HSUS & Grey2K

By Charles Louis Browing

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Grey2K USA are now pushing for the adoption of legislation to ban greyhound racing in Oregon, where the sport hasn’t been active since the closure of Multnomah Greyhound Park in 2004.

House Bill 2765 was heard by the Business and Labor Committee on February 6. The testimony offered by Grey2K spokesman Stephen Kafoury and HSUS official, Scott Beckstead, was typically long on hyperbole and very short on substance. Kafoury made the astonishing claim that Grey2K is “involved in attempting to adopt greyhounds out to the public.”

That will be major news to the many authentic adoption groups that have made greyhound adoption a national success story. They are well aware that Grey2K does not operate a single adoption program, and in fact has exhorted the public not to adopt greyhounds from any organization that works constructively with the greyhound racing community (i.e., the majority of adoption groups nationwide).

As if that weren’t bizarre enough, HSUS spokesman Scott Beckstead introduced what appears to be a new line of attack for that radical group. Beckstead told legislators that greyhound racing shouldn’t be allowed in Oregon because it attracts a “rougher crowd” than horse racing. (He even mentioned the mafia.) Several legislators responded mockingly to this ridiculous claim. Video of the hearing is available online.

Beckstead also misled legislators when he claimed that very few greyhounds are “repurposed into second careers.” It’s not surprising that HSUS would refuse to acknowledge the success of greyhound adoption efforts, with more than 95 percent of all retired greyhounds either going into adoptive homes or returning to the farm as pets or breeders.

When skeptical legislators asked Kafoury why they should even consider this bill when there had been no greyhound racing in the state for over a decade, the Grey2K representative acknowledged that it was merely to “send a signal” that the sport wouldn’t return. “Since there’s no racing at present, there’s no problem with loss of revenue or jobs,” Kafoury said. That’s ironic, since the potential loss of jobs and revenue has never stopped Grey2K from campaigning to abolish greyhound racing.