Since greyhound racing began, there’s always been an issue of what to do with the retired race dogs. Previously, they mostly found homes through a network of breed adoption and other placement groups, but the recent amount of dogs in need of homes has magnified the issue.

At its height in the 1990s, more than 50 greyhound racetracks operated nationwide. The number of tracks offering races has steadily decreased in the past decade, from 46 in 15 states in 2001 to 30 at the start of 2009. This year, no more than 23 tracks in eight states will operate dog races.

Seven dog tracks halted racing across the country last year, forcing hundreds of greyhounds into an uncertain future. The dogs are now flooding the adoption market.

A track in Wisconsin ran its last dog race on New Year’s Eve, and another in Phoenix and one in Massachusetts also ended dog racing last month, bringing the total to seven tracks that ended in 2009. Greyhound advocates estimate that more than 1,000 greyhounds now need new homes.

Because economic hardships are preventing many dog lovers from adopting, or worse, forcing them to give back animals they can no longer afford to keep, it scares away some potential greyhound owners.

Most greyhounds who have spent their lives inside racetracks and kennels with little exposure to families, kids, or even the most basic household activities, are having a hard time adjusting to everyday life, say greyhound lovers. They have never been outside of the racetrack.

At an adopted home, they don’t know what a window is, they don’t know what stairs are. They walk right into windows like they aren’t even there.

It doesn’t help that the economic downturn has made some people hesitant to become dog owners and pushed others to give up their pets because of the costs of caring for them. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that as many as two million pets have been abandoned since the recession began in December 2007.

In Massachusetts, two tracks ended racing last year after voters approved a ballot question sponsored by the group Grey2K, which claimed widespread mistreatment of greyhounds, including confining them in small cages in warehouse-style kennels.

With so many dogs needing homes, Kevin Neuman of Overland Park, Kan., started the nonprofit greyhoundcentral.org, which he hopes will serve as a clearinghouse for greyhound adoption.

The aim is to connect available dogs to owners, as well as people willing to transport animals from kennels in one state to new homes in another, said Neuman, who has adopted 11 greyhounds over the past 16 years.

When Woodlands Greyhound Park in Kansas City closed in 2008, Neuman said his group found homes for some 500 dogs, including about 200 placed in adoptive homes in the area.

Wisconsin state law requires that all greyhounds be adopted, sent to another racetrack, or returned to their owners.

The Massachusetts Racing Commission requires that no greyhound be euthanized unless all “reasonable efforts” to place the dog for adoption have been exhausted. Owners must provide the commission with a detailed explanation as to why a dog was put down rather than adopted.

Greyhound lovers are constantly trying to clear up misconceptions about the breed. Despite their athletic training and competitive instincts, the dogs are calm, easy to care for and do not require constant exercise as might be assumed, they say.

Dogs who have spent their lives in track settings also benefit from transitional foster homes, where they can learn how to do things like go up and down stairs and become acclimated to unfamiliar household noises such as microwaves or vacuum cleaners.

Contrary to opinion, greyhounds walk great on a leash, sleep 22 hours a day, and are “couch potatoes.” They are very, very laid-back dogs.

The good news is that on a visit to the track’s kennel, almost all the dogs’ cages had “adopted” signs on them. The message on the scoreboard read: “Retired greyhounds make great pets.”

Tags: adoption, fostering, Greyhounds, racing tracks