A proposed constitutional amendment in Florida aims to ban gambling on humanity’s best friend in the place that established the sport of greyhound racing.
In 1922 the first US dog track was created in an area of Florida now known as Hialeah. In 1931, the state legalized wagering on dog races, setting the precedent for the sport’s establishment throughout the US. Now, Florida is considering following in the footsteps of 40 other states, which have taken greyhound racing off the table.
The sport is on the wane, practiced in only six states—Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Texas, West Virginia, and Florida. And though Florida remains the epicenter of American greyhound racing, with 11 active tracks, some policymakers want to halt all activities by 2020, hoping to put the proposal to Florida voters this November along with a slew of other constitutional issues.
Amendment 13 is controversial, however, and dogs are not the only reason why, as Ryan Paul and Ralph DeMeo of the Florida Bar’s animal-law section explain in the September edition of the Florida Bar Journal. ”The motivation for continuing greyhound racing in Florida is no secret,” they write.
Under Florida law, only a “pari-mutuel facility”—an establishment that also allows wagers on jai alai games, dog racing, or horse racing—is permitted to operate a cardroom and slot machines. So tracks race greyhounds in order to keep making money from cards and slots. In fact, a 2013 report commissioned by the Florida legislature found that at all the state’s tracks, dog-racing operations had a combined loss of $35 million in 2012, offset by profits of $39 million from cardroom activities. Since then, dog racing has become ever-less profitable, while returns on other forms of gaming are on the rise, the attorneys write.
Amendment 13 wouldn’t just ban dog racing. It would also allow the facilities to keep making money from card games and slots. But the language of the proposal was challenged by the Florida Greyhound Association as “misleading” because, for example, it doesn’t make it clear to voters that fans could still legally bet on dog races outside Florida, or that stopping dog racing wouldn’t halt other forms of gaming. And the circuit court in Leon County agreed. The state supreme court will hear an appeal but the proposal won’t be voted on in November if the stay is still pending, or the appeal fails beforehand.
Those who oppose dog racing, like the non-profit greyhound advocacy group Grey2K USA Worldwide, say working dogs are treated cruelly and that the sport is inhumane. There are no laws requiring trainers to report dog injuries, and before May 2013, tracks didn’t have to report dog deaths, so statistics on actual injuries and deaths in this industry are limited. But Grey2K says that dogs bred to race are confined in cramped cages for 20 to 23 hours a day, fed poor-quality meat not fit for consumption, drugged to perform well, forced to run in extreme conditions, transported extensively, and dumped unceremoniously when they can’t race anymore.
In Florida, there are an estimated 8,000 greyhounds (pdf) living in stacked cages that are just 6 sq ft big and 32 inches tall, just enough room for them to stand up straight, Grey2K argues. Worldwide, an estimated 48,000 greyhound pups are bred annually to race in eight countries that permit the sport—the US, UK, Australia, Macau, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, and Vietnam. The dogs face similar problems abroad as well, according to the advocacy group.
The Florida Greyhound Association, however, denies that animals are mistreated at the tracks. Moreover, it points out that racing provides job for people too, not just dogs. The organization’s website blames out-of-state political action groups for spreading lies about the local industry and notes that greyhound trainers and handlers earn a living from their work with the dogs so they have an interest in keeping the animals in the best conditions, contrary to the accusations of critics. “Some of the greyhound men and women have been in the industry for generations,” the organization states. “They love their animals and love their jobs.”
But animal-rights attorneys in Florida argue racing must be stopped in the state for the sake of dogs, especially in light of that increasing recognition of animal cognition. Ryan and Demeo conclude, “Future generations will be able to point to this change to the Florida Constitution as an important shift in the way animals are treated and as an example of our social and moral progress.”