As I entered my house, after walking home from school in the seventh grade, I was met with a huge surprise. An unfamiliar greyhound rushed up to me with a big smile on her happy face. My mom told me that this was the first greyhound we were fostering until she found a home. Her name was Salem. With her quirkiness, whimsical personality, and adorable face I quickly fell in love and begged my parents to keep her. Lets just say I won. After about three and a half years of constant petting and playing, and even traveling across the country with her, our adventures soon came to an unexpected end.
About a year and a half ago, Salem started having abnormal seizures in the middle of the night every two months or so. The veterinarian said there was no way to know where those were coming from, but is usually due to poor nourishment as a puppy and young dog. Over the previous spring break, Salem went to go have her teeth cleaned and pulled and had to be under anesthesia for the process. As she was coming out of the anesthesia, she had a seizure attack, but this time it was different. The vet immediately started CPR and all of the other treatment to possibly get a heartbeat, but it was too late. She had passed the moment her seizure began; all for simply wanting to clean her teeth.

But would this have happened if she was given the right food and been taken care of as a puppy instead of being born at a greyhound mill where they are mistreated and given no attention? Salem could’ve lived to be twelve instead of six. While it may seem to some that greyhound racing is fun and entertaining, what they do not know is the behind the scene kennel life and the atrocities that aren’t talked about and should be discontinued.
One cannot deny that greyhounds really do love to run. In fact they are the second fastest land animal, behind the cheetah, reaching speeds up to 43mph. Greyhound racing is exactly what you would think it is; greyhounds placed on a dirt track racing each other until the finish line, just like horse racing. However, like horse racing again, most greyhound racing facilities and kennels, where they keep the dogs, do not treat the animals right and force them to live in cramped, terrifying places.
Not to say that all greyhound racing facilities and kennels do not treat their dogs well, in fact, one of my current greyhounds, Lawrie, is a very healthy dog who loves to run and play and came from a kennel where they loved her. If a kennel truly cares about the dogs and takes care of them, the dogs love it because they are given training exercises to keep them healthy, athletic, and ready to race. The kennels also provide jobs for the owners, trainers, and helpers. In addition, there are also greyhound associations that adopt out the dogs that keep good background records to what the dogs’ life was before getting adopted out. This way you always know where your dog is coming from, how well they raced, and if they have any current health issues. However, it is most likely with greyhounds that they are to have health issues later in life like Salem.
However true all these ideas may be in some cases, the number of kennels that mistreat their dogs greatly out weighs the ones that do not. Most days, these miserable dogs are let out only once or twice a day to do their business and stretch their long legs. “Spending 22 hours a day in a crate (causes) sores, abrasions, and hair loss on the backs of the legs,” (Source 1). For food, greyhounds are typically fed 4D dog food, which consists of dead, dying, or injured animals. How horrifying this may sound, it is often found in most dog food, however greyhounds are forced to eat it raw. The 4D dog food is where most of the dogs pick up diseases of all sorts that can lead to major health issues or even death. Some greyhounds are also given steroids to supposedly boost their strength and stamina to win more races, but the steroids end up hurting the dog in the end. Lastly, greyhound racing is used for gambling and betting on dogs to win races, which is unethical and shows no respect for the dogs.
Certainly just the ideas already listed should be enough to end the abusive greyhound racing, however there are even more horrifying ideas that exist. Just like in our society there is always a “top dog.” Actual judges might not judge people on an everyday basis, but in a greyhounds world it’s sink or swim. These dogs receive a grade, A – J, on how well they perform and how fast they are. If the dogs do not make the top three grades they are sent to low rent tracks, adopted out, or, in the worse cases, killed.
Not only are these dogs in danger if they do not run fast enough, they are in danger every time they race along side other dogs. While racing, dogs injure themselves by bumping into each other or coming to a quick halt. When these dogs run into each other, they are literally going as fast as some cars in car crashes, which can break bones, pull tendons, and injure organs. On a racing day dogs are injured, “Every fifteen minutes, about fourteen times a day,” (Source 1). Let’s say a greyhound track races dogs three days a week and approximately fourteen dogs are injured each day who can no longer race. That’s 42 dogs each week in need of a home, which they do not all get. The best of the best dogs will get the medical help they need and be later sent to an adoption agency. Some will just be sent to the adoption agency and hope they can pay for the medical care. And some will be put down or abandoned.
Many things in life are fantasized before our eyes, including greyhound racing. It may look fascinating and think its all fun and games for the dogs, but what happens when the public does not see is the actual truth behind it all. These poor animals deserve much more than they are given and need to be treated right. So what can you do to help? Donate to a greyhound adoption agency to help the dogs get the medical attention they need, and while you’re at it, look into adopting a greyhound and show them what a loving life really is.