Dog racing in Wisconsin "On the verge of extinction"

[TheMightyFavog]

http://greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20090616/GPG0101/90616035/1978

Kaukauna was the first pari-mutuel facility to close, but it wasn't the last.

Wisconsin Dells Greyhound Park ended its run in 1996, St. Croix Meadows in Hudson lasted until 2001 and Geneva Lakes Greyhound Park went dark in 2006.

The lone remaining track, Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha, is hemorrhaging money.

The track lost $3.4 million in 2008 after losing $2.8 million in 2007. Dairyland officials still are hopeful that a proposal by the Menominee Indian tribe to open a huge casino and convention center at the track will be approved. In January, the federal government rejected the latest bid by the Menominees to operate such a facility.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. Good

Now just to get rid of it everywhere.

[RedCloud]

2. People should just gamble on the stock market where it's legal!

And rigged!

[Gman]

3. I always enjoyed playing Dairyland off track

Unfortunately, greyhound racing is suffering around the country.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with racing greyhounds. It's a fine sport and exciting way to gamble. The problems are with unscrupulous breeders and trainers.

[vadawg]

7. always loved the dogs, without the tracks the racing will just become more local

with the hare being dragged behind a truck or some homemade sled.

[Critters2]

8. It's a disgusting practice.

If you want to watch sighthounds run, contact your local chapter of the AKC or UKC and ask for the schedule of lure coursing events, where well-treated dogs are allowed to run as part of active and healthy lives spent with families who love them as companions--without anyone benefiting financially from their abuse.

[vadawg]

9. lure coursing, nah hare coursing is were the real skill is,

lurchers love to course, i dont see all dogs as companions the way you do, some dogs are working dogs some are play dogs, my dog is a working dog and loves nothing more than to track and hunt.

[Critters2]

10. I live with a beagle. She's a rally champion, and loves to track.

But no other animals need to suffer so that she can do what she enjoys.

[vadawg]

11. well im sure she does enjoy it, my dog naturally hunts and ive always had dogs that hunt and kill

its part of their nature, same as with man,

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

12. There's a big difference between having a hunting dog and racing greyhounds

I'm fine with working dogs, provided they are well-treated. These dogs are not.

[vadawg]

14. So its the treatment you disapprove off, so its okay to race greyhounds if they get treated to your

liking, growing up we had greyhounds, lurchers, pitbulls, terriers, all were working dogs and all had to earn their keep. You would probuably think my hound is not well treated as hes not kept in the house and he dosent get to play with the kids, as i said hes a working dog and his thing is hunting, thats all he wants to do.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

16. It depends on the setup you have, but I do think socialization with people is important

My dog's herding trainer has maremmas to keep the coyotes and bears from killing the sheep. They live outside 24-7 in the field. They're happy. I don't see anything wrong with that.

Just curious what "jobs" you had the pitbulls doing?

[Critters2]

17. That's all he wants to do? Seriously?

My dog wants to track. And does. She also wants to lay across my lap when I'm reading or watching TV, curl up in her crate with her cat buddy, and sleep under my covers. I'll bet, if your dog knew such niceties existed, he would, too. Oh, and if I bring an animal into my life, he or she doesn't have to earn its keep. What a primitive way to think.

[vadawg]

18. sorry but no matter how much you believe it to be so, the dog is just a dog

its not a human surrogate, if you had to rely apon the dog to provide food for itself and you, you wouldnt be so naive. My dog as soon as hes off leash goes into hunt mode and will track and kill if hes allowed to.

[Critters2]

19. I respect all animals. Those I live with, and those I don't.

I don't have to rely upon my dog to eat, and neither do you.

[vadawg]

20. lol you have no idea what i have to rely apon my dog for, you speak like someone who has never

missed a meal, i also respect animals but i realise they are just animals, some are on my side, some are food.

[Critters2]

28. You also sound like someone who hasn't missed any meals,

much as you want to sound like a big, tough mountain man :eyes:

I don't think of any living being as "just"...well, you, maybe. I think they all deserve my respect. Just my way of trying to build a peaceful world. We've tried you testosterone-laden method. It hasn't worked.

[vadawg]

33. lol what you think everyone was brought up in comfort,

trust me if it wasnt for my dogs growing up id of missed a lot more meals.

