Let’s review more in the way of bad press for the greyhound racing industry – much-deserved bad press.

The Miami Herald went all scathing on dog racing earlier this month, in terms of “lax regulations.” The article led with information about a convicted kidnapper being allowed to race dogs in Florida.

One of the key sentences in the piece – “But, based on dozens of cases reviewed by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times, the implementation of the rules are lax, and the penalties are often weak.”

And it is noted the state regulators dished out 80 licenses over the last year to individuals previously convicted of everything from “cocaine, heroin and amphetamine possession to assault and battery.”

Solid reporting there by the Miami Herald.

Inquisitr.com puts the death numbers that I previously blog about in these terms: The rate of death at Florida greyhound tracks is one every three days. A volunteer from GREY2K USA is interviewed for the piece and states advocates were actually underestimating the number of annual deaths.

Now that reporting is required by law, the real extent of the problem is being uncovered. But of course, the industry defends itself by reporting percentages, compared to overall numbers of greyhound.

This does little for the huge number of dogs who are dying each year. This article puts the number of greyhound deaths at 149 at the 13 Florida tracks – between May 2013 and July 2014. That is a horrible and troubling number.

To minimize the tragedy with percentages is disgusting.

A recent, fantastic blog post by fellow greyhound supporter Ironicus Maximus, exposed the off-the-chart comments by a supporter of greyhound racing.

The editorial referenced by Ironicus appeared Thursday on the all-propaganda, all-the-time website – Grey2K Lies. It was written by Amy Cochran, who claims to have been anti-racing before learning more about dog racing and becoming an advocate of the industry.

There are three possibilities here:  Either it’s sort a Stephen Cobert twist on her thoughts or she somehow uneducated herself or she was really never anti-dog racing. No reasonable person could learn more about this industry and then move into the direction of supporting it.

While Cochran features a number of errors in her post, she loses all credibility with the following:

They are exercised every day either in the sprint pen or on the track.  I guarantee you, these dogs are in better shape, physically, mentally, and emotionally, than your pet greyhound.

So dogs caged for around 20 hours per day and deprived of the typical play time and freedom and companionship of our dogs are happier? This is complete nonsensical nonsense developed through nonsense.(Did I mention nonsense?)

We’ve adopted six rescued greyhounds over the last decade-and-a-half. Some came to us with emotional problems such as sleep aggression. In all of them, we witnessed the transformation, from troubled and unsure to healthy, happy dogs.And then get this:

And sadly, I’ve seen pet greyhounds that just lay on the couch, head down, and eyes closed. Sorry folks, that dog, that pet, is depressed and he’s moping.

Sorry Amy, I think that’s called – “resting” or “sleeping.”

And later, she talks about the needs, wants and desires of greyhounds and then asked the dog lovers among us to “stop anthropomorphizing them.” The red flag of propaganda goes to the top of the pole when people on that side toss out the anthropomorphizing phrase, one they really don’t understand.

Dogs and other animals do experience emotions and do suffer both physically and emotionally. To discuss our common emotional traits is not anthropomorphizing. A basic understanding of animal cognition and self-awareness could go a long way to helping Cochran understand animals and animal welfare.

There are so many misconceptions in her post. I was completely stunned by it. I realize the pro-racing side has to defend itself and there is really nothing reasonable about this industry. So I guess this sort of misinformation is all they have. I get it.

She claims the tracks are better than you because they have vets on hand. Yet, I’ve seen many dogs go to adoption groups with untreated fractures in their legs, for example. And of course, as I’ve noted so many times, the breeding practices are horrible.

If the care is so great inside racing, why do rescue groups talk about having to give flea and tick treatments to the dogs immediately and address other medical needs?

Other twists from her editorial:

– She claims the crates are great because she can fit inside them. (Not that she would want to spend any time locked in.) And she says the bottoms are lined with either “luxury” pieces of carpet or “a mountain of fluffy newspaper strips.” (Maybe it really is all tongue-in-cheek. She can’t really believe this stuff, can she?)

– She talks about euthanasia and cries that other dogs are euthanized and makes comparison with shelters. But it is indefensible to kill the number of dogs that greyhound racing has killed, merely because they could no longer make money for industry insiders. Cochran fails to mention this side of the industry.

– Then she somehow claims the effort to shut down racing, an act that will save many thousands of greyhounds from injury and death, will put the dogs “in the line of fire.” Again – completely nonsensical.

I’m calling it the quote of the Month, but on second thought it could be a clear nominee for quote of the year. The utterance came from Matt Gaetz and was part of a NWF Daily News article.

Gaetz was referring to the state mandate in Florida that requires casinos to hold a set number of greyhound races each year. The mandate remains to this day despite the evidence of deaths and injuries to dogs and the news about the severe losses and lack of interest in the industry.

“We’re forcing a company to do what they don’t want to do by maintaining something people don’t want to participate in that happens to be barbaric.”

That is one all-encompassing, fact-based sentence. The article is long and filled with much more information.

The leader for the Mislabeled “Article” of the Year has to be the piece that ran Friday on News4Jax.com. I try to avoid calling out other writers, but this one should have been billed an editorial. Instead, it is presented as a straight news story by a “reporter.”

Maybe Mike Vasilinda intended the text to be an editorial, because it is heavily-weighted in support of the greyhound racing industry.He interviewed and quotes three pro-dog racing insiders, but includes only one, brief quote from the pro-humane side of the story – from Grey2K USA Executive Director Carey Theil.

Vasilinda twice mentions the same dollar amount in tax revenue from dog racing. But does not mention the drain on the state or the huge losses in the industry. And then he includes the following, horrible, misinformed paragraph:

State lawmakers are being asked by dog tracks to be able to stop racing dogs and simply offer card games. That would mean there’d be no place for these dogs to go.

I guess Vasilinda failed to research the number of greyhound rescue groups in the United States, even those that operate in states where greyhound racing was banned long ago. My home state banned dog racing decades ago and we have at least two greyhound rescue groups.

Flatly writing that the dogs would have no place to go is a huge error – whether he meant the piece to be an editorial or a straight news story. This is inexcusable.

As the facts reach the masses on greyhound racing, fewer dollars are being waged on races. It’s a great trend that should continue. Hopefully, this will lead casino and track owners to push for the industry’s complete shut-down.

Too many greyhounds have suffered for far too long. While the debate continues, more dogs are bred and are on their way into the industry. It’s time to end this cycle, for good.

The News Herald out of Florida has a new article out, reporting the continued decline in dog-racing revenue in the state. But despite this long-standing, downward trend, the state still has a requirement in place, dictating tracks hold so many races each year.

As I have previously stated, this is an unbelievably bad law. It forces a horrible industry to exist. Who could support that?

Hopefully, more reasonable elected officials will win the day in the next legislative session. And hopefully the decoupling effort from recent sessions will finally pass.

Grey2K USA reports revenue from betting on live greyhound racing in Florida dropped by 5.8 percent last year.
Still, one person quoted in the story compared dog racing to classical music, in that fewer people are listening to it, but it will go on. Dog racing is to classical music what scum on your toilet is to the cleanliness of your bathroom.