Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Republican
Greyhound racing nearing finish line

Unless you are a dog person, it might be difficult to get fired up about efforts to ban greyhound racing in Massachusetts.

Take Gov. Deval L. Patrick, for example.

In an interview with the Associated Press last month, he said he was sympathetic to the concerns about the treatment of greyhounds, but he admitted that he doesn't have any strong feelings about a ballot question to ban dog racing.

"I can tell you it's not high on my list of priorities," he said. "I don't actually think you have to have an opinion about everything in order to do this job."

If you expect us to criticize the governor here, you'll have to wait for another day. He was being honest, and we applaud him for that.

It does illustrate, however, the task ahead for the Committee to Protect Dogs, which submitted enough signatures recently to put the question on the ballot in November.

Owners of the two dog tracks in Massachusetts - Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park in Raynham and Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere - have defeated previous efforts to ban dog racing. Although the defeat seven years ago might be described as a photo finish, voters in Massachusetts have not yet been dog's best friend.

Let this year be the year of the greyhound. Almost no one goes to the tracks to see the dogs run; rather they go to gamble. With so many other outlets for gambling, we see no reason to continue to allow a waning sport with a questionable animal treatment record to continue. And certainly, voters should agree that the well-being of the dogs is more important than the entertainment value.

Track owners argue, quite convincingly, that dog racing plays an important economic role in the Bay State, supplying hundreds of jobs.

That might be true, but for how much longer?

George Carney, owner of Raynham-Taunton racetrack, pleaded with lawmakers at a Statehouse hearing last month to approve slot machines to boost revenue. "We're going to keep on running," he said. "But I'm telling you, there's no money left in the racing. If you want to keep us going, you've got to give us the slots."

Will greyhound racing survive?

Don't bet on it.

How about the well being of the dogs at the pound? What do average people know about the well being of anything, much less dogs?