Muzzled in Montgomery

If you’re one of the two or three people who actually follow my blog, perhaps you’re wondering why I’ve been posting so many media updates about all of the crazy goings-on in Alabama over electronic bingo.

Besides the obvious, which is that VictoryLand closed as a result of Governor Riley’s anti-bingo brigade raid (Ha! Say that fast three times!), what does Alabama bingo have to do with greyhounds?

The answer to that question was obviously NOT apparent to the Chairman of the public hearing I attended in Montgomery on February 9th. I was there with the intent to testify about the impact the electronic bingo bill would have on Alabama’s racing greyhounds, until the Chairman advised that the bill doesn’t have anything to do with greyhounds, which precluded me from speaking on the topic.

With all due respect, Mr. Chairman, you are wrong.

The prospect of the legalization of expanded gambling in Alabama very definitely has something to do with greyhounds.

Should the bingo bill pass as it is currently written, it will legalize the bingo machines that were already operating at VictoryLand, and allow the installation of bingo machines at Birmingham Race Course and Mobile Greyhound Park.

A February 6th news article (which you can find in my blog archive under the date of 2/7/10) contained the following statement about Milton McGregor, the owner of VictoryLand: ‘McGregor closed the gaming areas of VictoryLand on Monday. Closing the Oasis Hotel, which opened at the casino late last year, the dog track and restaurants and bars Thursday seemed an obvious move since none of those areas made profits.’

Mr. McGregor was then quoted as saying, “The idea isn't for them to make money. It's to offer amenities to our customers," McGregor said. "It's the same way Walmart will offer loss leaders to get people in. We are a gaming facility and all the other things, such as restaurants, lounges, hotels and the Sports Book area, they are just amenities. Gaming is the engine.”

You see, Milton McGregor and other owners of dog tracks with slot machines (AKA racinos) readily admit that they lose money on dog racing. The tracks are ‘amenities’ and the greyhounds are ‘loss leaders’. Expanded gambling just props up this dying sport, committing future generations of greyhounds to the same cruelty and inhumanity suffered by generations past and present.

Yesterday, a raucous crowd of both anti-gambling and pro-gambling people assembled at a rally at the State House in Montgomery. News coverage of the event included quotes from the Director of Racing at VictoryLand and a greyhound trainer, both of whom brought greyhounds with them.

But the greyhounds couldn’t speak for themselves, and their appearance at the State House was on the opposite end of the leash from people who primarily look at them in terms of dollars and cents.

When the Chairman at the public hearing denied me my right to testify that day, he silenced Alabama’s greyhounds.

But we will continue the fight to speak for them.