Tracks shut, greyhounds need homes

KENOSHA, Wis. - Seven dog tracks across the country halted racing last year, forcing hundreds of greyhounds into an uncertain future. With fewer tracks available for them to race, the sleek, long-limbed dogs are now flooding the adoption market at a difficult time.

Economic hardships are preventing many dog lovers from adopting, or worse, forcing them to give back animals they can no longer afford to keep. Misconceptions about the breed - that greyhounds are hyperactive and crave constant stimulation and exercise - also scare away some potential owners, advocates say.

Most of the dogs have spent their lives inside racetracks and kennels with little exposure to families, children, or the most basic household activities, say greyhound lovers like Rhonda Mack, 50, who took in two dogs from the Dairyland Greyhound Park in southern Wisconsin, which closed last week.

"You bring a dog home . . . They've never been outside the racetrack," said Mack, from Lake Zurich, Ill., who now has three greyhounds. "They go into your house - they don't know what a window is, they don't know what stairs are. They walk right into windows like they aren't even there."

The track in Wisconsin ran its last dog race on New Year's Eve; another in Phoenix and one in Massachusetts also ended dog racing last month, bringing the total to seven tracks that pulled the mechanical rabbit in 2009.

There are no precise figures, but greyhound advocates estimate more than 1,000 greyhounds now need new homes. That's in addition to the best racers, which will be sent to tracks that remain open elsewhere or to breeders.

Since greyhound racing began decades ago, there's always been an issue of what to do with retired race dogs. Previously they largely found homes through a fragmented network of breed adoption and other placement groups, but the recent deluge of dogs in need of dwellings has magnified the issue.

"It is a domino effect," said Michael McCann, president of the Greyhound Project Inc., a Boston-based nonprofit that provides support and information about greyhound adoptions. "Everything that happens in one state affects . . . the dog adoption effort in other states."

It doesn't help that the economic downturn has made some people hesitant to become dog owners and pushed others to give up their pets. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that as many as two million pets have been abandoned since the recession began in December 2007.

Modern-day greyhound racing started in 1919 in California, and at its height in the 1990s more than 50 tracks operated nationwide. This year, no more than 23 tracks in eight states will hold races.

Year-round racing in some states has pushed seasonal tracks out of business, or track owners are unable to afford the high taxes, said Tim Horan of the National Greyhound Association, which represents greyhound owners. Competition from other sporting events and gambling hasn't helped, he said.

Wisconsin state law requires that all greyhounds be adopted, sent to another racetrack, or returned to owners.

The Massachusetts Racing Commission requires that no greyhound be euthanized unless all "reasonable efforts" to place the dog for adoption have been exhausted. Owners must provide the commission with a detailed explanation as to why a dog was put down rather than adopted.

Greyhound lovers are constantly trying to clear up misconceptions about the breed. Despite their athletic training and competitive instincts, the dogs are calm, easy to care for, and do not require constant exercise as might be assumed, they say.

Lynn Rapa of Methuen, Mass., has adopted six former racing dogs.

As "sight hounds," they are bred to chase a lure, so that chase instinct could be a problem in homes with cats or other small pets, she said. Rapa recommends that greyhounds be kept in a fenced backyard or on a leash.

Greyhounds walk well on a leash, sleep 22 hours a day, and are "couch potatoes," she added. "They are very, very laid-back dogs."