WHY GREYHOUNDS RUN

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1998:

Finishing last in a race at Poole,
England, for the second time in four starts, a
greyhound named Wilma on June 2 may have
sensed the usual fate of dogs who lose, and
instead of stopping when the other dogs did,
bolted the track, still in her colors and muzzle.
She remained at large for five days,
while owner Kate Sheppard and trainer J o
Burridge insisted she would not be harmed.
Pressured by the National Canine Defense
League, Royal SPCA, Blue Cross, and
Battersea Dogs Home, the National
Greyhound Association announced within
days that it would make constitutional amendments
to clarify rules for the humane disposition
of retired racing greyhounds.

James L. Voss, dean of the
Colorado State University College of
Veterinary Medine and Biomedical
S c i e n c e s, announced on June 19 that his
department would no longer kill former racing
greyhounds in teaching veterinary surgery.
“We will spay or neuter these dogs, clean
their teeth, and return them to a central
agency for adoption,” Voss told D a n
Luzadder of the Rocky Mountain News. CSU
has used 2,652 “retired” racing greyhounds in
practice surgeries and dissections during the
past three years, according to USDA records
obtained by Greyhound Protection League
president Susan Netboy.
United Animal Nations on May 15
offered $1,000 for information leading to the
arrest of whoever dumped the remains of 43
greyhounds, three rabbits, and a cat near
O’Fallon, Missouri, in mid-April. Most of
the greyhounds were puppies whose ears had
been cut off, to remove identifying tattoos.