the end of the track for Dairyland
Last Fall we featured a post on greyhound racing, which went up just before Massachusetts happily voted to end racing in the state. I mentioned in the post that Wisconsin's sole remaining greyhound track was just a few blocks from our apartment complex in Kenosha. In fact, I've driven by Dairyland Greyhound Park's shut-up kennel buildings countless times, and have prayed often for the operation to end, hardly knowing if or when that would ever take place.
Well, the Lord was apparently working behind the scenes, no doubt in response to many other prayers, because I found out this past week that the Park is closing after December 31st! It was such an awesome headline to find staring up at me at the local coffee shop. While Wisconsin is now one of six states which has ended greyhound racing but hasn't officially banned it, and the track is closing soley for economic reasons, it remains great news.
But that's not quite the end of the story. Please pray for the roughly 180 workers who will be displaced, as this article highlights, and in a very rough job market. And please pray that the track is not reopened down the road, or replaced with another form of gambling mecca, as one of the workers mentions. And then of course there are the dogs themselves, 850-900 of them, most of whom will urgently need to find homes to be adopted to. But some regrettably will be transferred to other tracks.
Please see Greyhound Pets of America, Wisconsin for more on the greyhound adoption needs which already exist, and which will soon be magnified in a big way. Their website says: "(Greyhounds) are intelligent, affectionate, 'laid back' and exceedingly clean. Although they are classified as large dogs, they are relatively unobtrusive, polite, and easy to live with." And please continue to support the end of greyhound racing nationally, through efforts such as the very active and excellent Grey2K USA, which notes that racing remains operational in eight states.
(This greyhound was adopted from a track by Mieke and Luke Lenssen; thanks go to them for allowing me to share the photo.)
November 17, 2009
Reader Comments (7)
I'm glad to learn about this topic. Like so many things that aren't affecting us in our own backyard, it's easy to turn a blind eye to the drawbacks of spectator sports involving animals. I'll be watching the issue of Greyhound racing more closely from now on.
One of the interesting things I've noticed about our economic recession is that people don't have money to blow on meaningless, even harmful diversions such as this one. Good for the planet, although admittedly not so good for the workers who are out of a job this close to Christmastime. Let's pray they find employment, preferably the kind that does not exploit animals.
Hey Ben, thanks for posting this update. It is wonderful news! It's something I probably would not have known about now that I don't live in Wisconsin, and I'm glad the Lord has been listening ;) There still are a lot of issues that will have to be addressed even with the closing of this track, but at least it's a step in the right direction. Let's keep praying...
Well said, Anna and Rosie, and thank you both for the comments - Ben
Ben, the wounds on our dog in the above picture are from an overzealous play session with our other greyhound (who doesn't know her own strength and pawed at the dog pictured). Greys have thin tight skin that can break more easily than other dogs'.
We'd had her for over a year at the time the picture was taken. She actually came from the track in good shape. I believe we discussed that at the time you snapped the shot. Hope you will either correct your caption, or remove the photo. Thanks.
On another note, we TOTALLY recommend greys as pets to anyone who cares about animals. We have two of them now and they are really wonderful. If anyone out there is considering adoption and has questions about life with a greyhound, please contact me! Ben can give you my email address.
Thanks for the correction, Mieke, I made the change to the caption right away. I apologize for the mistake, it was an honest one. I thought for sure that's what I had heard from you guys when I was in town, but I may have been conflating separate conversations. And thanks so much for offering to be a resource for anyone with questions regarding greyhound adoption, that's wonderful - Ben
I'm glad this track closed down ... I am in Florida and this state has more than any other ... Wish they'd all get shut and gone. Anyway, if anyone is interested in knowing more about rescuing Greyhounds, I'm certain Mary Martin at www (dot) AnimalPerson (dot) net would be a helpful source of information ... Thanks for all you do.
I noticed that, Bea, about Florida being so full of tracks still. That's a real shame, and I also hope that changes very soon. Thank you very much for the comment, and the resource on greyhound rescue - Ben