Conflicted about MA state Question 3: Banning dog racing

[feoh]

Originally published at Blind, Not Dumb. You can comment here or there.

As others have pointed out, both sides on this issue are jumping up and down shrilly screaming the facts as they claim to see them at the top of their lungs…

Comments

[tamidon]

I was just thinking about that this morning. I have no idea what's up pro or against. After so many people being pro greyhound adoption I wonder what's going on with the dogs these days.

[feoh]

Interestingly, the greyhound adoption program was prominently featured in the vote no camp's WBZ interview. The guy in charge says that he tracks every racing grey hound in the state, and that once they are injured or in some other way become ineligible for racing they're immediately "petted out" to the adoption program.

[tfarrell]

For what it's worth, I've seen greyhounds that were former racers, and I've seen greyhounds that weren't. The ones that had always been pets were perky, happy, proud dogs like you'd expect a dog to be. The ones that were former racers were shy, skittish, frightened of people, not even entirely comfortable with their person, had a kind of distressed look in their eye. It is not a look I see on dogs that are well treated.

I'm glad there's someone making sure former racers are no longer shot - a few years ago, that wasn't the case. But, I still believe they're abused, and I question what the guy can do for dogs that never officially make it to the track.

[feoh]

You mean dogs that are never registered to begin with? Sure, he can't track what he doesn't know about...

[tfarrell]

Dogs are not horses. Dogs do not naturally want to race in the manner in which they are made to do for gambling purposes. Therefore, they must be being treated in some manner which goes against their nature to make them do it. It is my understanding that the way they are taught is that they are partly starved and taught to follow some rapidly moving food

[feoh]

Dogs may not naturally want to race, but they *DO* very much want to run.

I'm asking this only to enhance my understanding of the issue, not to argue - what is it about the way they're made to race at the track that is incompatible with their essential dog nature?

[tfarrell]

Dogs don't necessarily want to run down a track. They'll run to hunt, or they'll run to play, or they'll run to get somewhere. If they're playing, they don't do it in a straight line, they run in circles and curves and loops and zigzags in no particular direction. If they're running to get somewhere, they'll do so in a line, but it's always to a person they love or another dog, and they don't have that incentive at a track. That leaves hunting. Racing dogs are trained by their hunting instinct, and that means keeping them hungry, because a well fed dog is often (usually?) uninterested in hunting... at least, not enough to go to much of any effort for it.

What the humane society has to say about it

[dougo]

This is an extremely politically incorrect question, but here goes: even if it is inherently cruel to dogs, why should it be illegal?

[tfarrell]

I would like to be able to agree with you, but I feel that dog racing has gone on for far too long for me to believe that a crackdown is ever going to occur: if it ever was, it would have already. In my opinion the industry has demonstrated that it can not be trusted, and must be closed.

[jmaziarz]

Thank you for your opinion and information. I value it highly.

A note on what I'm replying to: your feeling that dog racing simply won't be changed to something more humane I find correct from what I see of human behavior. Nothing -- especially long standing institutionalized behavior -- changes without something radical and completely breaking. Even then, old ways of doing things and feelings stick around for centuries and more.

[ninjarat]

Racing is not inherently cruel, IMO. The cruelty comes in the form of dog owners mistreating dogs that fail to perform -- exactly the same way that racing horse owners do to horses that fail to perform. Racing animals are not well-treated to encourage them to race well; they are mistreated when they don't.

Call me selfish if you will, but I see the Question as a choice between people and dogs. People, myself included, win, so I will be voting against the ban.

[feoh]

You're not being selfish, you're weighing the pros and cons of the issue and voting accordingly - that's what you're SUPPOSED to do! :)

I'm not convinced that the racing itself or the conditioning necessary to make a dog race worthy are good for the dogs, so I will likely be voting in support of the ban.