As a result of the above, I wanted to publish this comment by Sofia. It was left on the Facebook cause a short while ago. In it, Sofia draws attention to the existing system in Sweden and highlights just how it works:
Actually, you're not allowed to race a greyhound here without being a member of the racing hounds organisation and follow their rules. And those rules include that every dog that races must have one licensed owner who will take responsibility for the dog until it's at least ten years old. If the dog is put down before that age, the owner must report to the organisation showing a statement by a veterinarian confirming that it was so ill or injured that there was no other option. Otherwise the owner will be expelled from the organisation and further racing.
My impression is that most people who competes in greyhound racing actually see their dogs as pets and the racing as a hobby. I've met and talked to a woman walking her seven racing dogs of various ages, the oldest one twelve and long since retired, the youngest one just one year old... I got the impression this is the usual way to keep racing dogs around here, you just keep them as pets after retirement.
For a LONG TERM solution, it seems better to me if one would force owners of racing dogs to take responsibility for their own dogs until they're old, than just relying on other people rehoming them... Even if adopting an ex-racer is great for that individual dog
I would like to thank Sofia for bringing this to my attention because I hadn't actually come across this system before. What does everyone else think? All comments are welcome!
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