Racing greyhounds in the United States
I have so many good resources to share with you! I want to first emphasize that when I speak of racing practices, my knowledge is solely about racing in the United States. I have not done extensive research into other countries (other than the plight of the galgo in Spain, which is separate from racing), and I don’t have enough of a knowledge base to comment one way or the other on them. I want to make a pretty comprehensive post here but not make it so heavy that it is hard to dig into, so I’ll try to summarize a few issues and at the bottom give multiple references. I know there is simply no way to cover every question that may be out there, so hopefully the references can help with that.
All photos courtesy of Rachel Hogue, who has graciously allowed her photos to be shared for informative purposes.
Misconceptions of cruelty
I thought I should address this first. A lot of people completely unfamiliar with greyhounds or sighthounds think they are too thin, malnourished, or starved even when they are in peak physical condition. So keep in mind when you hear people claim that they are all starved, the person may be simply uninformed and uneducated about the ideal body condition of a sighthound. It’s not uncommon for adopters to let their greys become overweight after adoption due to being alarmed at the sight of ribs, spine or hip points.
Another misconception is that a nervous or scared hound proves abuse occurred. There can be many reason a hound is scared. One is that simply the stress of a complete environment and routine change for the dog has caused him/her to be particularly anxious. Going from a racing life to a home life is an incredible transition and some handle it better than others. Nothing I’ve read brings a better understanding of that than this wonderful excerpt from a seminar by Kathleen Gilley titled “What is your new adoptive greyhound thinking?”
Another possibility, if the hound seems to be very extreme in their anxiety and shyness, is that a small number of hounds are what is termed “spooks.” Just like some people become very anxious, or OCD, or perhaps have agoraphobia, some dogs have these issues (and it’s not limited to greyhounds as a breed). It CAN be hereditary. While generally severe spooks are often simply retired quickly because they just don’t handle racing well, some actually do quite well in racing and only become more “neurotic” when they are taken out of their comfort zone. For these types, it takes a very long period of adjustment in retirement and a patient person to deal with their sensitivity. You can read an interesting discussion about spooks here on the Grey Talk forum.
Stopping to think about some of the wilder claims made, when you really think about them, make no logical sense. Consider, for example, that racing owners and breeders want a top performing dog. A top performer will win more races, more purses, and ultimately perhaps become a sought after stud or a brood bitch whose pups will be highly valuable. A breeder spends thousands of dollars to have and raise a litter. It’s not simply taking a male and female and throwing them together.
If you look at pedigrees, and every racing hound’s pedigree is registered and recorded online here, you will see certain sires and lines in common with many, many hounds. That is because those dogs were exceptional performers. That means that people pay an expensive stud fee to have litters with those bloodlines. Already it makes no sense that there would be that kind of money and care put into a litter only to abuse and treat them badly. If a person starved and abused their dogs, all it would take was someone who didn’t do so to have dogs that outperformed the others. Even if you don’t believe these people care for their dogs (and most do), sheer logic says that if they want to make money and have any success that the dogs must be able to perform well.
Let’s then move on to the logic behind the claim that the dogs are being forced to race all their lives. I have to say, as an aside, that it’s laughable that these dogs are forced to run in any way. There can be no doubt that these dogs love what they do, they love running and racing. When handlers take them out for schooling or race day, they leap and strain and can’t wait to get to the track.
If you haven’t seen it, this video of a retired racer watching other dogs race is quite telling as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqdRV6HNfPQ
In truth, most race for one season, maybe two. If they are very successful, they don’t want to continue to race long-term a potential breeding hound because there is always some amount of risk of injury (as there is with any activity). A dog that has proven exceptional skill is going to be an excellent candidate to add to the gene pool of future racers. On the flip side, they won’t want to keep a poor racer around because they have to continue to pay for that dog’s upkeep. The track has a limited amount of space and kennels, and owners are going to want to keep their newest prospects there, not have a dog that isn’t winning languishing there and draining resources. It makes no sense. The kennels are owned by the track, and the track is not owned by the industry.
