Quotes

A Dying Industry

“The only time there’s a large crowd of people watching dogs is when people get up from the poker tables to smoke.”
- Izzy Havenick, owner of two Florida dog tracks, 2012 

"Public attitudes to animal welfare have changed, and the greyhound industry cannot afford to continue to treat animals in the way they have done historically." 
- Professor Elizabeth Synman-Van Deventer, Faculty of Law, University of the Free State.  South African Gambling Review Report, 2011

"We're going to keep on running. But I'm telling you, there's no money left in the racing. If you want to keep us going, you've got to give us the slots."
- Owner of Raynham Greyhound Park George Carney urges Massachusetts lawmakers to approve slot machines at his aging facility. Boston Globe, December 19, 2007

"It's the trend nationwide. It's very much what's happening across the country. There is less interest in greyhound racing than there used to be."
- Dog track spokesman David Calef justifying the suspension of live racing at Hinsdale Greyhound Park. Brattleboro Reformer, July 21, 2007

Killing Unprofitable Dogs

"We've seen this before ... they're overbreeding, because they're trying to get superdogs. These dogs were not unhealthy, just slow."
-Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone, after an Alabama man named Robert Rhodes admitted killing thousands of greyhounds for $10 each. New York Times, May 23, 2002

"This isn't an isolated instance of a 'rogue trainer,' as racing proponents put it; this is systematic disposal of and cruelty to the animals on which the entire dog racing industry depends."
-Mobile Register Editorial about the Robert Rhodes case, May 24, 2002

"There's no practical way to control how many are being bred ... the expense of getting into the greyhound business is much less than other forms of racing. This makes people want to breed a lot to get that one litter that has the champion in it."
-National Greyhound Association Executive Director Gary Guccione. Miami Herald, October 21, 1990

"Greyhound racing depends upon selecting a few highly competitive dogs out of a large group. It hardly seems worth it to me to go through that process of breeding and killing the ones that can't compete, just to have the sport."
-Idaho Governor Phil Batt. Idaho Spokesman-Review, March 19, 1996

"I don't know what purpose it serves the public to track the number of dogs that are euthanized."
-New Hampshire Pari-Mutuel Commission Director Paul Kelley. Fox 25, February 3, 2003

A Life of Endless Confinement

"When they come back in, they don't have to be coaxed into their cages. They jump right in."
- Greyhound trainer Steve Sarras. Boston Herald, October 31, 2000

"When so many greyhounds are kept in close quarters, as they are throughout the racing industry, any disaster or disease will sicken, injure or kill many, or all of them."
- Editorial. Fort Myers News-Press, June 4, 2005

"There is no other dog out there that has been through what a retired greyhound has been through. They don't know what being a pet is all about. They don't know how to use stairs; they've never seen windows; they're not used to being petted; they're used to having a job. It's like having a puppy that's full-grown."
- Hartford Courant, Emma Palmacci, Connecticut Greyhound Adoption, June 11, 2007

Subsidizing Dog Racing

"The department does not have sufficient funding to regulate the parimutuel industry in a safe manner."
- Arizona Dept. of Racing Director Geoffrey Gonsher on the effect of awarding $44 million in tax breaks to state racetracks over six years. Arizona Daily Star, June 2, 2007

"It's time to end the debate and get the state out of the dog-racing business. The state subsidy to the kennel owners cannot be defended."
-Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Almond. Providence Journal, February 24, 2002

"I've never heard of a commercial enterprise getting a limitless, endless subsidy of this kind."
-Common Cause of Rhode Island Executive Director H. Philip West, on a multi-million dollar subsidy greyhound kennels in Rhode Island received. This subsidy was derived from slot machine profits. Providence Journal, March 19, 2000

"How many businesses in Massachusetts get to charge off against the state ... to put up drapes or pave parking lots?"
-State Representative Daniel Bosley. Boston Herald, May 8, 2003

"We say: Let the state's gambling industry, which rakes in well over $100 million a year, subsidize greyhound racing if it believes it is so important. Why should taxpayers be required to prop up such a profitable (and often cruel to animals) industry?"
-Providence Journal, Editorial, February 14, 2002

