Dog Races

I am a vet student and at my internship, the techs were talking about voting yes on the amendment to ban dog races in which people bet money on, which would include things like the greyhound races. I was all for it as we get many retired racing greyhounds that have been through so much and often have some pretty bad damage to their limbs and come from awful conditions. Once the racing dogs are hurt, the owners often give up the dog as it’s more expensive for them to fix the damage than it is to just get another dog to race as it’s all about money to them, so I was initially hopeful this would deter such. They would still have the races, but betting on them would not be allowed in hopes to deter those from going into that business and treating their animals so poorly when they are in it.

One of the vets said he would be voting no, as he felt there would be nowhere for all those dogs to go home-wise so quickly and they may continue racing off the radar like dog fights do and would have even worse conditions than before as there would be no regulation, which totally got me thinking otherwise.

What are your thoughts? Should we ban such completely for the sake of the animals? Or would we be doing them an injustice by doing so? Do you think banning the betting on such will reduce the cruelty, or only cause more? I’d love to hear your thoughts!