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If you're connected to the internet, you may have heard about the Dairyland greyhounds that are up for adoption. (Chicagoist got an email about it last week.) Rumors abound that, if not for the generous hearts of local greyhound aficionados, the dogs will be euthanized. And while it's no secret that we've got a few dogs and cats hanging around the Chicagoist offices, it turns out there's a little more to the story than "teh internetz" would have us believe. Sam Adams, over at the Reader's sports blog, dug a little deeper, getting the facts from Ellen Paulus of the Wisconsin chapter of Greyhound Pets of America. "Wisconsin law mandates that no dogs can be put to sleep in our state just because their racing careers are completed," she told Adams in an e-mail. "Dogs have 3 options: transfer to another track to continue racing, go into adoption programs, or be signed back [to] their owners."
And while Dairyland has said in a statement on their website that "our kennel compound will remain open until all greyhounds are properly placed," the saga is far from over for the racing hounds. "We do not know at this current time how many greyhounds in total will become available for adoption until we finish racing on December 31st, 2009," Dairyland says. That's because the park will close at the end of this year, after nearly a decade of millions of dollars in losses, due in large part to increased local casino gambling operations. “We’re just at the point where there’s no upside to remaining viable,” Dairyland Executive Vice President Roy Berger told the Kenosha News. “If there was, we’d find it.”
And while Dairyland will help facilitate the socialization and placement of some of the soon to unemployed dogs, their future remains unclear if they're returned to their owners. As Adams notes at the Reader:
...no one but the owner can sell the dogs for scientific research - meaning the owner is free to do just that. Wisconsin's gaming laws were overhauled in 2003 to provide greater protections for the dogs, in part due to the case of a kennel operator who between 1996 and 2000 sold as many as 935 dogs to a cardiac research lab without their owners' knowledge. But it doesn't prevent owners from selling their own dogs for research because animals are considered private property.
To see if a greyhound is right for you, check out Dairyland's adoption page here, or get in touch with the Wisconsin chapter of Greyhound Pets of America. And if a greyhound isn't your style, Chicago Animal Care and Control has lots of cool dogs and cats just waiting to warm your home this winter!
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I would love to adopt a racing greyhound, but living in the city I just don't have the room a greyhound, more than almost any other dog, needs. There's a degree to which I think it's almost cruel for people in a city as dense as Chicago to adopt these particular animals.
A man down the street from me used to own two retired racing greyhounds. I'd see him walking them most mornings as I left for work, and would speak to him as regular passersby do. After six months, though, I saw signs on all the telephone poles searching for one of these greyhounds, which had escaped his owner on one of these walks and run off. They never found the dog.
These can be sweet animals, but they also can be territorial and extremely energetic. Those who adopt them should expect to put in a lot of work.
Hi BlueFairlane -
I lived with a greyhound for years and know many greyhound owners. The dogs barely need more than a walk around a block a couple times a day in terms of exercise. They spend most of the day on a dog bed, sleeping.
My own small mutt requires ten times more space and energy; for convenience in an apartment I'd choose a greyhound any day.
Just my two cents - ask any greyhound owner about this stuff, they tend to be rather evangelical about their dogs :)
I have talked with greyhound owners who gave me the exact opposite piece of information.
With all due respect, Bluefairline, Wrong.
Greyhounds are couch potatoes once you get them off the cruel racetrack beat.
They are also the sweetest things on earth.
The biggest caveat to owning a greyhound is you ALWAYS have to have it leashed because of it's life of chasing that mechanical rabbit...if a greyhound sees something and sets its sight on it, it will run. And by run, I mean into traffic and beyond.
But the other big thing you need for greyhounds is room on your couch. They do NOT need tons of exercise...oh...and they need winter coats. They don't have body fat or fur to protect them from Chicago weather.
I have talked with greyhound owners who gave me the exact opposite piece of information.
Yeah, right.
From wikipedia:
My college mascot was a retired racing greyhound named Alexandra. She lived across the hall with our neighbor, a Jesuit priest. His leisurely walks with her around campus were her exercise. She mostly liked to come across the hall to our apartment and sleep on the rug in our living room. She was a total couch potato. I still have a picture of her, sleeping on that rug. That's how I always remember her ... quiet, peaceful and snoozing.I inquired about adopting a greyhound once. Things I was informed of is that "retired" greyhounds have problems adjusting to things like climbing stairs. They also are very much used to living in a crate, and would be fine as long as they were suitably exercised.
The major warning was that they could not be off leash in any kind of a non-enclosed area because of their high prey drive. They will take off like a bolt the moment they see something small and scurrying - they're trained to chase the mechanical bunny/whatever as a racing animal.
That said, I've never met one that wasn't an awesome pet. And greyhound racing sucks.
I've talked with Greyhounds Only, Inc. an adoption and rescue group many times. Their goal is to place greyhounds with the right family and the volunteers always say that greyhounds don't need a lot of room and are big couch potatoes. I really want one but currently have an old cat that would hate her life if I got one. Some day though....
i have an old lady cat that would also be SO mad if i got a greyhound. otherwise, despite my not really wanting a dog, i would take one of these. and i would love it, and pet it, and call it george. or something like that.
i always say greyhounds are the cats of the dog world. i love their deer-y goodness.
Its so so so sad that an abused grey hound is blocked from having a loving forever home because of a DUMB CAT! Yes another reason to hate CATS!
Oohh Smussy...never underestimate the power of a cat to adjust. I have two cats, and a few months ago adopted a herding dog with LOTS of issues.
I did not think it was going to work out.
Man...those cats HATED this dog. I mean HATED. For a few weeks I didn't think it was going to work out. But I'm nothing if not persistent.
And now, there is peace in the valley. The cats will actually go up to the dog and rub their bodies on her.
Every now and then, one will give the dog a sucker punch...but cats are assholes like that.
I think that anyone with a cat who wants a dog, should reconsider...it just takes time. It doesn't happen overnight, you have to have some patience and not care if your rugs get overturned during chases...it will calm down eventually.