Greyhound Racing
News From the Greyhound Front
Jacque Lynn Schultz, C.P.D.T., Companion Animal Programs Adviser. National Outreach
Race Track Woes
Last reported: Summer 2001
Last summer, we brought you the saga of St. Croix Meadows, a
Hudson, Wisconsin-based greyhound racetrack that was the site of
the Dan Shonka scandal. Shonka, one of the racetrack’s
kennel operators and a Class B animal dealer, allegedly sold
1,050 retired greyhounds to a medical research facility from 1996
to 2000. [See “Freedom
Run,” Summer 2001.] After Shonka’s scheme was
uncovered by North Carolina greyhound crusader Sherry Cotner and
fellow advocate Cynthia Cash of Louisiana, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture brought charges against him. Subsequently, the
Wisconsin Department of Justice filed a criminal complaint
against him as well. On December 31, 2001, the Department of
Justice charged Shonka and his dog hauler, Heidi Dierks, with
four counts each of felony theft, three counts of felony theft by
fraud and one count of racketeering. Meanwhile, Cotner continues
to investigate other leads on dogs sold into research across the
country.
Shonka’s case is not the only bad news for St. Croix Meadows. Back in May 2001, Wisconsin governor Scott McCallum rejected a plan to develop an off-reservation casino at the financially strapped track. As a result, track owner Fred Havernick closed the failing facility on August 10, 2001. Though the track, built in 1991, had never shown a profit, Havernick vows he will be back in business if and when the governor’s decision is overturned.
Runway Success
Last reported: Summer 1998
Although the downturn in the economy and the aftermath of
September 11 has resulted in fewer companies purchasing
advertising space at the nation’s airports, there’s
good news for greyhounds. Advertising companies have again
donated unfilled ad space to help the cause of greyhound
adoption. The first campaign made its debut back in January 1998
[see “More
Help from Their Friends,” , Summer 1998] when 200
adoption ads went up at nearly 100 airports across the United
States. This year’s displays, funded by original sponsors
Greyhound Project, PetsMart Charities and the ASPCA, and joined
by the American Greyhound Council, have vibrant new backgrounds
behind the original photo vignettes. Eighteen high-traffic
airports throughout the United States have been blanketed with
the adoption message: “Make a Friend for Life…Adopt a
Greyhound.”
Ten Years Old And Still Granting Strong
Last reported: Winter 1992
In January 1992, the American Greyhound Council contributed
$100,000 to the ASPCA to establish the Greyhound Adoption Fund,
which provided grants to greyhound placement groups for materials
like air conditioners, fencing, kennel foundations, trailers,
flea and tick prevention, insulation and more crates than one can
count. Five years, $305,000 and 134 grants later, the two
organizations have parted ways. But in order to ensure that
greyhound adoption groups still have access to emergency and
capital improvement funds—regardless of their stand on
racing—the ASPCA created the ASPCA Greyhound Rescue Fund.
With this reporter as the Fund’s administrator since 1995,
the “A” has maintained its commitment to needy
greyhounds and the adoption groups that look after them all over
the United States. But the dogs still need your support. To make
a donation or to request a grant application, please send an
email to jacques@aspca.org.
ASPCA Animal Watch - Summer 2002
© 2002 ASPCA
Next in
How You Can Help Pets: Greyhound Racing:
The Greyhound Project
EMAIL
SHARE