[Critters2]

39. Right. You're so poor that you're posting about how poor

you are on a computer. I don;t need to impress you with how much or little I have. I'm secure enough in myself that I don't give a rat's ass whether I've been poor enough to meet your standards. Life isn't a contest. Jerk.

[vadawg]

44. lol obviously you have no idea, if you dont realise that dogs are used in poorer communities

not just to lie on your lap but to provide security, food and income. Ive never alluded to being poor now, in fact im far from it especially on my scale, but unfortunately the computer i am posting on is not mine it belongs to the county jail.

[Critters2]

46. Oh, now you're in jail. LOL! Well, there's a testament

to the lifestyle you've been living. Yeah, why can't I be more like you!

So, are you really in jail...or were we just impressed enough with your earlier tales of woe?

[vadawg]

47. yeah im the jail, not imcarcerated just working,

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

23. I just think it's interesting that he didn't tell me what "job" he had for his pit bull

[vadawg]

24. oh i was distracted and missed posting, some were guard dogs and im sure a few were

sold for other reasons, some probuably nefarious considering the people who would interact with us.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

25. Pit fighting...

man, you just get better.

[vadawg]

26. no idea, wouldnt be surprised though, its real common

im sure it was a big cash earner in lean times.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

27. It's real common, because of unscrupulous people like you who don't care about their dogs

[vadawg]

30. lol, you have a terrorist as your signature and your calling other people out

never said i dont care about my dogs, i just dont treat them like humans, my dogs are workers whether they help feed me or guard me.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

34. I think selling dogs knowingly into a life of being a fighting dog is unscrupulous

And it is illegal.

Honestly, people don't need dogs around with the sole purpose to guard them, either. It's just a way for small people to feel tough.

[vadawg]

38. spoken as someone who has lived their whole life in america and in comfort

[Critters2]

41. Okay, I'll bite...just how deperately poor are you...

that you can spend your time arguing on the internet? Shouldn't you be out hunting and gathering?

[vadawg]

45. actually im at work, though i was below poor before i came to america.

so it helps to keep the old skill set up just in case.

[malta blue]

57. Before my family "came to America"

We kept dogs as pets. And the situation that my family fled was less than secure, yet my family made sure the dogs were tended to the best they could be - and that included contact from an owner. As social creatures, dogs NEED contact.

And this whole thing about the pits, well it is just cruel and you should be treated the way you treated them.

[vadawg]

58. im not sure if you read correctly, i never sold any pits, my family did

i was a youngster and had no say in the family goods and animals.

[malta blue]

60. I read the posts.

As someone who has had family members involved in cock-fighting when I was younger, I can tell you that I stood up for the animals. I was under 10 when I made placards and protested my uncle's Friday night fights. He hated it, and the people laughed, but I knew I was right.

I also refused to eat certain things because I considered them pets, and not to be used as food. I didn't starve. I would rather gnaw on a stalk of sugar cane than eat the rabbit that played with all afternoon.

Also, I find your attitude towards your own dogs rather unpleasant, however, that is really not my business. Unless you mistreat them. And it seems that you may be - just sayin'.

[LostinVA]

64. That poster has said before he's from Britain, not Soviet-Era Romania

My Father's granddad came from Sicily, where they were dirt poor farmers who did hunt, with their dogs who were treated like family.

I myself grew up quite poor, and we often didn't have enough food during strike times, We had dogs that were also hunting dogs -- Springers -- and they lived inside with us.

[malta blue]

82. Oh hell,

my family fled the Dominican Republic to escape Trujillo. He was quite smitten with my grandmother and her sisters and "invited" them to parties.

We may have been "white" but our family was certainly not the epitome of the elite Dominican, and left. My great-grandparents kept their dogs in the house with them. Fed them table scraps, but at least they were fed. In fact, they were over-fed chubby little things, but sooooooo loved.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

42. I grew up in a scuzzy neighborhood with scummy people who had plenty of pits

to make them feel like big, tough people.

It's not necessary.

We had a dog that was thrown away by one of those scumbags. She was a loved member of the family, and would've ripped the throat out of anybody she needed to, because she would have defended us to the death.

