Tough times for Greyhound racing

Ever since my wife and I adopted a Greyhound last year, I've tried to follow the plight of former racers and the sport, which has clearly fallen on hard times. In 2009, tracks in Arizona, Massachusetts and Wisconsin closed, leaving some 1,000 dogs homeless and thousands of people without jobs.

The reasons: It's the economy, yes, but it's also a declining interest in Greyhound racing combined with various campaigns to end what many believe is the inhumane treatment of dogs.

Today in Las Vegas, the American Greyhound Track Owners Association begins its annual convention at Caesars Palace, but it's going to be a bleak affair. Only about 120 attendees are expected, according to the Las Vegas Sun; 15 years ago, there were 400.

In the past three decades, more than half the nation's tracks have shut down because of falling track attendance, and wagering fell 68 percent between 1991 and 2007 - from $3.5 billion to slightly more than $1.1 billion.

Some owners want to save their sport, but others realize it's a losing race against time. Harrah's Entertainment, which owns the Council Bluffs dog track in Iowa, is so desperate to shutter its operation that it has offered to give the state $7 million annually for an indefinite period if it's allowed to close. The casinos in Council Bluffs and Dubuque that operate dog racing tracks are forced to spend about $12 million a year to subsidize the sport.

"These dogs have been running every night. There's no one there," Jim Carney, a lobbyist for Harrah's, told the Omaha World-Herald. "There's no one betting. And we have to pay out to those owners to run these dogs when no one is betting on them."

I don't know much about Greyhound racing. I've never been to a track and have never had much interest in that type of gambling. But I do know that Greyhounds are among the most beautiful and sensitive dogs I have ever encountered. What they don't get in their racing careers is the love and affection that all dogs crave.

So if more tracks close, either from lack of interest or from concern for the dogs' welfare, maybe it's a good thing. I just hope that every dog finds a home and a loving family.