Racing Greyhound Food

[Greyhound12]

HI!

Hope someone can help-I'm doing some research about racing greyhounds and just wondered if there was any racing greyhound owners who could tell me what they look for when buying their racing greyhound dry dog food.

Many Thanks

[Unosmom]

do you mean dogs that currently race or retired ex racers?

heres what I found about the diet of a racing dog:

Greyhounds are fed a well balanced daily diet, consisting of vitamins,grains,4-D meat, as used in commercial per foods, and stews containing a variety of vegetables, and often fish, chicken, barley and macaroni.
www.wonderlandgreyhound.com

But there's another site that suggests they get 4-D meat:

4-D meat is the ultimate by-product of commercial rendering plants. Some of it is sterilized by boiling and becomes a product known as "tankage," which is a protein source for animal feed. What remains, raw and unsterilized, is packaged in plastic-wrapped rolls and sold to greyhound racetracks and trainers around the country.

While many kennels feed their greyhounds a quality meat and vegetable high-protein diet, the standard industry feed for the racing greyhound is raw 4-D meat. The four D's stand for animals, primarily cattle and horses, that are dead, dying, diseased or down (disabled) at slaughter. Cattle that are sick and near death are pumped full of drugs like penicillin, procaine, and trimethoprim in a desperate attempt to save them. These drugs, as well as the infectious or contagious pathogens that killed the food-source animals, remain in their systems after slaughter. The meat rendered from them can also carry anthrax, botulism, lockjaw, tuberculosis, salmonella, and other diseases.

The feeding of 4-D meat also affects state-mandated urine tests on racing greyhounds. Procaine, an anesthetic used to deaden pain, can be injected into a dog prior to a race, affecting the dog's performance. Positive results from a drug test after a race result in a fine and bitter complaints from the trainers, who argue correctly that there is no way to determine the source of the drug in the urine - whether from pill, injection, or 4-D meat.

A racing greyhound requires one to two pounds of meat per day and the advantages of 4-D to the trainer are availability and price. It's cheap. At about 45 cents per pound, that translates to less than a dollar a day per dog. The average size of a racing kennel at a mid-sized track is 60 greyhounds. Since 4-D meat is served raw to racing greyhounds, the health hazards to the dogs range from gastro-enteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines, to food poisoning and death. Dogs are often unable to race due to the onset of acute vomiting and diarrhea, known in the industry as "blow-out."

Theres nothing wrong with balanced good quality raw diet, but 4-D is not the way to go, though I found some contradicting info on the net in regard to the quality of meat thats supplied to the track.

[Greyhound12]

I mean greyhounds who are currently racing.

Many thanks for that information-very helpful. I know some racing greyhounds are fed dry dog food which i believe is also know as kibble, i was wondering what ingredients
they look for in this when they purchase it. What makes a good dry dog food/kibble for racing greyhounds?

[runwiththewind]

http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/4-DMeatFactSheet.pdf

4-D Meat: A Deadly Meal

This is what I was told by a Greyhound trainer:

"At the track, they have frozen DDD beef, that we get out in a tub, turn the fan on it all day to thaw it and then the following day, we add cooked rice, corn oil, an electrolyte supplement called stress dex, milk replacer and purina hi-pro kibble to it to make a gruel. It is fed as is (room temperature) and studies have shown that it is chock full of Salmonella and E.Coli. There have been studies about pre-made raw diets that show too much bacterial growth in them too"

I am totally opposed to racing greyhounds!

[Dude and Bucks Mamma]

http://www.grey2kusa.org/pdf/4-DMeatFactSheet.pdf

4-D Meat: A Deadly Meal

This is what I was told by a Greyhound trainer:

"At the track, they have frozen DDD beef, that we get out in a tub, turn the fan on it all day to thaw it and then the following day, we add cooked rice, corn oil, an electrolyte supplement called stress dex, milk replacer and purina hi-pro kibble to it to make a gruel. It is fed as is (room temperature) and studies have shown that it is chock full of Salmonella and E.Coli. There have been studies about pre-made raw diets that show too much bacterial growth in them too"

I am totally opposed to racing greyhounds!

Why are you opposed to racing greyhounds? I understand that not all owners treat them right, but not all are bad. My grandfather's best friend owned some racers and they were his life. They were his buddies and best friends. They were treated as athletes, but also as part of the family. They often came before his human family. If one of the dogs was injured or scared, they either slept in bed with him or outside in a special kennel designed to remove any kind of risk to an injured dog. Once retired, they lived out the rest of their lives with him as 100% couch potatoes.

THAT is the way they should be treated. If they all treated them that way, it would be a wonderful sport. I love greyhound racing as well as horse racing. What I am opposed to is people who do not treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve.

[runwiththewind]

Your grandfather's best friend is truly the exception to the rule.

Greyhounds suffer from osteosarcoma probably because of the poor diet, over-vaccinations, steroids. Greyhounds are wonderful dogs and belong in a loving home - not on a track or live in a crate.

Greyhound Racing: The Truth Behind the Greyhound Racing Industry - YouTube

http://www.greyhounds.org/gpl/conten...ases_11-04.pdf

ARFF - greyhound racing
Greyhounds: Racing to Their Deaths
http://www.worldanimalfoundation.net...oundRacing.pdf
Cocaine found in Jacksonville racing greyhounds | jacksonville.com

[Caty M]

I also am against it- not racing in and of itself, but the way the animals are treated. Dogs should be treated as pets, not as a means to make money.

[sozzle]

Mmm can't comment on all that as I have an ex racer and I don't know what he was being fed whilst racing although when he was in foster care he was fed Nutrience Active as the company donates it free because I think the owner in USA was involved in greyhound racing. I think in NZ greyhounds are treated well, obviously there will be exceptions but if they weren't treated well how are they expected to perform. At the end of the day they are bred to make money for the owners and pre 2006 in NZ they were put down (mostly) before 'Greyhounds As Pets' were set up by the NZ Racing Industry. I don't know what I feel about greyhound racing and they are very exploited but I am just thankful for the charities set up to adopt them out after they have retired as they make lovely pets.
I don't think racing will go away in a hurry and the dogs do love to run and they only get to race about 2-3 times a week, in NZ anyway from what I've heard.

[runwiththewind]

Many tracks have closed. They are still trying to close more tracks in Florida.

Greyhound racing in steep decline in the U.S. - latimes.com

Spanish Galgo | G.R.I.N.

[Porphyria]

I agree with Caty and runwiththewind. Once the profit motive comes into play, the welfare of the animals tends to decline.