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.
I realize 2020 has been a unique year and at times just seems to be dragging on, but July 2020 was not “years” ago!
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?
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.
During the summer, stories about live lure
baiting of racing greyhounds broke throughout the United States. I have
personally seen video footage that captured several National Greyhound
Association members participating in what many deem to be nothing but brutality
and animal abuse. I know some people have no issues with hunting or letting
dogs chase prey, but when jackrabbits are not even given an opportunity to
outrun and escape, pure brutality is all I can think of when I watch the
videos. Who decides which animals can get ripped apart and which animals
cannot?
I
wanted to learn more. I was not about to just take one organization's word or
truncated news stories as gospel. I wanted a thorough and unbiased education
about live lure baiting in the greyhound racing industry.
I contacted several retired greyhound breeders, trainers, and owners and set out to discuss with them about this thing that is termed as “jacking”. I asked if “jacking” was indeed a widespread practice years ago, I heard an overwhelming yes. I was told "we all did it and when that Geraldo Rivera story broke, we all started sending our greyhounds to Kansas and Oklahoma where they would be “jacked” cause after all, it's only a misdemeanor. We did not speak of it; you know plausible deniability. Folks jacking would just tell us if the greyhound would chase or not."
Personally, I always thought the term "would not chase" meant the greyhound would not chase the lure, but now I understand that it came to mean that a greyhound would not chase a jackrabbit. Lastly was told - "We (greyhound industry) brought the end upon ourselves. We knew what we needed to do to clean up our act, but we all got addicted to the money especially with what the casinos had to offer and just kept doing inhumane activities behind their back and kept getting caught. If we had cleaned up our act, those organizations would have never had anything to nail our coffin with."
Sadly, as of this writing, even though the
National Greyhound Association (NGA) has had plenty of time to take a stand,
take the lead and permanently divest itself of any and all membership that
participates in this tradition of training, it continues to be reactive rather
than proactive.
Perhaps the NGA has buried its head in sand.
I have not.
I still remember my first home visit 27 years ago with regards to possibly adopting a greyhound. One of the reasons I got involved with greyhound adoption was my impression of how the home visit was conducted. Not once was my religion asked about, not once was my view regarding greyhound racing questioned. The adoption volunteer conducting the home visit was concerned with the environment that a potential greyhound would be living, if there were other pets, and most important if those living in the home would genuinely care for the greyhound and truly offer it a forever home.
Over the years I have traveled to attend
greyhound events literally from sea-to-sea and have met thousands of greyhound
adopters. I have met pro-racing adopters. I have met adopters who were
against racing. I have met greyhound adopters with no opinion on racing
and simply loved their greyhound.
All
the greyhounds with regards to the three categories mentioned above had one
thing in common – a loving home & family.
Today
there is an obvious shift in greyhound adoption & racing industry to only
send greyhounds to groups who publicly declare themselves as “pro-racing"
(with extra bonus points to those that politically and financially back the
movement to save greyhound racing) flooding the chosen groups with available dogs
or holding greyhounds for a period of time while many greyhound adoption groups
who have loving forever homes lined up and waiting are not sent any dogs nor
are those families given the chance to adopt the, in my opinion, most wonderful
dog in the world.
I
sometimes wonder if (as the saying goes) "it's all about the dogs" or
has it now become "it's all about the beliefs". A family is only
worthy of the chance of adopting a greyhound if they are of the approved
mindset?
I
hope as Florida winds down the remaining tracks will put an enormous effort
into quality of home vs. the group and homes racing views, and help those that
believe in the importance of placing the greyhounds into loving forever homes
takes precedence over the stance. Personally, I fear that the stance has
become the priority and believe that will put a risk on the quality of homes
available to the ex-racing greyhounds. Will adoption groups be forced to hold
on to their adoptable greyhounds in fear that unless they adopt out as
"instructed" they will forfeit access to any adoptable greyhounds
going forward?
Is not a forever loving home for the ex-racing
greyhounds the reason many of us got into this in the first place?
A few years ago when advising one of my clients with regards to dealing with their annual SOX audit, I advised the client never say they would do something when the facts showed they did not have the manpower to accomplish or the desire to actually follow through with the tasks. Auditors love to nail business units on items they say they will do but fail to.
