Greyhound Racing: still surviving
Even though many have tried at multiple occasions to squeeze the life right out of the greyhound racing sport, but the races have been taking place, sometimes even more than what a usual horse racing card holds for a day. Despite the closure of many stadiums
around, there are still more that support the cause and betting exchanges.
One of the most active stadiums right now is the Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium in the southwest London, England. Without any doubt, the most famous in the entire UK is Wimbledon ever since the closing down of Walthamstow Stadium.
There were many protests against the closure of the Walthamstow Stadium, but the closing could not be put to an end.
Some views expressed were as followed:
"Whenever my son sees the lights of the stadium, he says 'I'm home'."
"This is to Walthamstow what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris."
"Nothing beats the buzz of standing on the terrace cheering on your dog."
"I've been coming since I was six, sipping Bovril. How can they say no one's interested? Last Saturday it was jammed with 6,500 people."
"It's wrong to close it, completely wrong,"
"This is a real community here, and they're destroying it. Look around you, you've got all sorts. Four- and five-year-old kids jumping up and down; they won't do that in front of a computer screen."
The Wimbledon Stadium hosts the English Greyhound Derby each year.
The facilities at the stadium include a brick fronted grandstand that can seat 8,000 spectators at a time. Several bars and catering facilities which include waiter-service restaurants come with the race attendance at the stadium.
Every stadium ends up forming a community that cherishes the events and the ambience that stimulates due to the greyhound racing.
Moreover, the betting gets the people and hard core fans actively involved and gradually it becomes a part of their life style.
The owners, trainers and the bettors end up forming associations which aid long-term mutual benefit. Rooting all this and way more apart should no more be the practice of the activists. Being extremist about it does not have to be the solution to the problem,
there must be loop holes and gaps, filling in of which will help the cause.
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