May
5, 2005
The
Honorable M. Jodi Rell,
Governor of the State of Connecticut
State of Connecticut
URGENT FAX COMMUNICATION
Executive Chambers 860.524.7396
Hartford, CT 06106
Dear
Governor Rell,
Thank
you for publicly expressing your concern for the fate
greyhounds at Plainfield Greyhound Park. Your eloquence
and compassion has touched the heart of greyhound advocates
throughout the country.
Based
on our experience with other track closings, the Greyhound
Protection League shares your concern for the proper disposition
of these wonderful dogs. To this end, we have been working
through the DOSR and the Department of Agriculture to
obtain a complete list of all the greyhounds currently
housed in the Plainfield kennel compound. This list will
assist all of us in our efforts to ensure the safety of
these deserving animals and will be an essential tool
for future tracking purposes. We are gratified that you
share our opinion that accountability is the foundation
of public trust.
A
week has passed and the dog track has not seen fit to
comply with the DOSR’s request for a list of the
greyhounds. Additionally, the Department of Agriculture
was unable to obtain a head-count of the dogs during a
visit to the facility on Tuesday, May 3rd. This information
is the baseline for accountability and it is the only
measure available to those of us who are not on the premises
to determine that greyhounds are not inappropriately disappearing
from the compound. Resistance on the part of track officials
to make this information available has heightened our
concerns, so we are now respectfully requesting your intervention
in this matter. Specifically, we are asking you to obtain
the following documents:
1.
A complete alphabetized list of the name, age, sex, color,
kennel and owner of every greyhound on the “active
list”. This information is contained in a readily
available computerized database controlled by the racing
secretary.
2.
A compete list of all greyhounds on the “inactive
list”. This data is kept in the racing secretary’s
office located in the paddock area. It is a written index-card
filing system. Greyhounds in this category are dogs that
are still on the property, but have “graded off”
due to poor performance or minor injuries and are awaiting
re-schooling. A complete inactive list will also contain
data on greyhounds that have been taken off the active
list due to serious injuries that have ended their racing
careers; as well as all greyhounds on the pet list.
3.
A list of all greyhounds that have left the kennel compound
since April 15th. All greyhounds are supposed to be logged
out at the guard shack when they are taken out of the
compound. We would expect to see data with the name of
the greyhound, the destination and the responsible party.
Please
note that all of the requested records should be readily
available since they are essential to the operation of
any greyhound racetrack. And that none of the greyhound
identification data is proprietary in any respect since
it is the same information that routinely appears in the
race program every time a greyhound is raced.
A
second concern that we would like to bring to your attention
is the issue of greyhounds going “back to the farm”.
Although this is a legal option, since racing greyhounds
are property, in our experience, this is far from an ideal
solution for anyone other than track management. Typically,
what happens is that the owners are pressured by the National
Greyhound Association and the track to haul their greyhounds
back to the farms and deal with them as they see fit.
The benefit to the track is that it reduces the number
of dogs that the track has to pay and care for while they
await adoption. While there may be no legal remedy for
this, it is of benefit to all of us who are concerned
about the fate of these dogs to comprehend fully the various
proposals set forth by the track so that meaningful information
can be obtained. Greyhounds that have ended up at Plainfield
are not highly competitive to begin with; consequently,
they have few racing options and, with few exceptions,
are not dogs of high enough quality to be used for breeding
purposes. Contrary to claims by those in the racing industry,
those regions of the country where the majority of greyhounds
are bred offer very few adoption opportunities because
they are saturated with unwanted greyhounds and are virtually
devoid of greyhound rescue organizations. The Greyhound
Protection League will continue to encourage the track
to save as many of these precious animals as possible.
We are confident that you will also continue your efforts
to accomplish this goal.
Thank
you for your valuable time. We look forward to hearing
from your office regarding this pressing animal welfare
issue.
Sincerely,
Susan
Netboy, President
Greyhound Protection League
P.O. Box 669
Penn Valley, CA 95946
888.842.4404 |
Melani
Nardone, GPL New England Rep
Greenwich, CT/New York City
212.580.0283 |
