The South Tucson Dog Protection Act is a very common sense approach to assuring all dogs are treated in a fair and humane way

I ask that you vote YES for passage of the initiative.

There has been considerable positive media attention surround he Tucson Dog Protection Act. However, some still may ask, “why have this ballot initiative?” Below is some information that may help you understand the importance of passage of this initiative.

Over 99 veterinarians and 17 certified veterinarian techs support eh imitative. Because it:
1. Stops keeping Greyhounds, or any dog for that matter, in cages more than 18 hours a day per day unless deemed medically necessary by a vet.
2. Stops feeding uncooked or raw diseased, dying or disabled meat that is detrimental to the health of the dog and the workers.
3. Stops the use of anabolic steroids to enhance performance.

A logical question might be: “so the current practices are dangerous, unhealthy and abusive; what about the economic impact?” First, the proposed legislation could possibly create additional employment opportunities for people to help turnout the dogs for exercise, cook the raw meat and keep male and female dogs separate while females are in heat. Thereby a win-win-win. The dogs are better treated, additional jobs could be created and the City of south Tucson increases its revenues.

A second question might be: “but what about a negative financial impact on Tucson Greyhound Park?” You will find these numbers interesting. It has been reported, based on information from the Arizona Department of Racing’s Annual Reports; from 19967 to 2007 the total track revenues after winnings returned to the public, has been almost $60 million dollars. That averages out to more than $5 million dollars per year. (See the ADOR Annual Reports for specific totals). Most of this money leaves the City of South Tucson and the State of Arizona. The taxes paid to the State since 1996 have been ZERO DOLLARS per year.

A few dollars of the nearly $60 Million Track Revenues could easily be spent to meet the simple requirement of the Tucson Dog Protection initiative and have little negative financial impact on TGP and a lot of positive impact for the dogs and the City of South Tucson and State of Arizona.