"We solidly support the budget amendment proposed by Rep. Reed V. Hillman, R-Sturbridge, to end Massachusetts' $5 million-a-year welfare program for private horse and dog racetracks. Even in the best of times, government subsidies for this moribund industry would be ill-considered. With multibillion dollar budget shortfalls looming - along with the specter of massive layoffs and even deeper cuts in education, social services and local aid -; it is indefensible."
-Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Editorial, February 7, 2003

Dog Racing as an Educational Activity

"In fact, parimutuel gaming offers many redeeming social values - entertainment, fellowship with other people, reading, math and writing."
-Greyhound enthusiast and former racetrack employee Brian Lee. Oregonian, May 1999

Dogs as Property

"Dogs are property. We're supposed to be able to do what we want with our property."
-Political Consultant Glenn Totten. Totten was hired by Massachusetts dog track owners in 2000 to defeat a ballot measure that would have outlawed greyhound racing. MetroWest Daily News, September 10, 2000

Dog Track Owners Giving Money to Politicians

"Of course I give money. I've got a business to run."
- Wonderland Greyhound Park owner Charles Sarkis, commenting on the thousands of dollars in campaign contributions he gave to state lawmakers. Boston Globe, March 8, 2001

"I've been giving money to the Legislature for 40 years ... I don't single out anybody in particular. I give money to people I like."
- Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park owner George Carney, commenting on the thousands of dollars in campaign contributions he gave to state lawmakers. Boston Globe, March 8, 2001

"The future of greyhound racing depends on supporting the right individuals in politics."

- Greyhound Racing Association of America Treasurer Wendy Hamilton, explaining why she supported Tony Pires' unsuccessful bid to become Governor of Rhode Island. Providence Journal, February 9, 2002

Legalizing Slot Machines at Commercial Dog Tracks

"No track can survive without slots anyplace in the United States."
-Gary Piontkowski, track owner and former Massachusetts State Racing Commission Chairman, 2012

"It appears as if the future of greyhound racing in the United States depends on the granting of expanded gambling rights (especially for slot machines) to live racing venues."
- Professor Elizabeth Synman-Van Deventer, Faculty of Law, University of the Free State.  South African Gambling Review Report, 2011

"Hopefully the Legislature and the Kansas Racing Commission will allow us to open the building and install slot machines... that's what we would like to do so that we could generate some revenue in order to subsidize live racing."
- Dog Track Owner Phil Ruffin. Pittsburg Morning Sun, February 26, 2004

"The demand for racing remains weak for various long-term reasons, and [legalizing gambling machines] does little to address the fundamentals ... what you've done is make a lot of casinos that happen to have animals running around in circles."
- University of Nevada, Reno Economics Professor Dr. William Eadington, speaking to the Racing and Gaming Summit. Daily Racing Form, December 18, 2002

"The results of this analysis indicate that VLT gaming at a parimutuel racetrack results in significant decreases in both live race and full-card simulcast wagering."
- University of Louisville, Kentucky Professor Dr. Richard Thalheimer, Parimutuel wagering and video gaming: a racetrack portfolio, Applied Economics, 1998

Business Ethics Within the Dog Racing Industry

"The greyhound industry seems to be rife with abuse of the rules."
-Iowa Assistant Attorney General Steve Reno. Dubuque Telegraph Herald, July 13, 2003

"They're cheating their investors ... they're going ahead with their meeting tomorrow, trying to squeeze out the other shareholders."
-Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin, after Wonderland Greyhound Park Charles Sarkis and others attempted to take their company private in the expectation that slot machines would be legalized at their racetrack. Boston Herald, March 19, 2003

Political Tactics Used by the Dog Racing Industry

"What is beyond question, on the other hand, is that the tracks are waging a ruthless campaign to win something Arizonans repeatedly have insisted they do not want ... the racing industry's slurs against [Governor Jane] Hull may be politically cunning, but they are disingenuous."
-Editorial. Arizona Republic, April 17, 2002