Thursday, August 14, 2008

600 Greyhounds

Just received:

PLEASE HELP!!! CONTACT INFO IS BELOW - DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL AS IT IS A XPOSTING> THANKS~!!

PLEASE HELP! WE NEED TO SAVE ALL these dogs! HELP IS NEEDED FROM ACROSS THE ENTIRE USA!

After racing their entire lives, now they'll be put to sleep because ..... There's too many of them???? ?? This is unacceptable! These dogs are sooooo sweet natured!!! Maybe some folks up in Canada would be able to take some of them?????

Please circulate across the country. This is a crime. DEADline is August 24th!! Please get the word out BIG TIME ... this will be a monumental task. If you know anyone that would be willing to help one of these retired greyhounds, please read email below. Please crosspost. Here is the number to call if you need more information REGAP can be reached at 816-763-3333 email contact is: LHolloway1948@aol.com

The Woodlands Racetrack in Kansas City is closing August 24th. I have spoken with REGAP (Retired Greyhounds as Pets) here in Kansas City. There are 600 Greyhounds at the track. Greyhound rescue estimates they will be able to get 200 into the rescue network. The Woodlands is one of the last stop race tracks in the Greyhound racing industry, the remaining 400 will be 'returned' to the breeders and likely put-to-sleep. They need as much help as they can get for fosters, adoptions, transports, etc.

PLEASE contact them if you can help and forward to friends you know who may be able to help, as well.

REGAP can be reached at 816-763-3333.

Thanks!

5 comments:

Caveat said...

I heard about this quite awhile ago from a friend in KC MO. I believe the Greyhound rescue folk are on it.

Greyhounds are good dogs, but retired racers are certainly not for everybody.

Anonymous said...

Ya'll need to do some research and stop posting erroneous BULLSHIT. The following is what is ACTUALL happening at The Woodlands:

I'm sure, by now, you've all seen the hysterical emails circulating about
the Woodlands racetrack closing in Kansas City on August 24.

There are several emails floating around ... stating that Greyhounds will be killed if we don't DO SOMETHING.

Well, I'd like you all to "Stand Down" ... it's under control and there
will be no mass killings here!

Greyhound Support sent 11 retirees to adoption groups last Friday ... and
19 more are leaving this afternoon.

As more pets are identified, we'll move them, too. At this point, there is
no estimate on the total number of dogs being retired.

This track closing, although a little closer to home, is just "business as
usual" for Greyhound Support.

We are friends with the Woodlands management, we are friends with the
Kansas Racing & Gaming Commission (KRGC), we are friends with the American
Greyhound Council (AGC), and we're friends with all the trainers.

We have worked with this track for eight (8) years.

It's under control.

Hug those Hounds!
Kate Bressler &
Ann Peterson
Greyhound Support in Kansas City
www.GreyhoundSupport.org


And...

News Friday, August 01, 2008

No greyhounds will be killed at Woodlands
By ALAN HOSKINS, Kansan Contributor
Published: Friday, August 1, 2008 10:10 AM CDT


About all those horror stories you might have read about greyhounds being euthanized after The Woodlands closes its doors Aug. 24?

Not going to happen, says Bryce Peckham, the animal health officer for the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, who is heading a monitoring system that will track every greyhound until theyre safely in new homes.

All that garbage that theyre putting out on the Internet is a bunch of baloney, Peckham said. Were not going to let anything bad happen to any greyhound. Wer e going to be here until the last greyhound has found a home.

Peckham was particularly upset about a quote in The Kansas City Star by a person close to the track who said some dogs would be killed.

Thats absurd, said Peckham. When the track closes, any greyhound left without a future in racing and without a place to go will become the property of the Racing and Gaming Commission.

The track currently is under a lockdown, which means no greyhounds can leave the track without the Commissions approval. A record of every greyhound approved to leave the track will be kept and will include the name of the greyhound as identified by its tattoo; the trainer and kennel for which it ran; the name and license number of the hauler; and the phone number and destination of the greyhound.

We want to be able to follow up so we know every greyhound arrived safely, Peckham said.

Those greyhounds with no place to go out wi ll be put into an adoption program facilitated by Greyhound Support in Kansas City, a not-for-profit organization with nationwide ties.

Its the same adoption program we worked with when the Camptown and Wichita tracks were shut down, Peckham said. They know what they are doing. We are certainly not aware of any dogs being killed when those tracks were closed.

Peckham said any and all greyhounds will be accepted without question and will be owned by the Racing Commission until new homes can be found. Food, lodging, bedding and medical expenses for those greyhounds will be the responsibility of The Woodlands.

To assure no greyhounds will be slipped out of the track without state approval, Peckham said he and other Commission employees will make a daily tally of every greyhound, whether it be in a racing kennel, adoption kennel or overflow kennel.

Peckham began his career with the Racing and Gaming Commission two weeks after The Woodlands ope ned in 1989 and was senior veterinarian at the track from 1990-96 when he became animal health officer in Topeka.

We just arent going to let anything happen to the dogs no matter what you might read, Peckham said. We will be here until the last greyhound is gone.

Fred said...

Looks like we'll have to wait and see who has the better crystal ball. It is interesting how quickly and pervasive the spin control is working, though.

For some more balanced reports on this see:

http://911petrescue.com/ipb//index.php?s=&showtopic=9887&view=findpost&p=267221

http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7048462&version=4&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.1.1

For information about the treatment of Greyhounds involved in racing see:

http://www.grey2kusa.org/

http://nogreyhoundracing.com/

Fred said...

I never realized Greyhound was so fascinating. Here's some more light reading regarding the treatment of Greyhounds, stuff like dogs being shot and dumped with their ears cut off to avoid identification, dogs being sold to research labs, lots of dogs being killed after getting injured in racing, plus info on what happened to all the dogs after previous racetrack closings ...

http://www.greyhounds.org/gpl/contents/media_cases2.html

http://www.greyhoundnetworknews.org

http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/historyKS.pdf

Anonymous said...

Fred - The links you posted were written by vehemently anti-racing greyhound groups whose sole mission is to end live greyhound racing in the United States. Take what you read with a grain of salt.