When you look at the GPL web site, this page is the one that says it all.

http://www.greyhounds.org/gpl/conten...ia_cases2.html

One can always point out that the media only reports sensationalism and that facts are not presented with precise accuracy. One can always take each case and argue the intricate details, point out the flaws, etc., etc. But no one can say these things did not happen. This is the history of the "bad side" of greyhound racing.

PETA has videos that can literally break your heart if you have the strength to watch them. I am level headed enough to realize that there can be more to these stories. That people have gone so far as to stage scenes and cause harm to animals for the pupose of filming a sad video. I would not know which one was true, unless I was right there at the time that it happened. I also do not assume all their videos and stories are valid or invalid, based on what I have heard about one.

I have only had the guts to watch two of their videos and all I can say is I wished I hadn't. If there were even the slightest chance that these things happened as they showed, it was well worth showing them. Regardless of what got those animals into their situations, I am grateful that someone cared enough to try and help get them out. What I saw was of no medical benefit to anyone. The animals were clearly being abused. It is not a difficult concept to believe. I feel that PETA's intentions were to help those animals by exposing this abuse and I am grateful that they were able to do so. One video disturbed me so much that I actually wrote PETA, to ask about the status. Their answer was factual and verifiable and did not include a request for money or anything else from me. I never heard from them again. I was actually quite impressed, considering what I have heard about them. That is my only experience with PETA.

I feel the same way about the folks who uncover the abuses in greyhound racing. Whether or not they sensationalize is not important to me. If half the stories on that page were due to outside pet owner abuse, it still would not make any of it okay. I am against any type of pet abuse and I have the same opinion about anyone who is responsible for it.

When people are accused of animal abuse, I am right in there with the rest, encouraging their punishment and calling for any type of restrictions that can be given to prevent them from doing it again. You could even call that pushing for abolishment of pet ownership. If there were an entity, a group or some type of industry that could be identified, I would want restrictions to be placed on that industry and if that were not possible, I would want to see it banned. Whatever is necessary to end the abuse is what I want to happen. And yes, I would also consider the feasability and the overall effects.

I don't want greyhound racing to be banned if it can exist without killing all these hounds. After spending a huge amount of time learning as much as I have, I have come to realize that it is a possibility. But I will never accept it the way it is without the acknowledgement that certain problems do in fact still exist (to a lesser degree) and I am more interested in what can be done to prevent future problems, than how much better things have already gotten. Yep, I still see the half empty glass, but it is filling up.

Greyhound racing has a ways to go before my overall opinion will change. I still think it sucks. I don't care about gambling. I care about greyhounds. I do what I can through adoption and could do even more if I got off my butt more often and I am glad that there are industry people who have the same good intentions and work toward the same goal. It is however, important to me that everyone else is given all the answers, the whole story, the good and the bad. Because without them, greyhound adoption would not be possible. I feel they have the right to know that there are many greyhounds who still don't make it into homes and there always will be a need for help.

Before anyone jumps in and calls that "pity", let me say this. I never pitied a greyhound. I wanted a dog who fit my lifestyle and looked first at the ones who were more in need. I have since made a valuable contribution to the greyhound adoption effort and it is because I learned from my greyhounds how much I love this wonderful breed.

Jay