GREYHOUND
RACING IN THE USA
THE
NATIONAL SCENE
As of
August 2001, 46 operating greyhound tracks are conducting
live greyhound racing in 15 states [19 tracks operate seasonally,
27 operate year round.]
The
racing states and number of tracks in each are: Alabama
(3), Arizona (3), Arkansas (1), Colorado (3), Connecticut
(2), Florida (16), Iowa (2), Kansas (2), Massachusetts (2),
New Hampshire (3), Oregon (1), Rhode Island (1), Texas (3),
West Virginia (2), and Wisconsin (2).
Seven
states have banned live and/or simulcast greyhound racing
since 1993. They are: Maine (1993), Virginia (1995), Vermont
(1995), Idaho (1996), Washington (1996), Nevada (1997) and
North Carolina (1998*).
Based
on recently published reports (August 2001), the dog racing
industry continues to decline dramatically. According to
industry statistics, dog racing held only a 0.7% share of
the entire $61.6 billion annual U.S. gambling market in
2000, a decline of 6.65% or $32.6 million from 1999.
The
nation's two newest tracks, Shoreline Star in Connecticut
and Camptown in Kansas, both of which opened in 1995, went
bankrupt within one year or less. Shoreline reopened as
a seasonal track in 1998. Camptown, which reopened in August
2000 as a seasonal track, closed 13 weeks later. A third
track, Valley Park in Texas, closed since 1995, reopened
for simulcasting in 2000. A three- month live racing seasonal
resumed in December.
Economic
decline has forced the closure or the end of live racing
at 16 dog tracks since 1991. Thirteen of the 16 are completely
closed, including two that have been demolished, and three
remain open for simulcasting only.
State
revenues from pari-mutuel dog racing have declined significantly
from 1990-1998 (latest figures available).Some examples:
Kansas[-59%], Arizona [-68%], Massachusetts [-69%], Oregon
[-70%], Florida [-71%], Connecticut [-79%] and New Hampshire
[-84%].
* Live
dog racing was outlawed in NC in 1954
GREYHOUND NUMBERS
According
to industry breeding reports published in The Greyhound
Review, 77,852 litters were registered by the National Greyhound
Association between 1989 and 2000. Multiplying these litters
by a [low] average of 6.52 pups per litter results in a
minimum total of 507,596 greyhounds born in this twelve-year
period.
Greyhounds
are tattooed by three months of age and individually registered
by 18 months. Of the 507,596 born, only 395,545 were individually
registered - a discrepancy of 112,051 [22%] of puppies and
young dogs that were culled [killed] from the system before
the age of 18 months. Because rescue of young farm dogs
is extremely rare, these culls are presumed dead.
A comparison
of the published numbers against the estimated combined
number of dogs that are still racing (40,000), alive on
breeding or training farms (30,000), and dogs that have
been adopted (113,000), indicates that more than 325,000
greyhounds, including the culled puppies, have died between
1989 and 2000.
On average,
a revolving baseline of 1,000 dogs is needed to sustain
a racetrack operation. As dogs grade off due to injury,
age or poor performance, they must be continually replaced
by a new population. § Between 1971-1990 the number of operating
tracks doubled to 56. This rapid expansion fueled a two-decade
breeding frenzy that produced approximately 450,000 greyhounds
in the 1980's alone.
In 2000,
approximately 26,500 greyhounds entered the racing system,
and an equal or greater number of greyhounds, aged between
2 and 5 years old, exited the system. Approximately 13,000
"retired" dogs were rescued and adopted. An estimated 19,000
greyhounds were killed in 2000. This number includes 7,600
farm culls and 11,400 "retirees" that were not rescued.
This
"sport" has conservatively claimed the lives of more than
1,000,000 greyhounds in its 75-year U.S. history.
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