It's not often that legislatures have a chance to protect animals from cruelty while also providing businesses with something they've been requesting but West Virginia's 2015 legislature will have the chance to do exactly that. All the 2015 legislature has to do to make dog racing go away in Wests Virginia is to "de-couple" off-track betting from live racing.
You see, dog racing is a money loser, has been for years, and dog tracks will stop offering live racing if legislatures will simply "de-couple" live racing from off-track betting. In other words, if the 2015 West Virginia legislature will let casinos like the Mardi-Gras in Nitro have their profitable off-track betting without the live racing requirement, they will exit the dog racing business voluntarily. Gleefully. Not only does dog racing lose money but the industry's poor treatment of the dogs creates a public relations problem for dog track owners.
De-coupling live racing from off-track betting may be the only thing animal activists and the dog racing industry agree on. Give both sides what they want: let the dog racing business die. Take the cruel, money-losing dog racing industry off legislative life support and give track owners what they want: let them have off-track betting without the live racing. Then adopt a "retired" greyhound.
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