A recent letter from a group of West Virginia legislators to the two U.S. senators from that state illustrates (again) the gaping inconsistency between the ways dogracing and horseracing are perceived, spoken of, and treated in this country.
The letter asks the two senators to support the “Greyhound Protection Act,” which, as I wrote in March, would not only ban racing here but also gambling by Americans on foreign races and prohibit the export of our dogs for racing elsewhere. (Obviously, we support the Act.) Here are some excerpts, and in case you were wondering, all signers/recipients are members of the same party, so not partisan at all.
“Live racing continues here only because state law requires our casinos to host it…. [S]ubsidy outlays remain in the eight figures annually even as live wagering at the tracks continues its long and steady decline. Every dollar that is diverted to greyhound purses is a dollar that does not flow to the state’s general revenue fund, lowering our citizens’ tax burden, paving state roads, or ensuring that local schools stay open.
“This arrangement is fundamentally inconsistent with the conservative principles we all share. State law compels private casino operators to host a line of business that loses money and then directs public revenue to subsidize that same line of business because the market on its own will no longer support it. Free enterprise does not require…statutes that force private companies to run unprofitable operations, or transfer payments that keep a failed industry alive at taxpayer expense.
“Beyond the fiscal and philosophical cost, the welfare record is indefensible. State Racing Commission injury reports document hundreds of injuries at West Virginia tracks every year, including catastrophic fractures and on-track deaths. In 2024 alone, 489 greyhounds were injured, including 162 who broke bones and 13 dogs that died. All so West Virginians can prop up an industry that cannot exist in the free market?
“Your support would not be a vote against West Virginia. It would be a vote to free West Virginia from the last vestige of a cruel and uneconomic practice….”
Needless to say, everything above applies to horseracing, not just in WV but in the vast majority of horseracing states. If anything, the “indefensible welfare record” is worse on the horse end. 13 dead dogs in WV in 2024? Try 67 dead horses that same year. And that’s a two-track-to-two-track comparison. Worse still, surely hundreds more horses who raced in WV in 2024 (and every year) ended up at Canadian or Mexican slaughterhouses at “career’s” end – an issue that does not, and never did, exist in dogracing.
On most social issues, politicians follow the public’s lead. Clearly, dogracing has lost the PR war, and letters like the above are a direct result of that. That is why it’s imperative that we – all of us – continue to educate the masses on horseracing. But not just your neighbors, educate your legislators as well. Could be as simple as an email or filling in a contact form. Tell them, horseracing is dogracing; dogracing is horseracing (please feel free to copy from or link to our site). We did it for dogs; now let’s do the same for horses.
Sharon, the idea of patterning horse racing after Formula 1 auto racing is not surprising in that they think it will attract more money especially gambling revenue into their so-called sport of racing & killing horses. In this cruel and inhumane exploitation of horses, the horses are treated like used cars for the most part anyway.
This Horse Racing League boloney is an absolutely disgusting idea and resembles the idea of “putting lipstick on a pig” in my view. It’s time for horse-killing thugs to be arrested for Animal Cruelty!
There is an international resolve to keep horse racing in operation and the motive is profits from the sale of illicit drugs, buzzers, the filthy gentry who breed horses to keep their farms as a family legacy even if it involves the exploitation of migrant workers, the list of corruptions and immoralities that are acceptable within horseracing proves that the industry belongs to the underworld. Black listings, rapes, murders are not unusual events in contemporary times.
The latest plan to kill even more horses has been announced in a press release dated July 9, 2025 –
Press Release News/The Biz HRL is a new team-based Thoroughbred racing league launching in February 2027.
League aims to turn horse racing into a season-long sport with celebrity and brand-owned stables. “The HRL brings the excitement of teams to follow, dramatic rivalries, high-stakes betting, and a championship.” Greg Maffei, former CEO of Liberty Media, and Skylark Founder Danny Epstien today announced the launch of the HRL (Horse Racing League), a new team-based Thoroughbred racing league debuting in February 2027.
Hosted at three of the most storied venues in the sport — debuting at Santa Anita Park in Los Angeles and picking up at Miami’s Gulfstream Park before the season finale at Keeneland in Lexington — the HRL is positioned to transform horse racing into a season-long team sport where celebrity and brand-owned stables travel across key U.S. markets, competing for points toward a championship title.
The ones who support this league are the persons who don’t need any more money…they need attention…their careers are fading, and they need to break their boredom. Horses guarantee press attention, the high of being in the winner’s circle sure beats sittings in a monster mansion with nothing to do but look at album covers on the walls or sports trophies behind encased in glass.
As a greyhound lover I completely agree. Today about 50% of households own a dog, whereas about 1.5% own a horse. So perhaps due to familiarity, people tend to feel more empathy and thus have taken action (except WV) to nearly ban greyhound racing on a national level. I believe the progress on this front is largely due to a high level of public empathy and affinity for dogs, rather than strictly economic losses. Unfortunately there is an empathy deficit in the nation at large when it comes to racehorses. With ownership numbers today relatively low, horses don’t have the benefit of a high volume of human interaction like dogs do, so the affinity is less. Still, everyone understands broken bones, whips, etc. Perhaps we can use the progress in dog racing as a model, and have hope that one day, with enough work, racing of all kinds will be totally banned.
To what degree is the public aware? To what degree does the public care? These are the two variables. HW is doing everything it can to increase the awareness factor so that caring people, even if they have never been in the presence of a horse, can feel moved to end this nightmare.