In November 2008, after years of groundbreaking work, racing opponents in Massachusetts succeeded in passing a ballot initiative that will end live greyhound racing by January 2010. This is the first time anywhere that active greyhound tracks have been shut down by popular vote.
To fully appreciate the weight of this victory, we have to go back to 1999, when a small group of activists, outraged at the reports of injuries, confinement, and deaths they heard from greyhound rescuers, launched a ballot intiative to ban greyhound racing in the state. After a bitterly fought campaign in 2000, the measure was defeated by less than two percent of the vote. The narrowness of the margin was astonishing, given the general public's ignorance of the issue and the huge amount of publicity the tracks had been able to buy.
The activists picked themselves up and began again. Deciding to fight greyhound racing on a national scale, they formed a new organization called GREY2K USA. In 2001, working with sympathetic legislators, they passed a landmark bill requiring the tracks to report injuries, deaths, and the disposition of every greyhound that raced in Massachusetts. In 2005, GREY2K USA, joined by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and The Humane Society of the United States, formed The Committee to Protect Dogs. The new alliance began work on a second ballot initiative, but due to a legal technicality the question did not reach the voters. Almost immediately, plans were made to try again in 2008. Supporters across the state rallied and fanned out to collect 150,000 signatures.
Signature collecting is hard work. It involves standing (or sitting, if you're lucky) for hours in the same place, and approaching hundreds of people with the same upbeat, brightly-voiced request: "Will you sign to help the greyhounds?" Many people duck, avert their eyes, shake their heads, and scurry by. But some sign; some even try to grab the pen out of your hand. And in 2008, GREY2K USA had had eight years to tell the voters the truth.
They also had the injury reports. State records showed that from 2002 to 2008, nearly 800 greyhounds had been injured on Massachusetts's two tracks. Nearly 80 percent of those injuries were broken legs. Other injuries included crushed skull, broken neck, seizures, paralysis and cardiac arrest. The cramped, warehouse-style cages were illustrated by photos taken by the tracks themselves.
In November 2008, the effect of carefully-documented facts on Massachusetts voters became clear. Fifty-six percent voted to end live racing. Nationally, there is still a hard fight ahead. There are nine racing states left, with a total of 24 tracks. But with the help of everyone who loves dogs, the remaining tracks will close sooner rather than later, and no greyhound in America will be forced to run"”or die"”for the money.
