List compiled by Christopher Molnar
About a month ago I asked on Facebook and American Greyhounds for peoples wishes regarding Greyhounds, Greyhound Racing, and Amateur Racing/Coursing for their wishes for 2012. Below is the list of what was sent in. I have taken the liberty of grouping them into like subjects, but none have been lost and there may be duplicates. They are also not arranged in order of importance. I allow the reader to figure that out for themselves.
Greyhound Racing
- Victoryland re-opens.
- That greyhound racing would come back to CT and MA
- Better relationship between racing and adoption.
- Unity!!!! From the smallest owners to the largest ones, from the kennel helpers to the kennel owners, the farmers, suppliers,haulers, etc. Find a way to set aside your differences and unite as one. United you have a chance divided you will fail.
- More unification among dogmen/women.
- Phoenix to reopen (not gonna happen, but we can hope.)
- Wooldlands and wicita to reopen.
- Success of United Greyhound Racing
- I hope for Gambling in Texas. That way the Valley and Corpus can get back in the game racing greyhounds.
- Develop a program that will enable sports enthusiasts to participate in racing greyhound ownership
- Organized program to promote greyhound racing across the board from hd multi camera broadcasts of racing to grass roots participation in legislative efforts to protect and expand greyhound racing.
- The NGA should commit to a paperless future starting with online interactive forms for routine registrations and building to modern registration cards and a chip program.
- A greyhound racing channel, call it GTV.
- That greyhound leadership would prioritize the communication between us and legislators to incorporate simulcast wagers as on par with live wagers when totaling purse distribution or annual revenue totals.
- Continued growth of All About Greyhounds and more contributions (content not money) from racing folks.
- New website is started & jointly funded by every remaining greyhound track: it’s purpose is to create new players betting on greyhounds.
- The NGA leadership accepts that some current systems are antiquated and makes steps to improve them. Hopefully it will lead to a stronger communication, frees up personnel hours to fund that PR dept…
- My realistic wish is to have ZERO tracks close their doors to live racing in 2012 and with the rumors pretty strong, have Victoryland reopen
- Phoenix! We need more racing in my timezone
- Re-opening of Phoenix Greyhound Park, Woodlands, Wichita and Victoryland.
- More new owners.
- That track management and kennel owners work together for the betterment of greyhound racing. (Southland does a great job just fyi)
- New England racing gets a new lease on life
- Woodlands re-opens
- Communication!!!! And I’m not talking about the negative posts on websites or social media websites.
- Accountability!!!! If every one would just get there arms around this we would be in much better shape. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DOGS You owned them, or raised and trained them, or raced them in your kennel what is your responsibility?
- Wichita or the Woodlands re-open, or both. There should be racing in Kansas!
- The economy improves so people have the discretionary income to play the dogs more.
- We can keep racing in Florida
- We can fund a PR department.
- Dairyland casino gets approved. Live greyhound racing returns.
- Track owners,judges,vets and The states they race in. Go look in the mirror and ask yourself ( Did I do my job at 100% )
- Shoreline Star re-opens
- Dairyland re-opens
- That more adopters get interested in the racing side to understand that these dogs really do like to race.
- Re-opening of Phoenix Greyhound Park, The Woodlands, Wichita Greyhound track & Victoryland.
- More new owners
- Better understanding of racing from adopters and the general public.
- More unification among dogmen/women.
- The success of United Greyhound Racing.
- The racing industry begins a new era of innovation in promoting itself, beginning with a focus on the Greyhounds as canine athletes ; (
- Victoryland and other higher-end tracks resume racing ;
- That Greyhound Racing will be seen as a sport without so much focus on the gambling side.
- That ALL racing greyhound owners get more involved with the adoption of their dogs once retired.
- Florida racing remains intact…..big decoupling bill next year could do in many tracks down there….stay informed.
- Multnomah Greyhound Park would re-open,
- A system that automatically cleans dog poop out of the turnout pens.
- That Greyhounds will be seen as the incredible athletes that they are.
