Industries that can't recruit new customers die. In almost every state where greyhound racing exists, dog tracks are pressing for tax relief or state subsidies to survive. Meanwhile, the greyhound racing industry's public relations strategy comprises trying to confuse Americans into believing that humane organizations are extremist animal rights organizations that have failed greyhounds by spending time and money publicly addressing the thousands of dog deaths for which the industry is annually responsible, as well as the horrific living conditions that greyhounds sometimes face. The racing industry is inherently cruel. Greyhound racing is a form of gaming in which the amount of money a dog generates determines his or her expendability.
Greyhounds make wonderful companion animals and are loving and responsive to human contact.
Many greyhound owners who own their greyhounds solely as financial investments use adoption programs as dumping grounds when the dogs are no longer profitable. Although The HSUS applauds the efforts of those volunteers who give their time and money to place unwanted greyhounds in loving homes through greyhound adoption programs, an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 surplus greyhounds are destroyed each year because the industry no longer wants them and there are not enough homes to accept them. Many other greyhounds are either sold to research labs, returned to breeding facilities to serve as breeding stock, or sent to foreign racetracks, sometimes in developing countries. State racing commissions exist to regulate the industry, but their primary function is to protect the state's financial interests, not to enhance animal welfare practices. The racing industry is virtually self-regulated.