I’ve already mentioned why I rescued Greta, but here’s yet another reason: the Tucson Dog Protection Act, a ballot measure designed to improve the lives of dogs in South Tucson and, especially, the 540 greyhounds at Tucson Greyhound Park.
 
The measure establishes that dogs deserve wholesome food and regular exercise, and shouldn’t be given anabolic steroids.
 
It’s common knowledge that track dogs are fed uncooked byproducts that are unfit for human consumption. The U.S. Department of Agriculture declares as unfit for human consumption the meat of diseased, dying, disabled or animals already dead upon arrival at slaughter plants, and the Food and Drug Administration recommends this meat not be fed raw to any animal. FDA studies show high levels of bacteria in this meat, including E. coli and salmonella.

The Tucson Dog Protection Act would require that either the meat be cooked or that better quality food be served.
 
In addition, currently, track dogs are kept in small cages 22 to 23 hours a day for their entire racing careers. The Tucson Dog Protection Act would require that dogs spend no more than 18 hours in a cage.

Regarding steroid use, female greyhounds are routinely given anabolic steroids to prevent heat cycles, which can result in serious physical problems, including urinary tract infections, permanent malformation of dogs’ genitalia and liver problems.

This Act is just one small way to help greyhounds at this track in Tucson. Until greyhound racing is abolished, every little step helps. For more information, click here.

Also, as the economy is in the toilet, tracks from Oregon to Florida to Connecticut are closing, and dog racing proponents now admit that their “game” has become “less and significant and appealing” and is on the verge of collapse.

Over 2,000 volunteers have successfully collected enough signatures to qualify the Greyhound Protection Actfor the November election.  The Greyhound Protection Act will phase out greyhound racing at Wonderland and Raynham Parks by 2010.

Buy a Campaign T-Shirt to Support an End to Dog Racing!
 
 

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When I first brought Greta home, I was told that it’s important to use raised feeders with greyhounds, because that way they don’t have to hunch down to drink/eat, and raised feeders also prevent bloat.

So I bought this.

I noticed two things immediately.

First, Greta would jump every time she had her nose in one of the bowls and it would bang or clank.

Two, she would always cough after she drank water.

So I started researching this mysterious cough, and I found a lot of research regarding “high” and “low” feeding.

According to a 1998 to 2004 Bloat (GVD) Study at Purdue University by Malathi Raghavan, DVM, MS; Lawrence T. Glickman, VMD, DrPH; Nita W.Glickman, MS, MPH; and Diana B. Schellenberg, these four (4) factors ARE associated with an increased risk of bloat in large breed dogs:

  1)Raising the food dish more than doubled the risk for bloat
  2)Speed of eating -Dogs rated by their owners as very fast eaters had a 38% increased risk of bloat
  3)Age: The study found that risk increased by 20% with each year of age. Owners should be more alert to early signs of bloat as their dogs grow older.
  4)Family History: Having a first-degree relative (parent, sibling or offspring) that had bloated increased a dog’s risk by 63%.

The Purdue research team concluded these are the things you can do to prevent bloat, including:

  1)Do not raise the feeding dish.
  2)Slow the dog’s speed of eating.

In case you hadn’t guessed, Greta now eats and drinks from bowls placed directly on the floor, and she hasn’t coughed since the switch.

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