The Pro Greyhound Movement
A really great resource on Facebook is The Pro Greyhound Movement. It is a closed group so you must be approved to join; however if you don’t look like a spambot you can generally be approved within a day or so. There are many owners, breeders, trainers, track workers, and other adopters in this group. It was created to be a means of communication and connection between those in the industry and adopters. They are very willing to answer questions, and often if you give your dog’s racing name you might find out information about them. Some trainers may specifically remember your hound, or can give you more information about where your dog came from. If you’re lucky you might be able to connect with a trainer or breeder and get past photos of your hound from their racing life. I must warn you, however, that if you join up and immediately start out attacking people there your reception will not be a good one. They are understandably wary and defensive with people who seem to have an agenda other than learning. AR groups have “joined” before and stolen pictures only to edit and post them out of context in anti-racing propaganda. So that’s something to be aware of.
Dennis really deserves a special mention here because he has written extensive essays and articles to share what goes on in the industry and debunking myths surrounding racing in the US. He has been involved in the industry as a trainer most of his adult life. A list of some of his myth debunking pieces can be found here: Debunking Lies. Dennis also posts often on his own Facebook page which is set to public so that it is open to all. I have spoken to him and asked him if he’d be willing to answer questions directly from people, which he generously agreed to. If you have questions that you just can’t seem to find good answers to, you can contact him through his Facebook page.
Resources and more Resources
I could go on forever here, but this is probably too long as it is! So here are several wonderful resources that you can check out to see what normal racing greyhound life is like and how they are treated. You might be pleasantly surprised!
Greyhoundfacts.org: Greyhound Facts is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to provide a place to learn about all aspects of present day greyhound racing in the USA from those with hands on experience. Our network of volunteers includes people who are actively involved in the breeding, raising, training, and rehoming of these wonderful hounds.
All About Greyhounds: Welcome to All About Greyhounds! We hope you will explore all the pages of the website, Greyhounds have many facets and we hope to showcase them all. We endeavor to keep this website fresh and up to date, so please enjoy your visit and come back often.
Oh Happy Racing Greyhound: Community on Facebook.
Adopted Greyhound Puppies: Article and photos about greyhound puppies who, for whatever reason, don’t become racers.
Racing Greyhounds and Their People: There seems to be a common misconception that racing greyhounds don’t get much human contact while they’re at the track. A look behind the scenes shows how much trainers and kennel staff truly love these dogs in their care, as well as how much the dogs love them back.
Blanchard Greyhound Racing: A racing kennel that has graciously opened up to the public with updates, photos, and videos about their hounds.
Jason Michael: Works with Palm Beach Kennels in Florida. He shares photos and videos of the racers daily.
Life at a Greyhound Track (Rachel Hogue): A beautiful photo blog that takes you through the life of the typical racing greyhound. Browse through the photos and read the captions, you will learn a lot! She has other albums with fantastic photos from racing hounds to puppies at the farm.
American Greyhound Council: The American Greyhound Council (AGC) was established in 1987 to fund and manage greyhound welfare, research and adoption programs for the racing community. It is a joint effort of the National Greyhound Association, the official greyhound registry and breeding organization; and the American Greyhound Track Operators Association. The AGC works with breeders, tracks, adoption groups, regulators, elected officials and others to ensure the health and safety of greyhounds at every stage of their lives.
National Greyhound Association: The NGA is the official registry of the breed, a membership organization devoted to overseeing the recording of the breeding, registrations and performance of the Sport of Queens in the United States. Greyhound racing starts here, where professional members gather information to breed, whelp, humanely raise and produce the world’s fastest canine. Most importantly, we celebrate a history of the breed and exalt the finest traits, to produce the finest athletes and amazing all around dog.
If you’ve adopted a racer, perhaps try to get in touch with your dog’s breeder or trainer. It can’t always be done but sometimes it can and they are happy to hear from adopters. Cole’s breeder was pleased to hear about him and sent me farm and puppy photos.
Rudy’s breeder became friends with me on Facebook where she loves sharing videos I post of him to her own page. I know a certain someone here on Tumblr who found people at the track through the Pro Greyhound Movement who remembered her hound, and even told a story of a specific song they used to sing to him ;).
I’m not trying to make people pro-racing here. I’m trying to stop the spread of misinformation that is completely false. They aren’t starved and beaten. They aren’t raced their entire lives, and they don’t live in a tiny cage 24/7 except when they race. They haven’t been deprived of all love and caring their whole lives. They aren’t forced to run. They are not mass-killed if they don’t win races. I only ask you listen to the other side and find out the facts before spreading information that may be inaccurate and ultimately harmful to the very dogs you are trying to help.
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