With my local
temperatures reaching close to 110 degrees this week, I am reminded of an
incident several years ago in Miami where a group of angry individuals chose to
hold a protest outside of the hotel where the World Greyhound Racing
meeting was held. It was a warm, humid day and these angry individuals had
greyhounds with them. I watched as these protesters kept the greyhounds out in
the heat and excessive humidity, forcing them to stand on the concrete pavement
without allowing breaks in shade or water yet there in the shade drinking an
iced beverage sat the person who ran the adoption program and organized this
particular protest.
It was not until I
called the police that these protesters finally took the dogs into shade and
gave them water and a break.
Pictures of a recent
protest by another group of angry individuals with greyhounds again show these
individuals are willing to put dogs at risk for their own hate. It appears that
no matter what the weather conditions are, their "cause" outweighs
the dogs they claim to "protect".
So for you angry few who
insist on using greyhounds as props during your protests, here is information to
help the dogs you are abusing during protests:
It is time for all of us who love greyhounds to demand
ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY of these organizations who are protesting
greyhound racing – a start would be to demand the policy and procedures they
use to ensure the safety of the greyhounds they use as props!
Many years ago I went through this very same thing, at an Irish Music festival in Somerville---yes, THAT Somerville. There was a group with a table set up, handing out propaganda leaflets and pontificating to all and sundry, about the thing they seemed to know the least of. Someone had brought their retired racer, who was black, to their little hate fest, and had left the poor thing out in the sun, on a hot, humid, tanktop-and-sandals sort of summer day. I decided to let the Grand Dragoness know, politely, that the greyhound was possibly about 10 minutes away from a heat related episode, and was impolitely dismissed. So I went over to the beer vendor, explained the situation, and mooched a bag of ice cubes---with which I then began to use as best I could to cool the poor dog down, who was in a bit of distress. I was verbally accosted at once, and told that the police would soon be here, apparently to make sure the dog received no respite. So in a few minutes a State cop did arrive, and politely asked me what the problem was, and why was I doing what I was doing. I explained things to him and mentioned that I was a licensed greyhound professional. The Grand Dragoness, meanwhile was inconsolable, and quite hysterical, as huge crowd had gathered, and I was addressing them in a very concened manner, for as much as I was flabbergasted by the total lack of empathy these people were showing for the dog, I was genuinely worried for this little girl. She was stressing significantly. So, various members of the audience who were aware of what was taking place, began to chime in, and finally, they moved her to some shade, and continued to cool her down as per what I had been attempting. At that point, Ms. Dragoness decided to press the issue with the State cop, who listened to her patiently. He then came over to me, and before he could get a word out, I mentioned that I was the trainer of one of his constabulary brethren's greyhounds, a gentleman who was not only a local owner/breeder, but also State Police Captain, and as it turns out, this officer's boss. I so love happy endings.
ReplyDeleteAh, sweet irony, I just love it! Thank you for caring about the dog that day in Somerville and making sure she was given proper care. However, it seems they STILL haven't learned how to care for their Greyhounds as it was 88 degrees on Saturday & they dragged a dog out in extreme heat, standing on a very hot surface with no foot protection, to use as a prop, for the sole purpose of spreading their vitriolic rhetoric.
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