It is difficult to understand why the Herald supports an industry that is not only cruel and inhumane, but dying. Even track owners

admit that dog racing cannot continue without handouts.

Question 3, the Greyhound Protection Act, would phase out greyhound racing in Massachusetts by 2010 and save thousands of dogs from needless suffering for the purposes of entertainment.

For decades, the state’s two greyhound tracks, Raynham and Wonderland, were able to hide the facts about the cruelty of greyhound racing. That changed in 2001, when the Legislature passed a sunshine law requiring tracks to begin reporting on the number and types of injuries suffered by racing dogs. Those reports, signed under the pains and penalties of perjury, reveal that since 2002 more than 800 greyhounds have been injured while racing in Massachusetts.

Some 80 percent of reported injuries are broken legs that sideline many of the dogs for months, if not ending their racing careers, and not minor scrapes as the tracks would have you believe. Additional injuries include paralysis, seizures, death by cardiac arrest and head trauma. In fact, a racing greyhound is injured every three to four days in Massachusetts. Claims from the tracks that this number is not significant ignore the likelihood of individual greyhounds being injured during their “careers.” The tracks emphasize “starts” to try to minimize the injury rate – showing again that the dogs are more racing units than individuals to them.

Track owners say that the dogs are treated well. Yet according to photos taken at the Wonderland Kennel Compound, racing greyhounds are warehoused in small, stacked cages, barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around. The standard size of a greyhound cage, set by the Massachusetts State Racing Commission, is 34 inches high by 32 inches wide. A large greyhound, standing 30 inches at the shoulder, cannot fully raise its head while standing in its cage. These cage sizes were not approved by the MSPCA, as the tracks have claimed.

Additionally, the dogs are caged for up to 20 hours a day in these tiny cages. Would you treat your dog this way?

Dogs are social animals. They require interaction with other dogs and people. They require love and attention, freedom to move and the ability to explore their surroundings and play. In short, a dog needs to be a dog, not a racing machine.

The Herald has its own history of tough reporting on the racing industry. For example:

In the spring of 2005, the Herald published several stories on the failure of the local dog tracks to react promptly to a mysterious and deadly epidemic. Insisting that the illness was a mild kennel cough, 19 dogs died in their cages before a quarantine was issued.

In December 2005, the Herald reported the racing commission’s resistance to making information about dog track conditions public.

In the face of this reporting history, it is difficult to understand why the Herald supports an industry that is not only cruel and inhumane, but dying. Gambling declined by 65 percent at Wonderland and 37 percent at Raynham from 2002-2007. The tracks’ claims that they pay hefty tax dollars to the state are overshadowed by the foreclosure proceedings that were begun against Wonderland for failure to pay over $800,000 in taxes. Even track owners admit that dog racing cannot continue without further handouts. However while they linger, thousands of dogs will continue to lead miserable existences, caged and put at risk of serious injury.

I believe that Massachusetts is better than that. This industry is a stain on the reputation of our decent and compassionate state. Please join the MSPCA, the Humane Society of the United States, dozens of lawmakers, every major animal shelter and more than 60 local veterinarians. We are voting for the dogs on Nov. 4. We are voting Yes on Question 3.