CLOSURE OF GENEVA LAKES DOG TRACK PUTS HUNDREDS OF GREYHOUNDS AT RISK

Sept 07, 2005 - Greyhound Advocates Press for Time and Accountability

Delavan, Wisconsin – While greyhound track closings are always greeted with a mixture of celebration and concern in the greyhound adoption community, the November 6th closure of the Geneva Lakes Greyhound Track is causing great anxiety among greyhound advocates. “In the long run, this is one less track that we have to worry about,” said Greyhound Protection League President, Susan Netboy. “In the short term, it’s a potential disaster for hundreds of greyhounds whose very lives are at stake.”

2005 has been a very difficult year for the greyhound adoption community nationwide. In addition to the normal load of greyhounds that keep adoption groups constantly overloaded, rescuers have dealt with the unexpected closing of a Connecticut dog track, a crisis at an Arizona track, and the constant stream of greyhounds out of Florida where there is always a glut of greyhounds that are dependent on out-of-state rescuers for survival.

Midwestern greyhound adoption groups are already over-extended with these situations. Now they are faced with the need to find homes for some 400 greyhounds from the Geneva Lakes track and simultaneously handle the seasonal closing of the Dubuque dog track plus the on-going rescue of dogs from other dog tracks. And the Midwest is unlikely to receive any help from adoption groups located in the Eastern sector of the country. Eastern groups will be scrambling to deal with upcoming track closings that were brought on by the virtual demise of dog racing on the East coast.

The Greyhound Protection League (GPL) is intent on putting a safety net around the Geneva Lakes greyhounds by pressing the track to provide food and housing for as long as it takes to get the greyhounds adopted. Historically, dog tracks have solved this kind of problem by sending greyhounds “back to the farm” where their fate is left up to owners who have no use for uncompetitive dogs from low-grade tracks like Geneva Lakes.

“These greyhounds have given everything they’ve got to the racing industry. They deserve to live out the rest of their lives with someone who loves them,” said Midwest GPL representative, Karen Mitchell. “We are going to do everything possible to prevent these dogs from joining the thousands of greyhounds that disappear every year.”

The Greyhound Protection League is a national, non-profit greyhound advocacy organization that estimates that over 15,000 greyhounds are destroyed every year.

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