What I Saw?

People always ask me if the dogs are treated good at the track. Yes, the overwhelming majority' are. Here are my personal stats:

90% of the greyhounds are treated like kings

. After all if a dog isn't happy it isn't going to run and make you money. If they don't make money and one or both of you have to go if that happens. Nobody wants that to happen.

9 % get adequate care.

They may not live in the best of everything. (equipment, food, sanitation and care) but they still get the basics. Most pets are not treated as well as this group.

1% are abused. These are the ones that make the news...like doctors and daycare centers. You never hear about them until there's a problem.

If the abuse is physical then people see what is going on and you will lose your job and not get rehired anywhere. In extreme cases the track will step in but there has to be physical proof for them to do anything. Usually the industry takes care of this itself because nobody wants anyone to mistreat their hides, so it never makes it to the track.

Sometimes bottom kennels have to cut costs on materials so they don't have to get rid of dogs. It always seem to me that when this happens the level of TLC goes way up. Big name trainers work in big name kennels. Bottom kennels are full of people who love their dogs and scramble around like mad doing what it takes to just keep them alive in a cutthroat business.

I used to work in top and bottom kennels. All the top kennels wanted me and I worked for most of them at some point in time. But I would see a bottom kennel that needed good help and I would step in and do that job. Sometimes for less pay until things would level out and then I would go get a better job again. Some of those jobs were at kennels where I had worked previously but at new kennels too. I would generally just take whatever job was open.

Then there is physical abuse. It is rare but it happens When people see it, one phone call to an owner generally takes care of the problem. If you get a reputation for it then you won't get another job.

I only reported one case of abuse to the track. I saw 2 more cases but I didn't have proof. Then in one case I interceded with the track and took care of the problem so the people weren't disciplined. The case I reported was so bad that 2 other people reported it with me. The trainer was suspended and warned that a second complaint would result in losing his license to race. They could not jerk his license because there was no physical proof. in these days of cell phone movies that wouldn't be a problem now.

That enough of life at the track today. I won't even get into the actual abuse by the track right now. There's a whole another blog about it somewhere in here.