Negative Influences
- That Iowa is able to hold off G2K and their supporters from eliminating live racing. (Someone in Iowa City please run against representative Mary Mascher (D))
- That the ASPCA would cut ties with Grey2k and stop giving Grey2k money (grants)
- GREY2K goes belly up!!
- Support for the battle to keep racing in Florida and success again in defeating G2K and their legislative lackeys.
- Carey Theil and Christine Dorchak are arrested and jailed on embezzlement of funds…
- Public opening their eyes to the lies of G2K.
- Demise of G2K
- The Horse people end their 75 year WAR against greyhounds… and allow real “reciprocal” simulcasting of dog races in New York and L.A… NJ, OH, MD, and Kentucky!!
- I’d wish for 100% adoption of adoptable dogs to finally become a reality.
- I wish that Eric NM would get a real life instead of trolling newspaper message boards and replying to everyone who is pro greyhound racing. Hey Eric don’t you have a real day job? He and Grey2k, Wayne Pacelle and the ASPCA, MSPCA need to stop taking people’s livelihoods away from them. You wouldn’t like it Carey, Christine, Eric and other trolls if we did that to you so go get real jobs instead of putting others out of work.
- JCKC ceases live racing forever and all Greyhounds there leave in orderly fashion to other tracks if qualified or to adoptive homes if not;
- The donating public wakes up and smells the coffee about the false advertising and the longterm negative effects of GREY2K and other radical animal rights groups ;
- JCKC forced to fix or close (which would go a great way to undercutting the “furbaby” and “couch potato” pity party)
- That JCKC’s doors are closed for good.
Adoption
- My wish is that the racing industry and adoption folks continue to build trust and are able to work together to place greyhounds into good homes
- The adoption of greyhounds continues to find common ground and success. The adoptive owners begin to participate further in amateur events to showcase this fine breed following the track.
- A better relationship between racing and adoption.
- All adoption groups and volunteers get to visit a farm, a training facility and a race kennel.
- “Retired” and “couch potato” are dropped from the Greyhound adoption vocabulary – drop couch potato all together and refer to them as “former racing greyhounds”;
- Adoption groups get more realistic and honest in their marketing or many adoption groups to be able to get to know more about Amateur dog sports and how rewarding it can be for both hounds and owner it done safely.
- That people will really take the time to learn about the breed and meet different Geryhounds to better understand them before just adopting them.
- Better understanding of racing from adopters and the general public.
- Better understanding and respect for Greyhounds, racing and retired, as athletes.
- People would STOP thanking me for “rescuing those poor, poor dogs!” and actually listen to another point of view.
Amateur Racing and Coursing
- More adopters get involved in amateur sports with their Greyhounds and help engender an overall higher priority on keeping former racers engaged, fit and at proper weight
- The Hardy Admiral x Queen’s Evidence pups make big splashes in the Fall with successful debuts at racing, coursing and lure coursing.
- Seeing more Greyhounds in dog performance sports/amateur dog sports
- More retired greyhound owners would give their dogs a chance to participate in amateur dog sports
Greyhound Health
- More training for veterinarians about how to administer vaccines, etc. for greyhounds and their needs!
- More vets interested in treating greyhounds and learning about the adoption process and how to treat them
- That the folks who know how a greyhound should physically be kept will speak up and force adoption groups to look at the suffering they cause in fat greyhounds and perpetuate by projecting to adopters, and that that sort of crippling of a hound and shortening of it’s life will be seen as the abuse it really is.
- I’d never see another fat retired hound with nails so long the feet are deformed.
Miscellaneous
- Better understanding and respect for Greyhounds, racing and retired, as athletes.
- Continued growth for All About Greyhounds.
- A system that eliminates the weeds growing in the garden
That’t the end of the list. Now, figure it out for yourselves, how many of these can we achieve?
(C) 2011 Christopher Molnar – All Rights Reserved. No duplication permitted. If you wish to use any material in this post you must link to the page so that your readers get everything in context.