The 2$ Suckers............

 

As a few mourn the end of greyhound racing in Florida, one needs to address the reason and forgo blaming others for the demise that the industry brought upon itself.

I will share some thoughts on couple of items that brought us to modern day, a day when pari-mutuel wagering on greyhound racing is on the verge of extinction in the United States.

1)    Failure to pass the Interstate Greyhound Racing Act:

The industry, through its own actions, was unable to drive the legislation that would have provided it a source of revenue from its own product. In the mid-1970's the industry was exposed on a national level as using live lure aka jacking by the news program 20/20 resulting in passage of the Interstate Greyhound Racing Act being impossible.

The industry was left without income from its own product, but a bone was tossed to them in the form of subsidies from card rooms and casinos.  The tracks are a business and as such are in business to make a profit and needed to find other sources of revenue to maintain a profitable business. Greyhound racing was no longer a must see/must attend form of entertainment for many. The entertainment dollars the tracks relied on suddenly had competition from newer forms of entertainment and chance.

2)   Lottery – Bigtime gamblers:

The lottery also played its part as the small-time gamblers shifted away from the fun, low risk $2 bet to purchasing a fun, low risk $2 lottery ticket that could be had far closer to their homes.  Big money gamblers need a pool of suckers who will blow 2 bucks to prop up the pool and make it a worthwhile to bet big. Each year the big money gamblers have shifted away from greyhound racing or died and with no new people filling their shoes, the track is not making as much on live racing as they once did. The numbers regarding the decline of big money gamblers is eye opening. 

(Note:  big money gambler for the purpose of this blog is defined as someone who bets $100,000 or more a year)

3) Did the subsidies from casinos and card rooms prop up existence?

Without the subsidies from casinos and card rooms, would the tracks even been able to offer more than $15-$30 a point? Even if the Interstate Greyhound Racing Act had passed, would today’s gambling and entertainment environment allow for the tracks to offer decent money for each point solely based on the live racing product? Just a few things to think about.

A Long Time Ago?

 

I realize 2020 has been a unique year and at times just seems to be dragging on, but July 2020 was not “years” ago!

https://apnews.com/article/kansas-animals-oklahoma-legislation-steve-cohen-d181d8696dd6b80305827dc0656e7489

What is the answer?

 

I sit in amazement at the lack of desire to show the public that greyhound racing wants to repair any negative public perception issue as soon as it crops up. While we hear claims "lies" or "fake videos" or "corruption and payoffs", greyhound racing is silent when there is a serious issue. That said, can there be any surprise that 100% of the Arizona legislature passed a bill to ban pari-mutuel wagering on live greyhound racing in Arizona a few years back or that recently almost 70% of the citizens of Florida voted to ban pari-mutuel wagering on live greyhound racing in Florida.

One would think that would be a 5-alarm call to action to rectify any issue that reflects negatively on greyhound racing. Sadly, burying the collective greyhound racing heads in the sand seems to be the reaction to confronting the issues of negative public perception.

This month a track in Florida held a $100k race. In attendance were numerous individuals from the pro-racing adoption arena as well as photographers from the greyhound adoption world and even those on the front line of the lawsuit to overturn Florida Amendment 13.  All the reports via social media gave the impression the race went off without hitch and lauded the winning dog, kennel, and trainer but not a peep regarding any incidents during the race. Except...a post by a lobby organization which included a video not of the glory but of a disturbing accident in which a greyhound in this $100k race appears to bump another greyhound, then appears to blow its hock and then clearly gets tossed into the railing then tossed back into the track and overrun by another greyhound. 

If history should have taught greyhound racing anything it is that such an incident, especially one that has taken place during a race will be found and publicized, and what makes this newest incident, so glaring is that with so many pro-racing members in attendance and/or posting to social media about this $100k race there is no mention of this greyhound or the accident or the current condition of the greyhound. Sadly, however are many discussions by greyhound supporters on the need to purchase a track and magically reopen a live greyhound racing facility in states that no longer allow pari-mutuel wagering on live greyhound racing. 

If the greyhound racing industry wants the public to believe they care, the pr machine should have been fired up immediately and provided information regarding the condition and location of this greyhound that was possibly injured in such a highly promoted and publicized race. Without such announcements, the public will question what happened to this greyhound and will most likely think the worst. 

 

Without being proactive and honest, the public forms its own conclusions especially when the only mentions come from the anti-racing camp. Any lack of transparency will, in my opinion, make action for the bill in Washington DC to eliminate greyhound racing nationwide easier to pass. Senators and Representatives have previously voted to eliminate greyhound racing at state levels and now that such a bill is in DC, their views on greyhound racing will most likely stay the same.

