Opponents of greyhound racing in West Virginia said they will introduce a bill that would decouple gambling from dog racing at the state’s two tracks in Charleston and Wheeling. Complicating the issue, however, is the fact that Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s mother, Freda Tomblin, is one of the top greyhound breeders in the state. Most assume the governor will work against the legislation.
Lawmakers legalized slots at the state’s dog and horse racetracks in the 1990s to help the struggling racing industry. The casinos were tied to the existing racetracks and gave a portion of their winnings to purses at the tracks. Sam Burdette, head of the West Virginia Greyhound Breeders Association, said, “It was kind of a golden age after that.”
However, the casinos that saved the racing industry now are sabotaging it, as gamblers prefer slots to races; most of the time the dogs run in front of practically empty stands. “People want instant gratification these days. It’ll take you half an hour to lose $50 at a racetrack. You can do it in five minutes sitting in front of a slot machine,” Burdette said.
Danny Adkins, a senior executive of the company that owns the Charleston casino and one in Hollywood, Florida, said of greyhound racing, “I think it’s going to come to an end ultimately. It just seems there is not much interest left.”
Across the nation, trackside and simulcast betting on greyhound racing has plunged from a peak of $3.5 billion in 1991 to $665 million in 2012. Today 21 tracks operate in seven states, down from more than 50 in 15 states. More legislatures are reconsidering decoupling racing from casino gambling, like Iowa, where one of two dog racing tracks will close and casinos will stop paying $14 in annual subsidies to the greyhound industry.
In Florida, where 12 tracks operate mostly in conjunction with poker halls, Adkins said he’ll close the Hollywood track if a decoupling law passes. But he thinks the Charleston, West Virginia track could survive if the racing schedule were limited to the summer months. Under the law, the state’s casinos are required to operate the tracks for 220 days of racing a year.
Animal welfare supporters such as the anti-racing legislation advocacy group GREY2K also are pushing to stop greyhound racing altogether; they succeeded in Massachusetts in 2010. West Virginia greyhound breeders dispute charges of animal cruelty and were outraged when Adkins co-wrote an anti-greyhound-racing op-ed with Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle in March. Later Adkins said he does not consider racing itself to be cruel, but as funds decline, he said he wondered if kennels could still afford to provide the dogs with proper care. “When we were making millions of dollars, the kennels were making millions of dollars. Now I wonder how they’re paying for it,” he said.
But dog racing critics believe casinos are more concerned with their own shrinking bottom line and the costs of operating the tracks. Charleston greyhound breeder Tim Byrnes said Adkins “didn’t think greyhound racing was inhumane when he was making millions from it.”
