Greyhound racing has been a controversial event that has been going on for years and years. It has been around since the late 1800s, but as people learned more about the conditions that these animals were forced into, they started to rally against it.
While people still attend races to this day, betting on the outcome in a similar way to horse racing, there has been a change to the perception of this sport.
After the truth about the treatment of the dogs became clear, a lot of people could no longer justify it.
But now, times have changed in a drastic way, with another state finally voting to ban the greyhound race tracks, and put an end to the abusive conditions.
Florida voted on November 6th to officially close down the 11 remaining racetracks in the state. They will be phased out, with the official closing date set for December 31st, 2020.
The inhumane treatment of the animals first became clear in the 1970s. Animal welfare organizations discovered that greyhounds were being kept in cages for over 20 hours per day, and stacked up as if they weren't living creatures.
As soon as a dog was found to be not fast enough, or became injured, they were euthanized without consideration of the fact that they would have still made good pets.
In 2001, GREY2K was formed, and they raised awareness for these dogs to try and get them better lives and a second chance once their racing careers were complete. They helped work with other rescues to establish retired greyhound adoption groups, and now many retired dogs have found amazing homes.
Critics of this law change are claiming that by terminating the race tacks they have condemned all those dogs to an early death, however the organizations point out that the racing dogs have two full years to find new homes.
Greyhounds make excellent pets and they tend to be quite sociable. Even though they are fast dogs that are capable of sprinting over 40 mph, they are actually known for how lazy and cuddly they are.
Chances are Florida will see a big rise in greyhounds available for adoption over the next two years, so if you're interested in welcoming one into your family, check out the Greyhound Project as they have a lot of the information you'll need to adopt as well as links to the rescues that take on these sweet pups.
Now that this ban has been been put into place, there are only five states where greyhounds can be raced.
Source - MNN / Greyhound Project / Daily Mail / NBC News / Huffington Post
