About Massachusetts Ballot Question 3

Massachusetts Question 3 Ballot Language: "The Greyhound Protection Act" would "prohibit in Massachusetts any dog racing meeting where any form of betting or wagering on the speed or ability of dogs occurs."

What is The Massachusetts Animal Interest Coalition?

Opposed to Massachusetts Question 3, the Massachusetts Animal Interest Coalition represents the interests of racing greyhounds, one thousand working families that rely on jobs in the Massachusetts greyhound racing industry, and dog owners under the state-regulated stewardship of Wonderland and Raynham-Taunton tracks who are opposed to its passage on the November 4 ballot.

Why oppose Massachusetts Question 3? And why is it on the ballot?

This site was created to tell the truth about Massachusetts Question 3 and the real consequences if it is passed. The backers of Massachusetts Question 3 are part of a fundraising machine that moves from state to state, puts initiatives and referenda on the ballot, enlists local support and raises money. This season they are in Massachusetts.

Today Grey2K and their extremist allies at the Humane Society of the United States are engaged in a crusade of distortion and misinformation designed to trick voters into destroying the livelihood of more than 1000 hard-working people who make their living because of Massachusetts greyhound tracks.

The facts about Massachusetts Question 3 and Massachusetts greyhound racing

The law requires that every racing injury, even relatively minor ones, be reported to the Massachusetts Racing Commission.

According to the commission's official records, in the six years that these records were kept from 2002 to 2007, in 465,176 greyhound starts at Massachusetts tracks the official injury rate was far less than 1 percent (0.15 percent, to be exact). That means that for every 1,000 greyhounds that raced, 999 finished healthy and totally uninjured.

To ensure the welfare of all dogs in Massachusetts, racing greyhounds are under the constant supervision of the state police and the Massachusetts Racing Commission, and under the care of state-certified veterinarians. As a result of their dedicated and faithful oversight, there has never been one documented case of animal abuse at any licensed track in Massachusetts. It is a violation of Massachusetts racing regulations to euthanize a healthy racing greyhound, and the industry has a 100% placement rate for putting retired racers into adoptive homes.

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals believes that euthanasia is the only humane course of action for some of these animals. The instances for racing greyhounds under the care of Massachusetts licensed dog tracks are incredibly rare. The Racing Commission reports that of 2066 racing greyhounds at Massachusetts licensed dog tracks in 2007, 15 dogs - slightly more than 1% - perished: 8 Massachusetts racers were euthanized, one for cancer; and 7 died of other causes, at least one while under anaesthesia.