Mission
The mission of the American Greyhound Council is to ensure the health, welfare and safety of racing Greyhounds from the farm through retirement. The mission is accomplished through programs financed and administered by the Council itself, and through grants to outside organizations, agencies and universities.
Funding
The AGC is funded through a deduction from the purses paid to winning Greyhound owners after each race, and matched by participating track owners. In this way, Greyhound owners (NGA) and track operators (AGTOA) share the cost of the program.
Programs
As part of its mission to ensure proper animal welfare in the Greyhound racing industry, the AGC administers and supports a number of important programs, including:
The Greyhound Form Inspection Program
A rigorous inspection program to ensure that Greyhound farms operate in compliance with established veterinary standards for proper animal care, housing, exercise, nutrition, sanitation,transport and management.
The Greyhound Adoption Program
An aggressive, multi-faceted program to promote adoption of retired Greyhounds as pets and therapy dogs.
The Greyhound Industry Education Program
A progressive program to educate owners, trainers and others about the special needs of racing Greyhounds, and proper care and training techniques.
The Greyhound Research Program
A comprehensive program of research grants to explore various areas of Greyhound
health, welfare and safety.
Greyhounds as Pets
1. Do Greyhounds make good pets?
Greyhounds make terrific pets because they are gentle, tolerant and accustomed to human handling. Because they relate so well to humans, most Greyhounds adapt quickly and easily to life with families, including those with small children.
2. Are racing Greyhounds housebroken?
Most adopted Greyhounds are housebroken from the start because, in their kennels, they are "turned out" four or more times daily to relieve themselves. Some may need to be taken outside more frequently at first, but they will adapt quickly to the schedule established in their new home.
3. How big do Greyhounds get?
Most Greyhound males stand 26 to 30 inches tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 65 and 85 pounds. Females stand 23 to 26 inches tall at the shoulder, and weigh 50 to 65 pounds. Although the average Greyhound consumes up to two pounds of food per day, they burn off excess weight when they run, so are naturally thin and carry little body fat.
4. Why do Greyhounds wear muzzles while racing?
Greyhounds wear muzzles while racing to identify themselves so racing officials can determine the outcome of a photo finish race, and to protect them from injuring themselves or one another during the excitement of the chase. They do not need to be muzzled in a home environment, since they are gentle and docile by nature.
5. What type of environment do Greyhounds require?
Because Greyhounds have little body fat and a thin coat, they are not suited to live outdoors in extremely cold weather. They prefer temperature-controlled environments and soft beds where they can feel safe and protected.
6. Should Greyhounds be kept on a leash?
Greyhounds love to run, but a leash assures them protection from injury. Without a leash, they might run straight into traffic or hurt themselves in other ways. Because they are accustomed to being walked and exercised on a leash, Greyhounds adapt well to this safety measure. In most communities, local ordinances require that dogs be kept on a leash when outdoors.
7. Are all Greyhounds gray?
Greyhounds range in color from fawn to black, and almost anything in between. The word "Greyhound" is derived not from the animal's color but from its history. The ancient Greeks may have called them "greekhounds," or may have named them "gazehounds" since they relied on sight rather than smell in hunting. The name may also have been derived from the Latin "gradus" meaning degree, which related to the care exercised in breeding these aristocratic animals.
8. Can Greyhounds become "working companions" to disabled persons?
The American Greyhound Council has provided grant support to Canine Working Companions, Inc. of Waterville, New York, to research whether Greyhounds could be trained to assist physically and mentally challenged individuals, or to provide therapy. The research showed that some Greyhounds may be suitable as assistants for disabled persons, and most make excellent therapy dogs, especially for senior citizens. They are gentle, of a comfortable size for nursing homes, don't shed, and adapt well to warm settings. They also adapt well to different and varied handlers.
9. How does one go about adopting a Greyhound?
The American Greyhound Council funds a national telephone hot line, 1-800-366-1472 to provide information on Greyhound adoption. The hotline is staffed by volunteers from Greyhound Pets of America (GPA), the nation's largest independent Greyhound adoption organization. For more information, contact GPA at www.Greyhoundpets.org.
10. How many Greyhounds are adopted each year?
About 18,000 Greyhounds were adopted in 2000. Currently, more than 80,000 Greyhounds are enjoying their retirement in adoptive homes across America.
11. How many Greyhounds are registered each year?
For More information click here.
Registrations stablizing
A decade-long slide in breedings has begun to level off, with 34,141 pups whelped in 2000.