For years we heard that the use of live lure
training was a practice of days gone by and that in today’s greyhound racing
community, anyone caught doing such would be "kicked out". Many
believed that this was fact.
During the Arizona Racing Commission meeting
held August 18, 2020, the Chairman of the Arizona Racing Commission (me)
made the following public statement:
“Those of you who may
have been in attendance over 8 years ago when I was introduced as the new
racing commissioner representing the greyhounds may remember I mentioned that I
can be a quite person, but have the capability to speak up and maybe get long
winded as I am the son of a Baptist minister.
At the end of July, a news story with videos circulated across
the nation regarding live lure training of greyhounds.
Most if not all of you with us today know that adopting
ex-racing greyhounds as pets is something, I have done for 27 years. Not only
do I love the greyhounds, I have supported the sport and have been an active
voice for the adoption effort as well as a national leader for the mission of
assisting ex-racing greyhounds being placed in loving homes. While those basics
have not changed, many of you in the electronic conference room today have
known that over the last 8 years as part of this commission, I’m a supporter of
ensuring the safety of all participants in the sport of horse and greyhound
racing. I am a firm believer and enforcer of playing by the rules.
While I do not personally
believe greyhound racing will be able to overcome the accusations of the past
few weeks, as I personally see this as a huge ethical problem for greyhound
racing, I do believe those of you in horse racing can learn a lesson, I would
like to take a few moments to share my thoughts.
While my fellow commissioners and I, as well as others here
today, have taken an oath to uphold the laws and ensure the protections
of the public and all participants, each and every one of us in the sports has
a duty to abide by the laws, statues, and house rules. Each one of us has a
duty to uphold the sports with the greatest of loyalty and care, each one of us
has a duty to treat each other with respect and treat the animals involved with
the greatest of care. Doing such shows the public that while each of us is
human and capable of sin, our duty of care and loyalty creates an environment
that our actions and conduct are pure, professional and law abiding and as
such, the public perception of our sport is greatly increased.
Personally, I am appalled at the evidence that has shown a
number of greyhound racing participants actively involved in live lure bating
with jackrabbits in what is also termed as “jacking”. Many have
asked me to speak up over the past couple of weeks however I have remained
silent as I struggled to come up with words to express my feelings.
My feelings do not matter. I can say I do not struggle with the
enforcement of the rules, laws, statues, and house rules. While this body does
not have any jurisdiction in the current situation, I do believe we have a
right to question the signals imported into our state and demand that the
greyhounds and racing participants abide by the rules so that those signals are
fair. If we fail to address this issue are, we protecting the Arizona public as
best we can regarding this situation?
As a commissioner, as someone who has been a leader in greyhound
adoption, as a person who has supported responsible racing and as one who has
had many adopted ex-racing greyhounds at home, I personally encourage the
National Greyhound Association to stop sidestepping this infraction. I
encourage them to take bold and rightful actions. I encourage those with
authority to investigate and bring the facts to light.
Each of us of can be
tempted by the serpent to cheat. Do not let yourselves be tempted. Uphold our
sports with the upmost respect for not only yourselves but for your fellow
owners, trainers, jockeys, other participants of the sports and perhaps most of
all the horses and greyhounds who look to us for care, protection and love.
I hope you all know I respect you and I will support you. If you
violate the rules, the respect and love for all living beings, the foundations
that my father Reverend Goree taught me as a child will not cease, but as
my mother often had to say to my young self - you have broken the rules of
this house and you know the consequences.
Violating
the rules leads to consequences. Cheating harms not just the cheater, it
brings great harm to the collective sport, participants and animals involved
and it harms the future. Cheating, violation of the rules, beating the system,
call it what you like...in the end all it will do is bring about the demise of
the sports you love.
Call it
what you want, willfully violating the rules is not responsible racing.”
As I
have yet to hear that the National Greyhound Association has taken a hard-liner
stance on live lure training, publicly condemned any members caught doing so
and permanently removing those members, today while I know it will not make a
bit of difference, I returned my ballot for NGA board elections.
Be not
afraid to abide by the rules, be not afraid to take a stand.
