MELBOURNE, Fla. — Buddy ran his last race in September.
Seconds after he bolted from the gate at Melbourne Greyhound Park, his right rear leg snapped and later had to be amputated at the hip.
Still, Dennis Tyler considers this greyhound a lucky dog.
Buddy is among the 75,000 retired racers adopted through GPA, Greyhound Pets of America, in the past two decades, according to Tyler, president of the Central Florida chapter.
A Pennsylvania woman who works in a nursing home thought the three-legged dog would inspire the patients, so she adopted him.
Works within racing industry
Unlike other animal-rescue groups, the nation's largest greyhound-adoption organization works within the racing industry to find homes for dogs too old or too injured to compete. Its members don't picket kennels or lobby legislators. They neither condone nor condemn the sport.
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And though they have a good idea of how many dogs are injured and killed each year, they won't disclose the number.
"We just care about finding good homes for these dogs," said Rory Goree, GPA's national president. "Building friendships and bridges in the industry has gone a whole lot further than standing across the street and yelling."
But to animal-protection activists fighting to shut down dog tracks across the country, GPA is part of the problem instead of the solution.
"GPA is the public-relations machine of the greyhound- racing industry," said Christine Dorchak, president and general counsel of Grey2K USA, a nonprofit advocacy group targeting the 41 remaining dog tracks in 13 states.
"We support any effort to adopt out greyhounds, but we don't think anyone should hesitate to speak out about the cruelty," Dorchak said. "Those who don't are allowing this cruelty to continue."
But Goree said Grey2K USA is more concerned with its cause than the welfare of the animals.
"They have no plan to take care of the dogs if they are successful in shutting down the tracks," he said. "I truly don't believe they care about them."
For years, Grey2K USA, the Humane Society of the United States, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other national groups have criticized racing as animal abuse.
The docile dogs, they say, spend most of their lives in cramped 3-foot-by-3-foot crates with little human contact.
Thousands suffer broken legs and necks each year as they dash around the track at speeds nearing 45 mph. And, scores are killed because more dogs are bred than the declining sport needs, PETA spokeswoman Jackie Vergerio said.
Industry officials dispute the claims and insist the lifestyle of a racing greyhound is "a happy scenario."
"These are valuable animals that take thousands of dollars to raise and train," said Gary Guccione, executive director of the National Greyhound Association. "They need the best of care and need to be happy and healthy to perform their best."
According to Guccione, only a small percentage of dogs are hurt while racing, and the injuries are usually minor.
But actual numbers are hard to come by because most states, including Florida, don't inspect the farms or training facilities, or require tracks to report injuries and deaths.
The industry won't voluntarily release those statistics. "Critics would use them to try to close tracks," Guccione said.
Disclosure of numbers sought
In 2004, Massachusetts and New Hampshire passed laws requiring tracks to compile and disclose their numbers.
In New Hampshire alone, 700 dogs were injured while racing in 2005 and 2006, and more than a dozen died or had to be killed because of their injuries, according to the statistics.
This year, the New Hampshire Legislature will consider a bill that would end racing at the state's three greyhound tracks by mid-2009.
If it passes, New Hampshire would be the 35th state to ban racing, but the first to do so by closing active tracks.
The other states either never had tracks or shut them down before outlawing the sport. A similar bill is being proposed this year in Massachusetts.
"We don't think anyone should hesitate to speak out about the cruelty. Those who don't are allowing this cruelty to continue."
Christine Dorchak
Grey2K USA