Part of the reason for the major decline in the Nineties is attributed to a call by the National Greyhound Association (NGA) and the American Greyhound Council, Inc. (AGC) in 1992 to reduce the number of Greyhounds bred and to concentrate on quality, not quantity. Total number of pups whelped has declined by more than a third-about--36 percent--since the beginning of the 1990s.
The number of Greyhound adoptions remains at about 18,000 each year. This estimate is based on previous estimates several years ago by an independent agency, the steadiness in the number of adoption agencies in existence since that time (still at about 240), and adoption data received from numerous adoption groups.
The latest statistics indicate that more than 90 percent of all Greyhounds registered are ultimately being retired back to farms for breeding purposes or are being placed in homes as pets upon retiring from racing.
NGA statistics also show that 26,464 pups (approximately 80 percent of the total pups whelped) were individually registered in 2000--a registration procedure that generally occurs when pups have reached "track-age", or are about 14-17 months old.
Much credit, according to Gary Guccione, NGA executive director and AGC coordinator, goes to the many placement agencies who give countless hours, working with personnel in racing--owners, breeders, trainers and track officials--to facilitate the huge number of pet adoptions. Since 1990, it's estimated that more than 152,000 Greyhounds have been adopted as pets into homes. The current Greyhound pet population in the United States and Canada likely exceeds 80,000, according to Guccione, making the Greyhound pet an increasingly popular and recognizable phenomenon on the American social scene.
The American Greyhound Council makes a direct contribution to the number of Greyhounds placed, annually allocating up to $40,000 for grants to qualifying pet adoption groups. A sizeable portion of the fund has been provided by the AGTOA through its Night Of Stars racing program.
Racetracks, in addition to their financial support of the Council, contribute more than $1 million annually to local Greyhound adoption efforts. More than $10 million has been spent by the tracks in the last seven years to support local adoption programs.
The 2000 statistics were compiled from NGA registration information (including the official number of pups whelped, litter-registered and individually registered with NGA registry each year). Factored in also were natural attrition rates and retirement of racers back to farms for breeding purposes. NGA statistics show litter size in 2000 to have been 6.52, consistent with litter size averages of recent years.
ELEVEN-YEAR TOTALS
Year Litters Whelped Pups Whelped Pups Per Litter Adoption
1990 52,000 3,500
1991 52,000 7,000
1992 49,000 9,000
1993 43,086 13,000
1994 42,119 14,000
1995 5,751 37,650 6.55 16,000
1996 5,435 36,688 6.75 18,000
1997 5,419 35,730 6.47 18,000
1998 5,533 35,801 6.47 18,000
1999 5,104 33,256 6.52 18,000
2000 5,234 34,141 6.52 18,000
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From the Farm to Retirement
Greyhound breeders and track operators have made a conscientious commitment to the highest standards of animal care from the farm to the track, and later, to retirement. Humane care is the right thing to do for the animal, but it also makes good business sense. Anything less than first-rate animal care will make it impossible for racing Greyhounds to reach their full natural potential as competitors.
The American Greyhound Council: Ensuring Greyhound Health, Welfare and Safety
The American Greyhound Council (AGC) was established in 1987 to manage the Greyhound
racing industry's various animal welfare programs. They include:
* The Animal Welfare Guidelines Program
Working with the National Greyhound Association (NGA), the official Greyhound
registry in the U.S., the AGC has adopted standard guidelines for the care of
Greyhounds and the maintenance of kennel facilities. The guidelines are based
on "The Care of the Racing Greyhound," a veterinary textbook viewed
worldwide as the definitive reference on Greyhound care. The AGC funded publication
of the text, which was written by independent veterinary experts.
* The Farm Inspection Program
Each year, the nation's 1,500 Greyhound breeding farms and kennels are subject
to unannounced inspections to verify compliance with the industry's animal welfare
guidelines. Violators are subject to warnings, probation or lifetime expulsion
from the sport.
* The Artificial Lure Training Program
The AGC led the way in developing artificial lure training methods to replace
the use of live lures in Greyhound training. Today all racing states have laws
that prohibit the use of live lures in training. Racing regulators in each state
have passed rules requiring that competing Greyhounds be trained exclusively
on artificial lures.
Greyhound Adoption: A Remarkable Success Story
Thanks to the combined efforts of breeders, track operators and community volunteers, more than 80,000 retired Greyhounds have found permanent homes with loving families. The AGC and member tracks have developed several programs to support and promote Greyhound adoption:
* The AGC Adoption Grant Program
Over the past ten years, the AGC has awarded more than $450,000 in grants to
various local and national adoption groups.