 

I have been involved with greyhounds on many levels for almost 30 years. I have seen racing accidents where the greyhound was no worse for the experience, where the greyhound suffered a career ending injury and sadly where a greyhound lost its life. So, can anyone provide the answer to the question the public would like to know - what happened to and where is Thrill U?

Interstate Greyhound Racing Act...........

 

I would like to reflect on not just recent years but many years of asking how we got to the point where greyhound racing is on the verge of ending its long history of providing a live racing product in the United States. There are those who think Florida Amendment 13 will be overturned or that a magic wand will be waved and racing in states that long ago ended live greyhound racing will return. Do they fully understand the history with regards to protecting the live greyhound racing product?

Many years ago, a shiny new toy appeared in the pari-mutuel world called off-track betting (OTB). This product scared many - participants and tracks alike - thinking that it might end live racing. The horsemen saw this and in 1978 worked to pass the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA). Without going into details here (so feel free to research this and expand your mind) this legislation gave protections to the horseman and the live horse racing product.

Greyhound men and women would have been wise to ride the coat tails of the IHA. Why didn't they? Perhaps their attention was elsewhere. Also, in 1978, a segment on the show '20/20' made the nation aware of an activity that many found gruesome and disgusting - the training of greyhounds with live bait also known as jacking.

In the late 80s/early 90’s, an attempt was made to pass a bill called the Interstate Greyhound Racing Act. the bill's language was much like that in the IHA and would have given the greyhound men and women ownership and a say regarding the import and export of the simulcasting signals as well as more of the revenue generated from said signals. At the time it was estimated that little over half those involved in greyhound racing made enough from racing to pay their bills. Greyhound racing was on verge of a financial collapse.

Shortly thereafter came the next revenue generator racinos (casino style gambling facilities at the tracks), with the hope to prop up those struggling. Unfortunately for the greyhound racing industry, many became greedy with the amount of money that would be paid out in the points system. With the desire to be the top kennel, which would be a natural reaction, so came the need for the fastest, most aggressive, most driven greyhounds possible to win. There are many who feel one of the only ways to do this is live bait training and as we recently found out this year, the greyhound industry has never given up its use of live bait training of greyhounds, regardless of what guidelines are stated by the National Greyhound Association.

 

Could greed be the reason be that aggressive greyhounds were/are needed to compete for the big points systems offered by the racinos? Greed can run rampant. Greed can replace all logical thinking.  Tired of funding that greed, the tracks felt paying out money generated by the casinos did not make practical business sense. It is next to impossible to believe that no one, especially on the track side knew about the practices of live bait training greyhounds and likely wanted to start looking for ways to maintain a business all the while distancing themselves from direct involvement in the live racing model. Enter decoupling. Without the Interstate Greyhound Racing Act, the decoupling movement was easy.

Who killed the live greyhound racing product? The industry itself did by not cleaning up its act, thus preventing the ability to find enough support legislatively to pass live greyhound racing product protection bills.

Greyhound Pets of America (GPA), a nationwide greyhound adoption program, had many founding members involved with greyhound racing. In preparations for this blog, I spoke with many old timers from the industry and each has stated that everyone knew the practice of jacking was ongoing even after being exposed by Geraldo Rivera in the premier episode of 20/20, thus prompting me to wonder if that is why the founders set GPA up as a neutral organization, so that GPA and its chapters would not get caught up in any future racing related scandals? I wonder if Greyhound Pets of America membership needs to ask themselves if it is worth GPA's integrity and ability to do what is best for the greyhounds in adoption or is it more important to support greyhound racing at any cost, even the risk of an eventual scandal that will ruin the reputation of the largest nationwide greyhound adoption program? The time has come for those in greyhound adoption to agree to a greyhound adoption integrity act and to maintain or move back to the neutral position regarding greyhound racing and focus not on protecting racing but instead focus on the integrity of greyhound adoptions.

 

Authors Note:

No such bill or movement called the "greyhound adoption integrity act" currently exists. It is simply a concept I personally believe the greyhound adoption community should move back towards. 

In preparation for the writing of this blog, I have watched all the videos (hours’ worth) that I am aware of regarding the recent live bait jacking scandal and find much of it is so disturbing and gruesome that I feel it is best not to share the slaughter as it will no doubt make many sick and even worse, change the views of some regarding the greyhound.