According to state reports completed by racetrack veterinarians, nine greyhounds suffered broken legs at Massachusetts dog tracks during the month of May, bringing to 820 the total number of dogs injured since the state began keeping such reports in 2002.
"These broken legs are indisputable evidence of the cruel nature of this industry," said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The Humane Society of the United States. "Dogs should be treated like part of the family, not profit machines at constant risk of suffering a serious injury."
Broken legs comprise nearly eighty percent all greyhound injuries reported to the state each year. Other reported injuries include spinal cord paralysis, death from cardiac arrest and a broken neck.
Last week, supporters of a ballot question to phase out commercial dog racing in the Commonwealth announced that they had collected 45,000 signatures with an all-volunteer effort, more than four times the number needed to place the Greyhound Protection Act on the November ballot. If passed by voters, this humane proposal will phase out commercial greyhound racing by 2010.
More than 2,000 volunteers in every community statewide collected signatures for the Greyhound Protection Act. These signatures have been turned in to local town clerks, who are in the process of validating them. In order for the Greyhound Protection Act to advance, 11,099 certified signatures must be presented to the Secretary of State by July 2 at 5:00 PM.
The Committee to Protect Dogs is a state ballot question committee dedicated to passing stronger dog protection laws in the Commonwealth. Committee co-chairs include representatives of the MSPCA-Angell (http://www.mspca.org), The Humane Society of the United States (http://www.humanesociety.org) and greyhound protection group GREY2K USA (http://www.grey2kusa.org). For more information, call Brian Adams at 617-541-5120 or visit http://www.ProtectDogs.org.
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