I grew up with assholes with fighting pits and the idiots who kept them chained up as "guard dogs." Those people are dog-abusing scum.

[LostinVA]

63. The poster you referred to did not grow up in "comfort"

And, you said you grew up in Britain, which isn't exactly a Third World country.

[vadawg]

65. nope never said i grew up entirely in britain, some of my life and we were not exactly welcome

or part of the indigenious culture, in fact i think we are treated as a third world culture due to high infant mortality rates and a host of other stuff.

[LostinVA]

70. You lived in a country with health care, that is an industrialized as this

And, with much more social welfare help.

[vadawg]

72. lol you dont get it do you, you need to study up, we didnt get health care

we didnt get welfare, we spent as much time avoiding the government as possible, we are universally hated and knew it.

[LostinVA]

75. Roms are considered citizens and are able to use social welfare services

In every European nation. I don't ahve to stufy up, I know it.

I take it you're claiming to be Rom or "Tinkers." Unless you grew up under the Nazis your whoel entire ligfe, then you are having fun telling a tall tale.

[vadawg]

78. claiming nothing, need to prove nothing to yu

im sure you do know it all, lol

[LostinVA]

76. Roms are considered citizens and are able to use social welfare services

In every European nation. I don't ahve to stufy up, I know it.

I take it you're claiming to be Rom or "Tinkers." Unless you grew up under the Nazis your whoel entire ligfe, then you are having fun telling a tall tale.

[Critters2]

36. Even the most primitive cultures...well, okay, YOU would be the most primitive,

but, I mean, besides you, have had dogs live in their living quarters with them. The Nomadic Arabs still have sloughis living in tents with them, as humans have since dogs were first domesticated. Don't kid yourself--you're not living some particularly natural life. And no one is impressed with how tough you like to think you are.

[Critters2]

31. It is. He wants us to think he lives in the backwoods, eating

nothing but the coon meat his hounds muster up for him...and then posting about it on the internet. :eyes:

[flvegan]

32. It appears that he/she/it also sold pits into dogfighting

not that he/she/it allegedly knew about it.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

37. The people I know who have hunting dogs treat them quite well

And don't view them as just an object to help them hunt.

This poster obviously isn't most people. Thank God.

[vadawg]

40. actually i still hunt so my kids can learn it, i can afford to buy meat if i want

my garden provides a lot also, growing up was different.

[Critters2]

43. Oh, I'm sure. You walked 25 miles to school in the snow and rain,

up hill both ways. Really, no one's buying your act.

[vadawg]

49. lol you have no idea anything about me, you are showing you niavety about other cultures

you think everyone grew up surrounded by fast food, with grocery stores on the corner, you do know that therte are people in the world who live at a subsistence level and some who even manage to survive below.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

50. Other cultures is not an excuse to abuse animals

Just like "it's another culture" is not an excuse to abuse women.

[Critters2]

51. No! I had no idea!

Please, I've been to Zimbabwe and Mozambique. I know there are poor people in the world. It's just that the ones I know don't go around bragging about it.

[vadawg]

52. lol then im sure you lectured them about killing animals for food

or for not making sure their cattle get all their shots,

[Critters2]

53. They eat a lot less meat than you're claiming to.

Their main diet is based on a boiled corn meal called "sadza", with other fruits and veggies. Meat was an occasional treat...and their dogs live in their huts (the Ndau word is "yawe") with them. You should go tell them the appropriate ways to treat dogs. I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

[vadawg]

54. if it works for them fine, we barely had room on the move for all us kids so the dogs tended to walk

or try to hitch a ride, plus meat for us was free and in some places abundant dependant on the season.

[Critters2]

55. So, let me get this straight....

you're seriously playing "I'm poorer than you" with the Ndau people of Zimbabwe?

HOney, there's a contest you can't win. But, thanks for playing! :hi:

[vadawg]

56. lol im not the one playing poorer, lol just saying they are different people

they have a totally different culture than you and me, you are the one trying to equate them to every other poor people on the planet, and using that as a template for how primitive peoples treat their dogs.

[LostinVA]

68. He grew up in an EU country

[LostinVA]

73. He also thinks countries like Zimbabwe should be colonized by Western (ie white) nations

I kid you not.

