End Greyhound Racing

Note: This will be sent to more than just the President.

Dear George W. Bush,
We have all signed this petition today because of a very important and controversial topic in our country today, greyhound racing. Greyhound racing is a horrible "sport" where greyhounds are forced to race and live under terrible and abusive conditions. It is just a horrible form of gambling. If the dogs can't make them money, they are simply killed. 20,000+ greyhounds are killed in the US each year alone. The greyhound racing industry claims that most of them become pets, but that is simply propaganda. Not that many greyhounds are adopted. Even if they were all adopted, the dogs are abused in their racing days. The dogs practically live in crates when they are not racing. They are starved, so they won't get fat. They are fed raw meat that is can't be eaten by humans. Here are some cases of greyhound abuse:

51 GREYHOUNDS DIED OF EXTREME HEAT EXPOSURE near Lubbock, Texas, when the air conditioner for the training room in which they were located stopped working. According to local law enforcement officials, three breaker switches for the air conditioning units were discovered in the "off" position while the other breaker switches were in the "on" position.
Source: Lubbock Avalanche Journal / Gina Howard, August 23, 1994

65 GREYHOUNDS, MANY NEAR DEATH FROM STARVATION, WERE DISCOVERED AT A GREYHOUND BREEDING FARM in Ballinger, Texas. According to an animal control officer, the crowded kennels were filled with feces and skeletal remains of other dogs.
Source: San Angelo Standard Times / Andy Smith, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Associated Press, May 2, 1994

35 GREYHOUNDS, INCLUDING 25 PUPPIES, WERE CONFISCATED FROM A DILAPIDATED BREEDING FARM IN WEST VIRGINIA in September. According to Priscilla Oelschlanger, Director of Marshall County Animal Control, the dogs were found covered with flies and infested with parasites; seventeen of the dogs had to be euthanized. The dogs were being fed roadkill by the owner, who no longer had money to care for the animals. "They [breeders] get in over their heads and things like this happen, and as long as people go to the tracks, it's going to continue," she commented. The surviving dogs were sent to an adoption group in Michigan.
Source: Sun Sentinal (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) / Larry Barsezewski, Sarah Lundy, May 29, 1998, The Palm Beach Post / Tim Pallesen, May 30, 1998

MORE THAN 2,600 GREYHOUNDS WERE DONATED FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH TO COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY BY COLORADO BREEDERS AND TRAINERS FROM JANUARY 1995 TO MARCH 1998, according to public records. Approximately one third of the dogs were used in terminal teaching labs where they were killed after use; the remainder were "excess" and were euthanized within 24 hours of arrival at the facility. Approximately 80% of the donated greyhounds were three years old or younger. In a news story exposing the flow of excess greyhounds into labs at CSU, Denver KGMH-TV Channel 7 (November 1993) aired footage of the bloodied and mutilated remains of greyhounds and the unsanitary holding pens the greyhounds were kept in until they were killed.
Source: Rocky Mountain News / Dan Luzadder, June 7, 1998

SEVENTEEN GREYHOUNDS WERE EUTHANIZED IN VIOLATION OF ARIZONA'S RACING CODE which mandates that "every effort" shall be made to adopt out greyhounds who are no longer raced or bred. Kennel owner Johnny Lloyd Rippetoe claimed he brought seventeen greyhounds to Pima County Animal Control because the adoption groups didn't take the dogs off his hands fast enough, and he couldn't afford to feed the dogs while they were awaiting adoption.
Source: The Arizona Daily Star / Carol Ann Alaimo, September 11, 1999

INVESTIGATORS FOUND EVIDENCE THAT THOUSANDS OF GREYHOUNDS HAD BEEN KILLED AND BURIED ON THE PROPERTY OF ROBERT RHODES OF LILLIAN, ALABAMA. RHODES, A RACING INDUSTRY VETERAN, WAS MOST RECENTLY EMPLOYED AS A GUARD AT A NEARBY FLORIDA DOG TRACK. Rhodes freely admitted that he shot the greyhounds for $10 a head as a favor for Florida breeders and trainers. He first took up his trade for a South Dakota dog track 40 years ago and has been providing his "kill for hire" services for the dog racing industry ever since. Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone likened the conditions of the property and the mass grave to a concentration camp for dogs. A veterinarian who autopsied four of the most recently killed greyhounds determined that most were shot through the neck, mouth and elsewhere, indicating they suffered before dying.
Source: Pensacola News-Journal / Brett Norman CNN.Com / Associated Press/Mobile Register / Brendan Kirby May 22, 2002


As you can see, these dogs are abused, killed, or sent to labs to get abused more until they die. Something has to be done to stop this. We are asking that you ban greyhound racing. Many animals right's activists would be thrilled you would be doing something great for animals. Please help out the dogs.

Sincerely Yours,

The Undersigned