For most Americans, dogs are loving companions and family members. But there’s a small and dying industry, hanging on by a thread, that crams dogs into cages for most of their lives, and forces them to run on tracks for entertainment and gambling, sustaining broken bones, heart attacks, drug overdoses, and other injuries.
It’s greyhound racing, and it’s on its last legs. In the last decade and a half, more than two dozen dog tracks have closed all across the country, and dog racing now represents less than one percent of all wagers placed each year in the United States. It’s clear that American consumers have moved on to other forms of entertainment.
But Florida is its last bastion, with 12 of the remaining 18 tracks nationwide located in the Sunshine State. Now, there is a renewed effort to relegate dog racing to Florida’s history books. Florida State Senator, and past Senate President, Tom Lee, and former State Senate President Don Gaetz, both Republicans, have introduced a constitutional amendment to phase out greyhound racing over three years and to remove the current state requirement forcing casinos to run dog races if they want to operate other forms of gambling. If the proposed amendment is approved by the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, the language will appear on the 2018 ballot, allowing Floridians to have the final say on the matter. They have already been voting with their dollars, but it may take a vote at the ballot box to end this cruelty for good.
It should be an open and shut case. Why should the government force a private business to offer a form of gambling that consumers are not interested in? And why do that when it causes dogs to suffer horrible injuries? Currently, the state dog racing mandate forces casinos to offer live racing as a “loss leader” for more viable forms of betting, at a significant cost to both taxpayers and track operators, and conflicting with free market principles. In 2015, Florida tracks lost a combined $31 million on greyhound racing.
Despite Florida’s being one of two states where dog injuries do not have to be reported to the public, some compelling data has trickled out. Dogs euthanized after falling during a race and breaking their backs or multiple leg bones. Dogs falling into the track fences and being electrocuted. At Ebro Greyhound Park, 30 greyhounds suffered “substantial” injuries and ten greyhounds were euthanized in a six-week period between May 21 and July 5, 2011. In 2013, the reporting of dog deaths did become mandatory, and between May 31, 2013 and December 31, 2016, a racing greyhound died every three days on average in the state.
Even if dogs don’t end up injured or dead, they suffer from extended confinement and cases of severe neglect. Dogs at the tracks are confined for 20 to 23 hours a day, in cages too small for them to stand up normally. Since 2008, state investigators have documented at least eight cases of severe neglect and cruelty at Florida dog tracks and associated kennel compounds, including a 2010 case where state investigators found 37 dead greyhounds at a kennel compound and another five severely emaciated live dogs. A trainer in this case was charged with 42 counts of felony animal cruelty and pled no contest to 39 of them. He was sentenced to five years in prison for each count, to be served concurrently.
Just this year, two more cases of drugging dogs have been added to the long list of such violations. In one instance case, 12 greyhounds tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine in Florida, with one greyhound testing positive on six different occasions. The trainer's license was suspended pending another hearing. In a different incident, five greyhounds tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine including one that tested positive for cocaine itself. That trainer’s license was then revoked.
No dog should suffer such abuses. The industry is already dying a slow death, with the total amount gambled on live racing at Florida dog tracks declining by 56 percent between 2006 and 2016. State tax revenue from dog racing also continues to drop, with revenue declining by 81 percent from 2006 to 2016.
There is an overwhelming humane and fiscal case to finally put an end to greyhound racing. Now is the time to weigh in with the Constitution Revision Commission and give Florida voters the opportunity to choose a policy that’s better for dogs, better for business, and better for taxpayers. If you are a Florida resident, please participate in our Week of Gratitude for Florida Greyhounds and help protect these dogs from cruelty and abuse.
