As a member of the Greyhound Racing Task Force...

...established by the Arizona Department of Racing in 2004, I had the opportunity to tour part of the kennel compound at Tucson Greyhound Park in 2006. When I walked into the entry of the first kennel, I was overwhelmed by the foul stench of 4D meat. The kennel itself, a small, dimly lit room housing approximately 40 to 50 greyhounds, who were muzzled in cages stacked one on top of the other.

As the editor of Greyhound Network News, an international newsletter on the worldwide dog racing industry, I have reported on the deadly consequences of 4D meat. In a letter to the editor, one reader described her firsthand experience with 4D: “I began fostering a white and fawn brindle male greyhound named Neosha Tiger, who had run his last race three days earlier. He was a sweet, happy dog; however, his time with me was short.

Three days later Tiger was dead; he bled to death on my kitchen floor of a massive intestinal bleed. As a registered nurse, I knew there was nothing I could do to save him. All I could do was hold his head and look into those terrified brown eyes until it was over. The necropsy revealed a totally necrotic (dead) bowel. Tissue samples sent to the University of Kentucky came back as enteral toxemia, consistent with the clostridium bacteria – probable source of infection: contaminated meat.”

The dog protection initiative will provide Tucson Greyhound Park’s greyhound population with healthier food, more time out of their cramped cages and eliminate harmful anabolic steroids. Not too much to ask for dogs who give their lives for the racing industry.