Mob involvement sparked rumors about fixed
races. Bettors said dogs were overfed to slow
them down, or their toes cinched up with rub-
ber bands to hamper their ability to run, or they
were drugged to make them faster or slower.
Doping remained a problem into dog racing’s
last years. In 2017 state officials revoked a Derby
Lane trainer’s license because five of his grey-
hounds tested positive for cocaine, a stimulant.
Months later, a trainer at another Florida track
was suspended after a dozen dogs tested posi-
tive. In the two years that followed, state officials
say, 11 more trainers’ dogs tested positive.
Doping has been just one of racing oppo-
nents’ concerns. Grey2K has spent nearly 20
years compiling reports on the welfare of rac-
ing greyhounds. It contends that even standard
industry practices constitute mistreatment. It
says dogs are forced to race under conditions
that can cause serious injuries, such as broken
legs and backs, fractured skulls and spines, and
even electrocution by the lure. Another concern
is what becomes of dogs that aren’t racing. In 1952
the Greyhound Racing Record said 30 percent
of greyhounds bred for racing would compete,
leaving open the fate of the other 70 percent. Dogs
that do race stop being competitive around four
years old. Grey2K has collected a raft of stories
about greyhounds being euthanized or sold to
laboratories. To address those concerns, in 1987
the industry formed the American Greyhound
Council to set up adoption agencies and study
what’s best for the dogs. Two of the worst scan-
dals occurred in the 2000s, however.
In 2002 a former Pensacola track guard was
arrested after authorities discovered that he’d
killed 1,000 to 3,000 greyhounds and buried
them on his property in Alabama. He said he’d
been paid $10 each for shooting them. A pros-
ecutor called the guard’s property a “Dachau
for dogs,” according to a story in the New York
Times. The guard died before he could be tried.
In 2010 a trainer at a track in the Florida town
of Ebro left dozens of dogs to die after the rac-
ing season ended. He pleaded guilty to cruelty,
drawing a five-year sentence.T
HE SCANDALS CUT into greyhound
racing’s popularity at a time when the
public’s concern for animal welfare
was rising. Meanwhile, new compet-
ing gambling operations—the Semi-
nole and Miccosukee Tribes’ casinosand the Florida Lottery—lured customers from
dog tracks.
The fans who remained skewed older. In 2001
Steven Soderbergh filmed a scene for Ocean’s
Eleven at Derby Lane that featured George
Clooney and Brad Pitt recruiting a man for
their robbery scheme. Their target, Carl Reiner,
then 79, fit in perfectly with the graying grey-
hound crowd.
In the track’s final days, its typical fan was
Jim Wickert, 77, a retired golf course owner
who since 2003 had shown up at Derby Lane
twice a week in his tan Orvis fedora. He said
he enjoyed the challenge of handicapping the
dogs’ chances.
“I like trying to figure them out,” he said. “I
don’t bet big, but it’s still exciting when you do
figure things out and they run the way you think
they should.”
He was unsure what he’d do once the track
closed. Nothing else seemed as exciting.
Some people got into racing because they130 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC