What do you think the racing ban will mean for the future of the greyhound breed?
i think there are greyhound blogs on tumblr that can answer this far more eloquently than i can, but i will try to give you a decent answer.
youâve probably seen posts flying around that claim that we are about to lose âthe breed as we know it.â i think that wording has been confusing to people who arenât familiar with greyhounds.
to me, that phrase means that the lean, muscular, powerful, and yet sweet and humble athlete that so many people know and love will devolve into nothing more than couch ornaments. greyhounds are an extremely healthy and genetically diverse breed that has been bred to hunt for centuries. i think it is unfair to a dog to tailor its genetic code to not only excel at, but LOVE, racing, and then to pull the rug out from under that animal and keep it from the thing that makes them happiest.
over time, the genetic health and fitness of these dogs will likely deteriorate. it will become more difficult to find a greyhound capable of what it was bred to do. show greys will become more the norm, and itâs possible and probable that most dogs will go to homes that will never give them the chance to hunt.
this is where most parties diverge, i think. some people think this is all well and goodâbetter to end it now, so that all future greys donât have to âsufferâ. they believe it is cruel to make a dog work or compete. that there is nothing wrong with leaving behind traits that traditionally make a greyhound a greyhound.
i donât believe this. i believe itâs cruel to condemn a born athlete to live its life languishing on a sofa. and i think itâs just fine to have a breed that exists to hunt!
other breeds are looking at what happened with horror and trepidation because they fear what happened in florida could happen to their dogsâgerman shepherds that canât do bitesports, huskies that canât mush, retrievers that canât retrieve.
mankind has spent its history with dogs forming a partnership that makes both parties fulfilled and happy. we have created dog breeds to fill spaces in our societies and cultures. we created most breeds with specific working purposes to help us in our daily lives. to deny decades or even centuries of this partnership with the belief that a couch dog is a happy dog is laughable and saddening.
a couch is nice for a while, but i know that if someone took my job away, i would be miserable. i was born to teachâitâs in my blood. iâm good at it. i want to do it. confining me to a house and a walk a day wouldnât make me happy or fulfilled. it would make me less than what i am.
i only being up the couch thing because thereâs this prevalent north american myth that all dogs would be happy as indoor couch ornaments. maybe some dogs would. but i think itâs foolish to cry âliberationâ when all youâve done is condemn.
i ENTHUSIASTICALLY invite greyhound people to correct me and add to this, as i am just blabbering at this point. i am on mobile and late to a workout so goodbye for now~
