10/05/06 Greyhound Race: Death in the Fast Line
Animal Friends is responding to the first dog race in Croatia
Animal Friends organization insisted that with Animal Protection Act all dog races be completely banned in Croatia so that this type of animal abuse would be prevented before it even started happening.
With bitterness we await the day of the first official dog race in Croatia (Zagreb, Racetrack, Saturday, October 7, 2006, 1:45 P.M.). This type of cruelty should be banned by law and publicly condemned.
In the USA, where the dog race problem is quite large, dog races are completely banned in 34 states.
Dogs that participate in these races are treated as "running machines." They are produced in such large quantities that all those dogs that are hurt, old, too slow or no longer profitable are killed. Every year, thousands and thousands are killed so that the dog race industry could be kept alive. Some dogs are killed in the name of selective breeding before they even approach the racing track. Dogs that are chosen to become racing dogs spend around 14 to 17 months in cages and wear muzzles. Most of them get wounds and infections from wearing them. Although some breeds are quite sensitive to temperature due to low fat and short fur, they are forced to race in extreme conditions – from below zero temperature, up to extreme heat. Only several manage to survive until their retirement at age of four or five. Injuries and diseases – broken legs, heat strokes and heart attacks – take many lives.
The best dogs runs very fast and are more likely to get injured. Other dogs die during transport from one race track to another. Industry practice is to transport up to 60 dogs in one truck, with two or three dogs in one cage. The back part of the truck gets extremely heated during the summer, which is lethal for animals that cannot perspire to cool themselves down. The majority of dogs that get too slow and unprofitable are killed immediately.
So Animal Friends condemns dog racing and implore citizens not to visit this type of shows and ask competent authority to include the ban on dog racing so that Croatia can be among those countries that do not want to support animal cruelty for fun, betting and profit.
![Greyhound [ 20.38 Kb ]](/data/image_2_2660.jpg "Greyhound [ 20.38 Kb ]")
![Greyhounds [ 27.90 Kb ]](/data/image_2_2661.jpg "Greyhounds [ 27.90 Kb ]")
