the country, it's not true. "Wisconsin law mandates that no dogs can be put to sleep in our state just because their racing careers are completed," she e-mailed me. "Dogs have 3 options: transfer to another track to continue racing, go into adoption programs, or be signed back [to] their owners."
According to the Greyhound Racing Association of America, owners usually lease the dogs to the "contract kennels" that race them at the tracks; some kennels own the dogs they race.
Wisconsin law doesn't say explicitly that retired racers can't be euthanized. What it says is that “in the event . . . a greyhound is to be removed from the racetrack, unless the greyhound’s immediate destination is another racetrack, for racing purposes; or a breeding farm, for breeding purposes; or [an approved] greyhound pet placement program, the greyhound shall be returned to the registered owner."
The law also notes that no one but the owner can sell the dogs for scientific research—meaning the owner is free to do just that. Wisconsin's gaming laws were overhauled in 2003 to provide greater protections for the dogs, in part due to the case of a kennel operator who between 1996 and 2000 sold as many as 935 dogs to a cardiac research lab without their owners' knowledge. But it doesn't prevent owners from selling their own dogs for research because animals are considered private property.
Paulus does not have numbers yet on exactly how many dogs are at the park—or how many will go up for adoption—but both she and Rory S. Goree, national president of GPA, estimate that 300-500 dogs will need new homes. Dairyland has an adoption center, with a socialization program for the dogs, and in a statement posted to their Web site Thursday promised, "Our kennel compound will remain open until all greyhounds are properly placed." (No one from Dairyland's adoption program has returned my calls yet.)
In addition to Dairyland's adoption center, the Wisconsin Division of Gaming lists 51 adoption groups —including seven in Illinois—that have been approved to take the dogs. Paulus anticipates that "the majority of the dogs will be placed through the groups closest to the track: Dairyland's Adoption Center, GPA-Wisconsin, Greyhounds Only, Midwest Greyhound Adoption and Greyhound Alliance."
Fifty dogs are scheduled to be sent to adoption programs on the east and west coasts in early December.
To find suitable owners for the dogs, greyhound adoption programs do in-depth screening, even visiting the applicants' homes. Applications usually take about two weeks to process, but it's closer to three or four weeks now, given the workload attached to Dairyland's closure. Adoption fees for greyhounds generally range from $175-$200.
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"Operation Dairyland" - the closing of Dairyland Greyhound Park - can be followed at a website hosted by The Greyhound Alliance: www.greyhoundalliance.org. The website provides the most recent information/status of the closing. Dogs that are available to adoption groups are posted and regularly updated; most of the dogs wll be moved to groups after 1/1/10. There is a link for individuals interested in adopting to find their local adoption organization. Upcoming hauls, fundraising events, and news will be posted. Individuals can donate to support the dogs and subsidize transportation, and 100% of donations will go to the dogs. Thus far, there has been (as we expected and very much appreciate), a fantastic outpouring of support from the public and the greyhound adoption network.
Linda Cliffel
Adoption Coordinator
Central Illinois Greyhound Adoption
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You are forgetting, or ignoring, what happens when dogs from Dairyland, or from any track, wind up at Jefferson County Kennel Club in Monticello, FL. Underperforming dogs get forced out by the newcomers into the local adoption program or into a hole in the ground. Seldom do you see dogs being returned to their owners. In many cases, ownership of the dogs is signed over to the trainers in Monticello who are then the owners of record. They have limited available options of what to do with the hundreds of dogs processed through this end of the line track.
Adoption issues aside, why do people continue to get their thrills by watching these poor animals race? If they were the slightest bit enlightened, we wouldn't have greyhound racing and the whole issue would be moot.
Let me translate "or be signed back [to] their owners" for you. The dogs will be euthanized
Yep - "back to the owner / farm" equals euthanized (or worse) in most cases. It's misleading of the track officials to imply that these dogs are not in danger.
HERE IS THE MOST RECENT TRAGIC REALITY MR.ADAMS: Neither the State of Wisconsin Division of Gaming, nor Dairyland Greyhound
Park have or will take responsibility or assist in the placement of pets at
Dairyland. Roy Berger, of DGP corporate management, stated that their
"contract with the State of Wisconsin terminates at midnight on 12/31/09;
{they} have no further responsibility or obligation." The Division of Gaming
today stated that it is the responsibility of DGP.
The dogs have no protection - they have been abandoned. Please go to the
website www.greyhoundallian ce.org where we will post
updates to the now upon us crisis.
