JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Amendment 13 put an end to greyhound racing in Florida in 2018. It passed 69% to 30%.
Following the vote that resulted in the closure of all 18 tracks as of last year, 2020
At four tracks in three states across the U.S., greyhound racing is still conducted. S: West Virginia, Arkansas, and Iowa have pledged to end in 2022.
Additionally, despite the fact that Florida voters made it clear they oppose greyhound racing at tracks in the state, you can still place bets at locations like Bestbet in Jacksonville.
In mid-July 2021, a schedule on its website indicates a greyhound race to bet on at 1 p m. in Wheeling and another at 6:30 in Iowa. Greyhound racing wagers are also accepted at Caliente, a track in Tijuana, Mexico.
However, a bill in Congress known as The Greyhound Protection Act seeks to create a federal law that outlaws greyhound racing in the United States and virtual betting on tracks across the nation and the world.
The bill is supported by Carey Theil, Executive Director of GREY2KUSA, an organization that opposes greyhound racing. He says, “America shouldn’t be encouraging cruel dog racing in Mexico.”
Congressman Mike Walz is a co-sponsor of the bill. His district includes parts of Flagler and St. Johns Counties. “It’s time to end it for good and move on,” he declares. “.
State lab testing in Florida revealed the presence of cocaine metabolites in dog racing, including at the Bestbet in Orange Park, according to a First Coast News investigation in 2018. The stories made headlines and led up to Amendment 13.
Theil says, “It is time the U. S. in the same way that Florida has taken the lead on dog welfare “.
First Coast News reached out to Bestbet president, Jamie Shelton. His spokesman told us he would have no comment.
Last week, D’Arcy submitted a notice of appeal to the 1st District Court of Appeal. The notice, as is customary, did not specify the arguments that D’Arcy will raise before the Tallahassee-based appeals court. However, D’Arcy’s attorneys argued in circuit court that he should be entitled to compensation due to the consequences of the constitutional amendment.
In this case, plaintiffs “retain virtually every stick in the bundle of property rights — they can still race their dogs, sell their dogs, keep them as pets, and even race them in wagered races in other states where wagering on greyhound racing is allowed,” Dempsey wrote. “In Florida, the only thing they cannot do is compete against them in a paid race.” There is no taking because of that restriction. ”.
“The scope and impact of the regulation was so devastating to the plaintiffs’ (D’Arcy and the kennel) interest in their private property that they would have been financially better off if the state had taken actual physical possession of all the property and thus spared the plaintiffs the cost of caring for the animals until he was able to place them, also at additional cost, for adoption,” the plaintiffs’ attorney wrote in an October filing.
Attorneys for Christopher D’Arcy and D’Arcy Kennel, LLC have argued that the ballot initiative that was approved by the voters constituted an illegal “taking” of property. However, Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey rejected the arguments in her ruling last month, stating, among other things, that the referendum only forbade greyhound owners from using their animals in Florida pari-mutuel races.
In response to a circuit judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit resulting from a 2018 constitutional amendment that forbade dog racing at Florida pari-mutuels, the owner of a greyhound kennel in Pinellas County filed a petition with an appeals court.
To find homes for the Florida dogs that were still competing as of December 2020, greyhound adoption organizations got to work. One of those groups was Sun State Greyhound Adoption, which is run by Sharon Dippel and is part of GST. She and her husband, Brian, have eight adopted dogs themselves. Every 10 days or so, they go through a couple of 44-pound bags of dog food.
Yet the industry drew little support beyond its fan base. Nearly 70 percent of the voters said yes to the amendment.
Mob involvement sparked rumors about fixed races. Dogs were allegedly overfed to slow them down, their toes were bound with rubber bands to prevent them from running, or they were given drugs to alter their speed.
According to Theil, the group and its allies spent $3 million promoting Amendment 13 with mostly TV commercials that featured mistreated racing dogs. Two groups opposing the amendment spent just $534,000 in response. A group’s advertisement claimed that Grey2K had exaggerated the danger.
The fans who remained skewed older. At Derby Lane in 2001, Steven Soderbergh shot a scene for the movie Ocean’s Eleven in which George Clooney and Brad Pitt recruit a man for their heist plan. When he was 79 years old, their target Carl Reiner blended in perfectly with the group of grayhounds.
When the track’s second year began, General Manager Brian Carpenter, then 16, began working there. He stayed for 36 seasons, up until this, the track’s final year.
He remembers the excitement when the track first opened in 1985, a time when much of Dubuque was in need of help and Iowa was beset by farm bankruptcies. Back then, buses of gamblers would arrive every weekend from Chicago and Milwaukee, bringing thousands of spectators to the races.
Peggy Janiszewski and her friend Robin Hannan have been traveling to Dubuque to watch the races for years by car, traveling about three hours from the Chicago area. They typically stake a pittance on each race, but their attention is diverted more by the dogs than by the prospect of winning big.
Racing will only continue in West Virginia after the closure of the Dubuque track and the end of the West Memphis, Arkansas, track in December, which is supported by casino revenue.
City and state funding helped the Dubuque track get off the ground, and after states like Iowa and others started allowing casinos, the Dubuque operation was expanded to include its own casino.
FAQ
Are greyhounds killed after racing?
Thousands of young, healthy greyhound dogs are put to death every year just because they lack the potential to win, were hurt while competing, or are no longer competitive.
When did greyhound become illegal?
Maine (1993), Virginia (1995), Vermont (1995), Idaho (1996), Washington (1996), Nevada (1997), North Carolina (1998), Pennsylvania (2004), Massachusetts (2010), Rhode Island (2010), New Hampshire (2010), Colorado (2014), and Arizona (2016) are the most recent states to pass legislation outlawing dog racing.
What states still allow dog racing?
Today, only Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Texas, and West Virginia still permit greyhound racing and maintain active tracks. Although there are no active racetracks in four states, greyhound racing is still legal there. Those states are Wisconsin, Connecticut, Kansas, and Oregon.
What is the biggest issue with greyhound racing currently?
Overbreeding and oversupply of greyhounds Every year, dogs are bred that are deemed superfluous to the needs of the industry because they are unfit for racing. This is due to the need to breed enough greyhounds to ensure that there are enough dogs that are suitable for racing.