Though 27 greyhound tracks have closed in the U.S., with Rhode Island's last two tracks closing on August 8—and while countries around the world have all shuttered their once-active tracks—a legislature in the Philippines has just introduced a bill that would allow a company to build and operate a brand-new greyhound racetrack.

If approved, this bill has the potential to doom thousands of greyhounds to miserable existences. But have no fear: PETA Asia-Pacific has teamed up with Senator Maria Ana "Jamby" Madrigal—and her fearless dog, Prasad—to urge senators in the Philippines to vote "no" on this cruel bill. Check out Senator Jamby and Prasad in action at Tuesday's press conference inside the Senate building:

Photo © Erving Go
Prasad, a seasoned doggy-do-gooder, is howling mad about the introduction of this bill.

Senator Madrigal has pledged her opposition to this so-called sport because greyhounds who are forced to compete are kept muzzled and confined to cramped cages when they're not training or racing. Once they have slowed down or suffered career-ending injuries, the dogs are often abandoned, killed, or sold to laboratories to be used in experiments.

Don't all greyhounds deserve a loving home like Prasad's?

Posted by Liz Graffeo

Thoroughbred breeder Ernie Paragallo, whose horses were discovered emaciated and infested with parasites as they awaited slaughter in a pen, should be prosecuted for cruelty to animals. Paragallo said that he had given the horses up to a Florida-based breeder and that he did not know of their final destination (the slaughterhouse), but that certainly doesn't clear him of responsibility for the state of the mares when they were found. "There were a bunch of mares that someone didn't care about anymore," said Christy Sheidy, who rescued four of the horses.

Regardless of Paragallo's guilt or innocence on the charges of cruelty to animals, this case highlights an often-overlooked part of the world of thoroughbred racing—the fate of horses who can no longer race.

The industry would like us to believe that when horses leave the world of racing they go on to live out their "retirement plan" on green pastures. Let me tell you that what's in store for thoroughbreds is no pit stop in Palm Springs.

As this case shows, when horses are no longer useful to the racing industry, they are cast aside like trash—and more than 100,000 horses are exported from the U.S. for slaughter every year. Owners and trainers like to talk about "retirement plans," but, in reality, burned-out and used-up horses all too often meet bloody death and dismemberment on their way to someone's dinner plate.

The only way to make sure that the horses who can no longer "perform" well aren't treated like garbage is to stop making them "perform" in the first place.

freedigitalphotos / CC

Movie fans can have a White Christmas (if they like sentiment) or a Black Christmas (if they like horror). Music fans can enjoy a "Blue Christmas." Now, fans of animal protection can have a Grey Christmas—as in greyhounds.

That's right. What could be a better gift this holiday season than to learn about the bankruptcy and closure of another greyhound racing park, this one in Hinsdale, New Hampshire (just two left in New Hampshire now! Come on team, let's stop them both next!). More than a half-century of animal abuse in Hinsdale—first horses, then dogs—will come to an end. Who wouldn't want to find that under the tree? (Or, better yet, for eight nights over Hanukkah!)

Now, some of you may be thinking, "What's the big deal? Don't greyhounds love to run?" Here's the 411: Dogs who are used in races spend most of their days stuck in cramped cages or kennels and suffer other abuses, just for a few minutes on a track during a race. Thousands of greyhounds are killed each year before they ever touch a racetrack, and many more will be killed when they fail to "perform." Injuries and sickness, including broken legs, heatstroke, and heart attacks, claim the lives of many more.

In fact, few dogs make it to the supposed "retirement' age of 4 or 5, and only a fraction of the discarded dogs are placed in homes through greyhound adoption groups. The rest may be killed or sold to laboratories. To learn more, check this out. So yeah, still think they "love to run?"

The Hinsdale closure comes after the park had already cut back on the number of racing days due to "falling attendance." Clearly, people are getting the picture about dog and horse racing and staying away. Yet some folks are trying to prop up the racing industry by putting slot machines at tracks to lure more people. Um, hello? Wouldn't it make more sense to just open a casino and do away with racing altogether (as the good people of Massachusetts recently approved).

Let's end dog- and horse-racing. 'Tis the season!

Posted by Jeff Mackey

Glorious.

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Following the dust stirred up by PETA and the national outrage about the very public death of Eight Belles from two snapped ankle bones, our appeals to the horseracing industry to make far-reaching changes in its practices have begun to have a noticeable effect. An article in The Wall Street Journal today quoted Alex Waldrop, the president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) as saying, "It is clear that the status quo is not an option. We have to stop identifying problems and start implementing solutions."

Which, well, Amen to that. Some changes have already begun to be implemented, including a prominent horse auction company which has “instructed agents and breeders to discourage jockeys from whipping horses during a coming sales show,” citing the negative press generated by animal rights organizations as its reason for implementing the policy. What goes on behind the scenes, from whipping to doping, is another matter. Time will tell if major changes are adopted by the NTRA, and how effective and far-reaching they are, but the grave concerns about the long list of cruel and shady practices of this dirty industry—which PETA has been raising for decades—are finally beginning to be addressed.

It’s certainly too bad that it took another death of a popular horse during a televised racing event to scare the industry into recognizing that people are leaving the track in droves, but we’ll call this “better late than never” and keep our eyes firmly on the industry to ensure that these promises are more than just talk.