* The GPA Adoption Hotline
The AGC funds a toll-free national hotline for Greyhound Pets of America, the
nation's largest independent adoption group. The hotline answers inquiries and
refers interested parties to local Greyhound adoption resources.
* Track-Based Adoption Programs
Every Greyhound track in the U.S. either operates its own in-house adoption
program or provides financial support for local adoption groups. Track operators
have invested more than $7 million over the past five years in such efforts-$1million
in 2000 alone. These funds are in addition to AGC grants.
* Greyhound Working Companion Program
For the past three years, retired Greyhounds have been placed in canine working
companion programs, where they are taught to serve as assistants to elderly
or physically handicapped individuals. Because Greyhounds are gentle by nature
and accustomed to handling by humans, many are particularly suited to such service.
AGC discourages use of Greyhounds in biomedical research
A resolution discouraging the use of Greyhounds for biomedical research was
unanimously approved by the American Greyhound Council, Inc. (AGC) at its annual
meeting in mid-March.
The AGC, founded in 1987, is a joint effort of the American Greyhound Track Operators Association (AGTOA) and the National Greyhound Association, aimed at protecting the welfare of racing Greyhounds and addressing industry humane issues.
The meeting was held in conjunction with AGTOA's annual conference in Las Vegas.
The resolution, in its entirety, reads:
"WHEREAS, the Greyhound is an ancient and noble canine breed with unique and remarkable qualities and capabilities, and
WHEREAS, those who own, raise and train Greyhound dogs have a compelling ethical obligation to ensure the welfare of their dogs at every stage of the animals' lives from birth to death; and
WHEREAS, the indiscriminate or wholesale use of Greyhound dogs for veterinary biomedical research purposes is inappropriate and unnecessary when other animals specifically bred for such purposes are readily available;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the American Greyhound Council (AGC) that the organization adopts the following policy:
1) AGC strongly discourages the use of Greyhound dogs for biomedical research purposes;
2) urges all Greyhound owners to refrain from authorizing the use of their animals for such purposes when adoption and other, more humane alternatives, are available; and
3) recommends that all members of NGA and AGTOA be notified of this policy as soon as possible.
The resolution was prompted in part by a report earlier in the year that as many as 900 Greyhounds had been obtained by Colorado State University in the course of a recent 12-month period. According to a department head at the university, only about half of the Greyhounds had been used for research, while the remainder had been humanely euthanized.
Colorado breeders will be sent a copy of the resolution and be urged to fully utilize the services of creditable adoption programs whenever possible. In addition, AGC will also advise CSU of the resolution and urge restraint in gathering former racers from the Greyhound community.
As another step, track operators in Colorado will be encouraged to adopt contract clauses (or enforce those already in existence) that prohibit former racers from their tracks from being turned over to research programs. Similar language is already in place in kennel contracts at a number of racetracks, including those at Phoenix and Apache Junction. Mile High officials advised the Council that such language is already in place in Mile High, Interstate and Pueblo contracts, and that effort will be made to have it emphasized.
In other action, the AGC approved the continuation of a number of programs
it has fostered in recent years, including: the funding of the industry's inspection
program through the NGA (which again last year conducted more than 700 inspections);
a grants program to financially assist qualifying adoption agencies; funding
for Greyhound Pets of America's 800-number; sponsorship of the annual international
canine sports medicine veterinary symposium in Florida; publication of the bi-annual
Greyhound Research Database, and maintenance of the AGC's Web-page.
Two-Year-Old Racing
Factors to Consider Before Racing Your Two-Year-Old
By Laura Grubb
It's two-year-old time - when owners of two-year-olds must begin to take stock of their youngsters, decide whether or not to race them at two, and, if so, decide what time of the year for them to make their first start.
Racing two-year-olds has always been a controversial issue. Many believe that racing young horses leads to injuries, breakdowns, and may be one reason why we currently are facing a shortage of horses. The loss of such young stars as Holy Bull, Thunder Gulch, Brocco, Hennessy, and Cavonnier, all of whom competed as two-year-olds only to suffer career-ending injuries at three, is one reason advanced to de-emphasize two-year-old racing. 1996 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Alphabet Soup, who was purposefully not raced at two and now looks forward to his six-year-old season, illustrates the rewards possible for patient owners.
However, as long as American racing richly rewards its three-year-olds through the Kentucky Derby, Triple Crown series, and other lucrative races limited to three-year-olds, proving grounds for two-year-olds will continue to exist. The substantial purse money offered in two-year-old stakes is also tempting to owners of precocious juveniles.