[vadawg]

80. lol you really are dumb arent you, if you look at the zimbabwe post

you will see i stated quite clearly that the UK should remove mugabe from power and get food to the people, i guess my saying putting white lives on the line to feed black lives is racist, unbelievable that you would rather see black people starve than a country with resources help them, now that is racist.

[LostinVA]

67. Britain has alot of fast food and grocery stores -- as much as here

[vadawg]

69. wow really no id never have known that

having spent my childhood outside the mainstream and not entirely in britain even i know the UK has grocery stores.

[LostinVA]

71. You're teh one saying you didn't -- you grew up in countries with social welfare nets

Boo frigging hoo.

[LostinVA]

66. He has said on here he grew up in Britain and is a Sheriff's Deputy in VA

He's now saying he grew up in other countries and lived "outside teh mainstream."

:eyes:

[vadawg]

77. lol i think you will find i said i didnt spend all my childhood in the UK

i also spent time in eire and on the continent, and im sure somewhere in your file you will see i dont come from what would be called a mainstream culture, jeez

[LostinVA]

79. As Is aid in another posts: Roms, "Tinkers," etal are able to use social services

Like health care, etc. I guarantee you grew up with more resources than I did. You keep posting things acting like you were running from the Nazis. No matter the prejudices against these demographics, you still had access to some of the best social systems in the world. Also, I do believe dog baiting is illegal in at least Ireland and Britian, and I bet most other countries you were in.

I am done with your excuses. You are ridiculous.

[vadawg]

81. lol tell you what, you go talk to the social services even in your area

and they will tell you they never see travelers, we dont exactly want to be on government rolls etc, i think you will be surprised at how many are in your area that the powers that be have no idea about, but i think your bigotry towards people who dont espouse what you think has blinded you.

[KamaAina]

59. I always wondered why racing dogs weren't treated like Thoroughbred horses

One would think dogs who were treated well would beat those who are abused. I was thinking maybe I could clean up and get dog fixes at the same time!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

61. Thoughbred horses aren't treated all that great either

Look at what happens to them when they don't pan out on the track.

[KamaAina]

62. Ah, well, there is that. Remember Ferdinand.

:cry:

[Gman]

85. It wasn't disgusting the week I hit 3 different superfectas

for over $7,000. Damn that was a hot streak. I'll think about you and laugh the next time I cash a big ticket.

[Dappleganger]

4. Wish the same could be said for FL

What a disgusting practice.

[marmar]

5. Sooner the better......and hopefully the same will happen to horse racing.

n/t

[Arugula Latte]

13. Amen.

And I wish rodeos and circuses that use animals would fail, too, but that's unlikely in the near future.

[flvegan]

6. Good.

I hope the next and any subsequent proposals to help the track fail miserably.

[sandyj999]

15. YES!!!!!

One of the tracks in Wisconsin is where our greyhound Emma Kate came from. She lived to almost thirteen and was the sweetest dog I have ever owned. She loved our other dogs, cats and paid no attention to our birds. This "sport" should have been gone a long time ago.

[Chulanowa]

21. So... What's happening to the animals?

I assume a few will get adopted... there's no shortage of greyhound adoption programs. But the rest?

[vadawg]

22. well what do you think will happen to them

[Chulanowa]

29. It was more of a rhetorical question

I can't exactly get all "Yay, the track is closing!" with that sort of knowledge at hand.

[flvegan]

35. Do you know how many dogs are exterminated to get 1 successful race at a track?

Not every dog born to a litter goes on to race. Matter of fact, very few are.

[undeterred]

74. They will be recycled into school supplies.

No, I think there are enough rescue programs. :hi:

[yesphan]

84. If the track(s) fail

Many of the breeders and trainers will be out of work and the hounds will become a liability.
I have adopted three greys to date and all have been wonderful family members and spoiled mercilessly, and they deserved it. They also appreciate being able to spend there remaining days in leisure.

If Hollywood would make a movie about how cool adopted greys are, their problems would be over.
Until then, there will never be enough rescue programs.

[LeftHander]

48. SAVE GAMBLING with MORE GAMBLING!!! nt

[ShadesOfGrey]

83. Thank Dog for that!

I hope that miserable sport continues to fail miserably.