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Greyhound Racing
Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a
lure (traditionally an artificial hare or rabbit) on a track until they
arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner.
In many countries, greyhound racing is purely amateur and conducted for
enjoyment. In other countries (particularly the UK, US, Ireland and
Australia), greyhound racing is a popular form of gambling, similar to horse
racing. There is some popular concern in the aforementioned countries
regarding the well-being of the dogs; the effectiveness of industry efforts
to address these concerns is controversial. A greyhound adoption movement
has arisen to assist retired racing dogs in finding homes as pets.
Modern greyhound racing has
its origins in coursing. The first recorded attempt at racing greyhounds on
a straight track was made beside the Welsh Harp reservoir, Hendon in 1876,
but this experiment did not develop. The sport emerged in its recognizable
modern form, featuring circular or oval tracks, with the invention of the
mechanical or artificial hare in 1912 by Owen Patrick Smith. O.P. Smith had
altruistic aims for the sport to stop the killing of the jack rabbits and
see "greyhound racing as we see horse racing". The certificates system led
the way to parimutuel betting, as quarry and on-course gambling, in the
United States during the 1920s. In 1926, armed with the Smith patents and a
hand shake, it was introduced to Britain by an American, Charles Munn, in
association with Major Lyne-Dixon, a key figure in coursing, and a Canadian,
Brigadier-General Critchley. The deal went sour with Smith never hearing
from Munn again. Like the American, International Greyhound Racing
Association, the In.G.R.A. Munn and Critchley launched the Greyhound Racing
Association, and held the first British meeting at Manchester's Belle Vue.
The sport was successful in cities and town throughout the U.K. - by the end
of 1927, there were forty tracks operating. The sport was particularly
attractive to predominantly male working-class audiences, for whom the urban
locations of the tracks and the evening times of the meetings were
accessible, and to patrons and owners from various social backgrounds.
Betting has always been a key ingredient of greyhound racing, both through
on-course bookmakers and the totalisator, first introduced in 1930. Like
horse racing, it is popular to bet on the greyhound races as a form of
parimutuel gambling.
In common with many other sports, greyhound racing enjoyed its highest
attendances just after the Second World War—for example, there were 34
million paying spectators in 1946. The sport experienced a decline from the
early 1960s, when the 1960 Betting and Gaming Act permitted off-course cash
betting, although sponsorship, limited television coverage, and the later
abolition of on-course betting tax have partially offset this decline.
After the dogs are no longer
able to race (generally, a greyhound's career will end between the ages of
four and six), or as soon as they no longer consistently place in the top
four, the dogs' race career ends. The best dogs are kept for breeding
purposes. There are both industry-associated adoption groups and rescue
groups that work to obtain retired racing greyhounds and place them as pets.
In the United Kingdom, according to the BBC, one in four retired greyhounds
finds a home as a pet. In the United States, prior to the formation of
adoption groups, over 20,000 retired greyhounds a year were euthanized;
recent estimates still number in the thousands, with about 90% of National
Greyhound Association-registered animals either being adopted, or returned
for breeding purposes (according to the industry numbers upwards of 2000
dogs are still killed annually in the US while anti-racing groups estimating
the figure at closer to 12,000.). Other greyhounds are either sold to
research labs, or sent to foreign racetracks, sometimes in developing
countries.
Several organizations, such as British Greyhounds Retired Database,
Adopt-a-Greyhound and Greyhound Pets of America, and the retired greyhound
trust try to ensure that as many of the dogs as possible are adopted. Some
of these groups also advocate better treatment of the dogs while at the
track and/or the end of racing for profit. In recent years the racing
industry has made significant progress in establishing programs for the
adoption of retired racers. In addition to actively cooperating with private
adoption groups throughout the country, many race tracks have established
their own adoption programs at various tracks.
In recent years, several state governments in the United States have passed
legislation to improve the treatment of racing dogs in their jurisdiction.
During the 1990s seven states banned live greyhound racing, though racing
has never been banned in a state that has had active racing.
In venues where greyhound racing does not involve gambling, the dogs are
almost invariably pets and are, therefore, generally well treated.
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