Arizona just became the 39th state to ban greyhound racing and as a result, an infamous greyhound park, Tucson Greyhound Park, will close its doors.
The new legislation was recently signed by Governor Doug Ducey and Christine Dorchak, president of Grey2K USA, who told the Arizona Daily Star:
“This legislation is something we’ve been working on for 10 years, and we couldn’t be happier that the day has finally arrived.”
She called the Tucson Greyhound Park a “death trap for dogs” because of the terrible conditions that the dogs live in and the work they are forced to do to ensure success on the track.
These racing Greyhounds’ lives consist of little to no social contact, a lack of medical care and spending 20 or more hours a day in a small crate in rooms that don’t have heat or air conditioning. They’re also often forced to wear muzzles, which cause them to develop mouth sores and parasites.
The dogs are also highly susceptible to death due to negligent behavior on the part of the owners and tracks. This is evidenced by the 23 dogs that died slow and excruciating deaths after the heating system broke and was not repaired and other incidents that involved dehydration, fires, heatstroke, and starvation.
Even in transport between parks, the Greyhound trucks are largely unregulated and many have died from the poor conditions.
After the racing dogs have been worn out during their first five years of life, the remainder of their life will be spent breeding or even result in an early death. The lucky survivors may be rescued and find their forever home.
Since the deplorable conditions that these dogs endure has been made public, interest in racing has declined, leading to more states banning the practice.
Now that Tucson Greyhound Park and others in Arizona will be closing before or at the time that the bill comes into effect, there will be an estimated 300-400 Greyhounds available for adoption. Numerous shelters around the country are joining together to coordinate the rescue of these dogs and determine the best way to find their forever homes.
The Arizona Greyhound Rescue is looking to train some dogs for service dog positions through the Heartfelt Hounds Program, which is the perfect next step for these sighthounds.
It’s been a long time coming, but it’s great that Arizona has finally banned Greyhound racing once and for all and said “no” to the inhumane practices used against these lovable dogs.
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