Owners should be encouraged to be prudent in their approach to two-year-old racing, to make educated decisions, and always make the well being of their horse the first priority.
Should you Race your Two-Year-Old?
For those owners having horses capable of running at two, starting them as a two-year-old obviously allows a quicker financial return. However, racing one's two-year-olds may be economically short sighted for owners who race juveniles incapable of withstanding the rigors of training and racing. Injuries and breakdowns can occur when young horses are pressured to perform, sometimes jeopardizing their ability to run successfully in later years. For the owner, that not only brings disappointment, but vet bills, long layoffs, and the need to start all over again with the costs attendant to that.
Owners should consider some of the following factors before making the decision to race his or her juveniles.
Physical Development - Is your two-year-old ready to withstand the rigors of racing? Is most of its growth process completed, as indicated through the x-raying of its knees to see if the growth plates are closed? Does it have a big heavy body type that needs more time to develop in order to prevent unsoundness caused by the concussive forces of training? Or does it possess a light body type, with good hindquarters conducive to the sprints of two-year-old races? If no, be patient and think long term. If you are unsure about whether your horse is ready to race as a two-year-old, ask your trainer or veterinarian.
Mental Development - Like people, horses mature at different rates. A two-year-old that you are contemplating running should be an alert, quick, and nimble horse. Typically, lazier horses are slower thinkers, and do not have the mental capabilities to do well at two. It's in your horse's best interests to run when it is mentally ready. Yours too. Once again, consult your trainer on your horse's mental ability to withstand the pressures of racing.
Pedigree - Is your horse bred to go a distance? If so, it may be better to wait and properly develop him than to run in the two-furlong races offered during the spring. However, some horses are bred to excel at two, as certain sire lines are known for producing two-year-old runners. These precocious individuals (early developers both mentally and physically) may perform well at two without negatively impacting their ability to race as a three-year-old.
What Time of the Year Should Your Two-Year-Old Make Its First Start?
Let's assume that you have considered the above factors, and have determined that your horse is capable of starting as a two-year-old. Once again, use caution in determining when to make your horse's first start. Also, remember that in California, a horse must actually have reached its second birth date* before it can enter into a race.
Springtime Advantages
Softer (less competitive) fields may occur earlier in the year, as some owners
elect to give their valuable racing stock more time to develop
before racing. Also, purses may be higher in the springtime than in the fall,
especially in Southern California. Weather is also a factor, as the drier racetracks
of the spring and summer are more conducive to conditioning young stock. Training
babies in the mud is not considered to be a good practice, as it places too
much stress on their young bodies.
For owners fortunate enough to possess a precocious two-year-old, many opportunities usually exist to sell two-year-olds who have displayed ability at the track, whether through promising training (fast morning works), or good racing performance.
Advantages of Waiting Until Later in the Year
The primary advantage of waiting until later in the year to run your two-year-old, if you do decide to race it during its juvenile year, is the extra time allowed for your horse to develop both mentally and physically. Horses mature significantly between the spring and the fall. Patient owners who are willing to wait may reap economic rewards by having a horse who can start a few times later in its two-year-old year, and then be fresh for its three-year-old campaign. Few horses possess the ability to show brilliance early in their two-year-old year, and then continue to stay sound for their three and four-year-old years.
Handling Horses Purchased at Two-Year-Old Sales
Some owners may purchase horses at the upcoming two-year-old auctions with the intent of immediately pointing them to a race. However, remember that many of these young horses have been in training for six months prior to the sale, have been pressured to perform on "preview" day, and are in need of a rest. Also, understand that many of these horses have only been asked to breeze an eighth of a mile during the sale' preview, and are not prepared to go further. Realize that sales can be very stressful on young horses, and that many need to be turned out in order to recuperate, both physically and mentally. Once again, think long term.
Patience is a Virtue
Purses offered for two-year-old races this spring are mighty tempting to an owner, especially as he or she writes the monthly support check. However, use good judgment and think of your horse's best interests in the long run. Is your colt or filly ready to face the challenges of racing at two? Consider the above-mentioned factors carefully, or consult your trusted advisors, before making your decision, and always put the interests of your horse before your own. More often than not, such responsible thinking will reward you. Remember Alphabet Soup!
* All Thoroughbreds turn a year older on January 1st. However, in order to compete in a two-year-old race, a horse must have reached its second actual birth date. For example, a horse born on March 16, 1995 would not be eligible to enter into a race until March 16,1997.