Life with Greyhounds

Greyhounds on the Ballot

By Faith Maloney

There's no dog racing or horse racing in Utah, where Best Friends has its home. But just a few miles down the road, in Arizona, it's a big industry.

In last year's November elections in Arizona, Proposition 201 was on the ballot. The dog racing industry wanted to add slot machines to the race tracks in order to boost waning attendance, and was blanketing the state with advertising, especially on our nearby radio stations.

The racing industry sank around $10 million into promoting Prop 201. Their opponents - mainly the humane groups and some anti-gambling church groups - struggled to raise $50,000 to wage a media campaign. But then they found a powerful, and unexpected, new ally. Arizona is home to many Indian tribes that make a tidy living from casino gambling. And in no way did they want to see their establishments threatened by the greyhound racing people luring away their customers with casino gambling.

The small town of Page borders the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona. And the local radio station is heard in communities up and down the Reservation. By the time the votes were tallied, Prop 201 was roundly defeated 80 percent to 20 percent.

Politics makes strange bedfellows. But in this case, it wasn't really that strange. The Indian people have a long tradition of honoring all life, and in this instance, economic and moral issues came together to prevent what would have been really bad news for the Greyhounds themselves.

The Arizona tracks are still there, which means that many Greyhounds still have a miserable life as entertainment for self-absorbed, ignorant people. But the defeat of Prop 201 dealt the tracks a resounding blow. This time the system worked.

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