Adopt a Greyhound
via e-mail, Boston Pooch*
There is quite a bit of discussion about the accuracy of an e-mail from Dakin Animal Shelter in Leverett, MA, which I received yesterday. For example, according to Greyhound Dad's Greyhound Tails weblog, the state of Connecticut has laws preventing the euthanasia of healthy greyhounds. Greyhound Dad is posting updates about the closing of Plainfield Greyhound Park. In an April 28 update, he posted a list of adoption groups that are confirmed to have offered to help.
The New York Times ran a story yesterday about the Plainfield track closing. Many of the dogs that have raced at the Plainfield facility will continue their careers at other tracks:
[Max] Friedman, who owns 45 dogs that race at the track, said he quickly arranged for 25 of his dogs to race at Shoreline Star Greyhound Park in Bridgeport. He found room for 15 more at Hinsdale Greyhound Park in New Hampshire.Yet while Mr. Friedman was personally relieved that he would have only five dogs left to "pet out," the phrase used by greyhound owners to offer dogs for adoption as pets, his success addresses just a fraction of the problem: There are about 1,000 dogs that need to be moved to new locations ("As Racing Ends, What About the Dogs?" by William Yardley).
According to an article by Dave Goldberg (Connecticut Post),
the New England Raceway developer Gene Arganese, of Trumbull, who obtained an option to purchase the dog track last year, has said he halted greyhound racing to begin construction on a new facility. He plans to apply for a transfer of the park's dog track license next year ("Track close leaves dogs homeless").
*UPDATE 22 February 2006: The BostonPooch site is, alas, defunct.