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Florida racing survey
Kim Sanzone Ireland (Verified User) Posts 446 Dogs 6 / Races 0 28 Mar 2018 22:25
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Hi everyone,
Could I ask you all to click on the link below and complete the survey? As you may be aware there is a proposal to ban racing in Florida and this survey is trying to gauge public opinion. There are only 3 questions to answer and pro racers should respond with the bottom selection for the first two questions and the top selection for the third - there is no requirement to leave personal details so vote as many times as you can so that we can show that the public want racing to remain - it literally takes seconds to do.
Charles W Mizzi Australia (Verified User) Posts 684 Dogs 1 / Races 1 28 Mar 2018 22:39
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Done
Bruce Teague Australia (Verified User) Posts 2092 Dogs 0 / Races 0 29 Mar 2018 02:39
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Kim,
Very poorly worded questions. Especially for a non-USA, non-lawyer.
Kim Sanzone Ireland (Verified User) Posts 446 Dogs 6 / Races 0 29 Mar 2018 07:28
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I agree Bruce - have to admit I didn't understand the third question but asked an American friend who explained it to me like this: Constitutional means we cannot fix it util 20 years from now. Legislative means we can vote the idiots out and try to fix with the next group of politicians. So that's why I hinted above on the way to answer the questions or Q1)B Q2)C Q3)A if that helps x
Bruce Teague Australia (Verified User) Posts 2092 Dogs 0 / Races 0 29 Mar 2018 23:41
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Kim,
OK, I think. However, I worry about whoever organised such suggestions in the first place - clearly not professional.
So I will look further and see what I can do. In round terms I have kept an eye on Florida for some time as it is of huge importance to the code in USA, and therefore in the world.
One of the difficulties here is that we are essentially dealing with casino operators, not greyhound folk, in a country which has peculiar attitudes to betting.
Kim Sanzone Ireland (Verified User) Posts 446 Dogs 6 / Races 0 30 Mar 2018 07:50
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Worse still Bruce is that they are now attempting to group Prop67 with a ban on vaping in public spaces and a ban on offshore drilling - both the latter are looking like receiving the go ahead so by adding Prop67 it is likely to go through. This would be incredibly unjust and makes a mockery of those opposed to the ban.
Bruce Teague Australia (Verified User) Posts 2092 Dogs 0 / Races 0 01 Apr 2018 04:08
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Yes Kim, I note all that.
I have reviewed what is available, which means mostly newspapers. I also went thru a lot of stuff a couple of years ago when the same questions came up (in Mass.)
To me there are three missing elements. I can see no comprehensive attack or rebuttal from the industry presenting all the facts and arguing a good case. Perhaps if that existed, I could support it.
Second, The American system is a hotchpotch of clubs, casinos and associations embracing different rules, controls and practice. It is hard to define "what is greyhound racing". Part of that problem is that from a licensing viewpoint it is essentially a gambling deal and not a racing deal.
Third, I have seen great stories advanced by some trainers and enthusiasts but also a great many about rogues. The recent topsy turvy drug handling in Florida is also confusing. Repeat cocaine offences is too silly for words. In the end, the industry will only have itself to blame if it gets rolled.
Anyway, I doubt international submissions would get much of a run in the political process, but it won't get one from me when I know only half the story.
Grey2k won in Boston simply because they enlisted votes from people who had no real knowledge of racing but just did not like the appearance and the use of the dog. They were not anti-racing or pro-racing but just people who had a rough impression of something that seemed nasty. The track owner pointed out that the track injury rate was lower than in Boston kindergartens but it did him no good. I think the voting was something like 55/45.
Basically, it is a PR exercise. If you don't get in first, you lose.
Incidentally, I wish someone would pull up these guys saying that x number of states have banned racing. That's a lie. They just have not legalised betting on races.
Some very good points Bruce and I shall pass those on if I may. I do believe that the FGA are trying to change things - including public perception - and welfare is paramount to the people involved in the sport. Sadly, as anywhere, there will always be a few bad apples but they are a tiny minority and despised just as much by the genuine greyhound racing folk as they are by the antis.
I would hate for people to choose to ban the sport because they are misinformed so it would be great if those involved in the USA could respond and reassure anyone concerned x
Just so everyone understands the way racing works here. There are no "right to race" laws in the US. An individual owner can't race his greyhounds at the local track under his own brand. He must lease his greyhounds to a kennel entity that has a CONTRACT to race at the track---wherever it happens to be. Because the kennels are bound by contract to provide a stipulated number of dogs at all times, who are actively racing, the kennels have no real power, as the contract can be revoked at the whim of the state or track. The president of the Florida Greyhound Association lost his contract at the track in Naples, simply because of his activities on behalf of racing.
The real issue in Florida is that the racetracks want to become full-menu casinos. They have tried to get rid of racing by not promoting it, by slacking on track maintenance so that more injuries are reported and publicized by our friends at Grey2k, and by legislative mandate, which would have de-coupled the purses from the casino revenues. They were only able to backdoor-in their casino privileges, because they ere already licensed for pari-mutual wagering, and to circumvent the usual process that would grant them rights to present casino-style wagering, they agreed to a revenue sharing plan with the kennels. This mandated that a small percentage of the casino revenues would fortify the greyhound purses, which they knew would be affected once casino wagering was brought in. Now they want to renege on that agreement.
They cannot, by law, conduct casino wagering unless it is concurrent with live racing---they are bound to present a certain number of live racing performances each year, to maintain their casino rights.
The poll that has been brought up here, was conceived for reasons other than simply gauging the results---and that is all I can say about that right now.
I should mention that this latest scam, to make greyhound racing a constitutional issue, is an abuse of the constitutional process, and I believe would be be stopped by any court, if a lawsuit were filed.
Bruce Teague Australia (Verified User) Posts 2092 Dogs 0 / Races 0 01 Apr 2018 21:59
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Yes, Dennis, essentially we are saying the same thing.
Unfortunately, the core of the problem is that - as in Australia - the breed and racing attract far too little support amongst the general public. We get away with that here only because greyhounds offer almost as many races as the gallops and trots combined. And because most of that racing is produced by small or hobby trainers who have community links.
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