This Tuesday, people registered in Massachusetts will decide weather commercial dog racing will continue in the state by voting on Question 3.
If the initiative passes, "the State Racing Commission would be prohibited from accepting or approving any application or request for racing dates for dog racing," according to the state secretary's Web site.
A "Yes" vote would prohibit dog racing where gambling is involved, starting Jan. 1, 2009, and a "No" vote would make no changes to the current laws, which allow dog racing.
There are two dog racing tracks in Massachusetts: Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere and Raynham Park in Raynham.
The committee that organized Question 3, called the "Committee to Protect Dogs," is supported by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other groups.
The committee believes that dog racing is inhumane because of the conditions the dogs are kept in and the injuries they sometimes sustain in the course of their racing careers.
The Committee to Protect Dogs also cites the failing dog racing industry as a reason the tracks should be shut down. According to its Web site, the total amount gambled at Wonderland and Raynham dropped 65 percent and 37 percent respectively between 2002 and 2007.
Opponents of Question 3, headed by The Massachusetts Animal Interest Coalition, said that there are strict regulations against animal cruelty and injuries to dogs represent less than 1 percent of the dogs raced. The MAIC also contend that there is a 100 percent adoption rate of greyhounds that are retired from racing, a figure disputed by proponents of Question 3.
The MAIC said dog racing employs about 1,000 people, and at a time when the economy is stumbling, cutting those jobs would hurt the state as a whole, as well as those individuals.
More information can be found at The Committees to Protect Dogs' Web site at www.protectdogs.org and the MAIC's Web site at www.protectdogsandjobs.org as well as on the state secretary's Web site http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele. Ben Williams can be reached at bwiliams@dailycollegian.com.
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