Thousands of Massachusetts voters were successful in stopping extremists who were trying to abolish the historic sport of greyhound racing. Citing false claims and scare tactics concerning the care of racing greyhounds, these people managed to place a referendum of the ballot for the November 7, 2000 Election.
There is not now, and never has been, any abuse of racing greyhounds in Massachusetts. The greyhound men and women racing in this Northeastern State are some of the finest in the industry.
The Raynham-Taunton and Wonderland greyhound tracks, with the strong support and strict regulations of the National Greyhound Association, the American Greyhound Council, and the Massachusetts Racing Commission have always been dedicated to protecting the health and physical well-being of our beautiful animals.
Not only was the Racing greyhound the victor here Tuesday, nearly 2,000 full and part-time jobs at the greyhound tracks and millions of dollars in tax revenue to the State was protected.
However, every greyhound person in the United States should count his/her blessings today that the people of this State exercised their rights and turned out to vote this issue down. We have been placed on alert by the radical Grey2K group and their attack will not stop in Massachusetts!
The Florida Greyhound Association will continue to defend and protect the rights of greyhound racing in the Sunshine State. We join together with the other state associations under the leadership of the National Greyhound Association in dedicating our efforts to the survivial of the Sport of Queens and to fend off the threats of these radical animal extremists.
The Florida Greyhound Association
November 8, 2000
The bitter battle over the future of the Bay State's greyhound racetracks raged on yesterday, despite a narrow defeat at the polls Tuesday of a controversial ballot question that aimed to ban the sport.
Kitty Granquist, a longtime activist at the heart of the crusade to put down dog racing, said she plans to call for a recount of the vote in some key towns.
Meanwhile, track owners, alarmed by their narrow margin of victory, are huddling to map out a public relations strategy. The tally against Question 3 stood at 51.3 percent to 48.4 percent in favor yesterday, with about 98 percent of 2,111 precincts counted.
``We do have a burden on us to go out and prove to the 49 percent that we are doing the right thing,'' said Richard Dalton, president of Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere.
Track owners believe they still need to convince those who voted for Question 3 that greyhounds are not abused at Bay State tracks. Dalton said the state's two dog tracks will decide over the next several weeks what steps to take to accomplish that end.
``It's something that is a priority with us right now, coming up with a plan on how to address this,'' he said. Wonderland teamed up with Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park during the ballot campaign to mount a multimillion-dollar television ad campaign. But Dalton said he doesn't know whether running more ads is an option.
Meanwhile, Granquist plans to keep up the fight under the banner of her National Coalition of Greyhound Advocates. For her part, Granquist has split with Greyhound Racing Ends 2000, or Grey2K, a group she helped launch and which took a lead role in promoting Question 3.
Granquist said she plans to take charge of the court fight against the ballot vote. And she hopes to organize the 1,300 volunteers who campaigned on behalf of Question 3 for future battles against greyhound racing.
The Concord resident said she is leaving her sales and marketing job so she can devote her time to the cause. Granquist and other activists contend dog racing is inherently abusive and that they will not rest until it is banned in the state.
``We are trying to save the lives of these beautiful animals that were not put here on earth to run around in a circle after a mechanical rabbit they can never catch,'' she said.
The campaign itself was bitterly contested, with both sides accusing each other of below-the-belt tactics. Wonderland owner Charles Sarkis filed a libel suit against Grey2K last week over a series of graphic TV ads featuring a picture of Sarkis along with images of abused and emaciated dogs.
Sarkis contends the ads defame him because the dogs have no connection to him or his track. But animal rights activists say such images are fair in that they show the truth about general conditions in the industry - a claim heatedly denied by owners.