Lulu the dog is happy Dairyland is probably closing

from: flickr

Over the past week, the Milwaukee media has been forewarning of the probable closing of Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha. My dog, Lulu (aka Get Out of Here) raced at Dairyland for a little over a year and then we adopted her out of Greyhound Pets of America-Wisconsin.

I have mixed feelings about the closing. I'm glad the track is closing. There were a lot of rumors about cutting cost at the track which meant poorer conditions for the dogs (see article below). And why do they need 900 dogs racing every other day, only to force them into retirement after 1-3 years? I'm also a little worried about what the closing will mean for those 900 dogs. Will the adoption agencies be able to handle them? Will enough people want to adopt them? Will some "less desirable dogs" be put down to reduce the total number of greyhounds? That's a lot of dogs that will need a lot of veterinary care, spaying/neutering, vaccinations, and re-socialization.

- I get a lot of questions about her racing life. I DO think that she loved running and being around tons of other greyhounds; that's what greyhounds need. I DON'T think they fed her very well; her teeth were in horrible condition due to lack of nutrition and proper cleaning. I DO think she was mistreated in some way; it took over a year and some Prozac until she stopped being afraid of loud noises, tall men, fast movements. I DO know that's she's afraid of her crate; probably because she was crated in a small wooden crate for the majority of the day at the track. I DO know that she didn't get any of her routine shots or was spayed until after she retired. Other than that, I can only speculate what her life was like for almost 3 years.
- I get a lot of questions about greyhounds as pets, too. THEY ARE EXTRAORDINARY PETS! Lulu sleeps most of the day (16hrs+), rarely makes any noise, sheds only a little, and is very polite with house guests and kids. She is very mild-mannered and only needs one good walk a day. She does chase some things, but her chase-drive has substantially subsided.

So, you should read these Journal Sentinel news stories popping up about Dairyland closing:
October 20: State Probing Death of 6 Dairyland Dogs
October 11: Dog Groups Expect a Glut of Greyhounds
October 10: Dairyland Greyhound Park May Close for Good
Here's a story from the Kenosha News:
October 9: Dairyland Considers Closing in 2010