ASPCA Grants $25,000 to GREY2K USA Education Fund

NEW YORK--The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced a grant of $25,000 to GREY2K USA, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting greyhounds nationwide. The grant funding will be used to raise awareness about the inherent cruelty of commercial dog racing and document numerous aspects of the industry through research.

Racing dogs endure lives of near constant confinement, stacked in double-decker cages inside warehouse-style kennels for an average of 20 hours per day. They are fed raw meat from diseased animals to reduce costs and exposed to extreme weather conditions; several greyhounds have died while being hauled long distances between racetracks or from inexcusable neglect.

"Every year, thousands of young and healthy greyhounds are seriously injured or killed at commercial racetracks," said Ann Church, senior director of ASPCA Government Relations. "The ASPCA recognizes the significance of GREY2K USA's work and thanks to their research, the entire animal welfare community has the factual information needed to fight the racing industry's often misleading claims."

Formed in 2001, the GREY2K USA Education Fund works nationwide to promote the adoption of former racing greyhounds and to educate the public about the cruelty of dog racing.

"We are grateful to the ASPCA for their continued support," said GREY2K USA Education Fund president and general counsel Christine A. Dorchak. "These funds will help us conduct new research and continue to monitor the industry so that we can better educate the public about the cruelty and neglect racing dogs experience."

Across the country, greyhound racing has been declining for the past two decades due to competition from other forms of gambling, as well as an increasingly informed public that refuses to support such an inhumane industry. Recently, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire passed legislation brought by GREY2K USA to prohibit dog racing. In the last decade, dog racing has been cut in half. As of 2001, there were 15 states with 48 operational tracks, and now there are just 23 commercial race tracks in seven states.

"Greyhound racing is a dying industry nationwide," added Church. "It's not profitable and it's not entertaining when you know these dogs are suffering."

This is the second year the ASPCA has granted funds to the GREY2K USA Education Fund. In October 2010, the two groups released a report [PDF] detailing the inhumane conditions and weak financial viability of greyhound racing in Iowa. The report documented more than 500 serious greyhound injuries at Iowa's two racetracks since 2006, as well as dogs confined in rows of stacked cages for 19 to 21 hours per day.

For more information about the ASPCA's work to end greyhound racing, please visit www.aspca.org.