The Greyhound Racing Controversy
Greyhound racing is an interesting sport, which is similar to horseracing but without a jockey. The other similarity to horseracing is the fact that it is a sport that is heavily bet on. Due to the fact that it is a sport that relies only on very quick dogs, there is always the possibility that some sort of illegal practice or controversy will take place. Humans are always better at ensuring that we take care of our own kind but sometimes we neglect to give the same sort of rights to animals. There is a debate on at the moment as to whether Greyhound racing is animal abuse or if it is a legitimate and legal sport. Many states in America have banned it but it remains popular in others. We will just have to wait and see what happens to the sport in the future.
The Greyhound breed started to become popular in the late 1800s in England. They were initially used to chase and hunt foxes. But then it was noticed how fast they were at running and it was thought that they might be very good at racing. In 1900, an American man named Patrick Owen introduced the concept of Greyhound racing to the world and it became an instant hit.
The first circular racetrack to race Greyhounds on was made in California in 1919. There is even mention of Greyhounds in history books as they were found mummified along with Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt. They were also immortalised in literature even being mentioned in works by Shakespeare and Chaucer. They are a beautiful breed of dog built for racing, their bodies are slender and muscular and when they run they become aerodynamically streamlined with their ears getting pinned back and they look as if they are flying.
Over the years as the need for the fastest and most athletic dogs has grown, breeders have started to specifically breed Greyhounds from the fastest dogs. The problem with this is that thousands of puppies are killed in the process of finding those few racing champions. The breeding process is brutal and while the breeders could give the unwanted dogs away to be adopted, there would be so many of them that shelters would become inundated with unwanted Greyhounds.
The sport operates with a mechanical lure that runs around the track and either a bone or a rabbit is strapped to the lure which is then spun around at high speeds and the dogs chase after it. Animal rights activists have said that using rabbits to fill the lure is inhumane and it is simply to increase the entertainment value of the sport. Other animal rights activists have said that the whole sport of dog racing is inhumane because animals are specifically breed and used to race simply for the entertainment of humans. The Greyhounds are breed into a world not of their choosing and then made to compete and make money for their owners. At least in horseracing there is the combined effort of the jockey and the horse to win a race; in dog racing it is simply the dog that wins or loses.
At the end of a racing dog’s professional life, most of them are simply killed. Some are shot in the head, drowned, some are poisoned and some are left to die without food or water. A lot of dog trainers and owners are not that inhuman and donate the retired dogs to shelters and kennels after their racing careers are over. Most Greyhounds only have a 4 year racing career but they can live for up to 12 years. Many dogs get neglected after they are abandoned by their owners and it is a sad state of affairs that the governing bodies of the sport should really address. The controversies surrounding the sport had increased to such a level that many states in America including California have banned the racing of Greyhounds.
The sport seems to be in decline with many states banning it and racetracks closing in others, the future is not looking too good for dog racing. In a few years maybe we will see a complete disappearance of the sport and maybe an end to the barbaric practices of over breeding and dog neglect. The sport of Greyhound racing could simply become a page in the history books in a few years, and dogs around the world will rejoice.
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