GREYHOUND RACE DOGS DIE IN ALABAMA HAULING ACCIDENT

Apr 27, 2007 -

Greyhound Protection League Calls for Nationwide Regulation of Greyhound Hauling Rigs

Gadsden, Alabama – An early morning hauling vehicle accident took the lives of four racing greyhounds and jeopardized the lives of seven others that are currently running at large. The vehicle was traveling on I-59 just south of Gadsden with dozens of greyhounds doubled up in crates that open to the outside of the vehicle. The crate doors apparently popped open from the force of the impact, allowing the dogs to jump out of the crates and on to the roadway.

“The terror and trauma that these animals experience is incalculable,” said Susan Netboy, President of the Greyhound Protection League (GPL), a national greyhound welfare organization. “Greyhound hauling vehicles are notoriously dangerous and when something goes wrong, it’s disastrous for the dogs.”

Netboy points out that there have been a series of tragic hauling incidents in recent years, and adds that these are just the ones that have been documented:

• On January 11, 2007, dozens of greyhounds were injured and three killed along with the driver who fell asleep near Davenport, Iowa.
• On January 14, 2007, greyhounds were let loose after a hauling accident on Missouri highway.
• On September 14, 2005, fourteen greyhounds died and others were injured when they were trapped in a hauling rig that caught fire near Orlando, Florida.
• On June 20, 2005, eight greyhounds died from heat exhaustion in a cramped hauling vehicle in the New Mexico desert.
• On April 12, 2003, four greyhounds died, ten were seriously burned in a vehicle fire near Bradenton, Florida.

GPL contends that the problem is most often attributable to driver fatigue, substandard vehicle construction and poor maintenance. “Greyhounds are constantly on the road in all types of rundown hauling vehicles; yet, regulation and safety inspection of hauling rigs is non-existent.

The racing industry continues to dismiss the suffering and the loss of life as accidental. It’s high time that they get serious about protecting the lives of the innocent animals that put millions of dollars in their pockets.”

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