Brooklyn: The face of greyhound freedom

Brooklyn: The face of greyhound freedom

Issue 87

• Feature
• by Christine A. Dorchak, Esq.

By Christine A. Dorchak, Esq. President, GREY2K USA Worldwide

It feels like yesterday that I brought Brooklyn the greyhound home from one of the deadliest racetracks in the world. 

Born on December 10, 2008 in New South Wales, my white and brown-spotted boy was a poor racer. So, at the age of twenty-four months, he found himself shipped across the ocean to race in Macau. No dog ever got out alive from the infamous Yat Yuen Canidrome, the only legal dog track in China.

In 2011, his luck changed. Our board member Charmaine Settle traveled to Macau to gather evidence about what was happening at the Canidrome. She learned that approximately 650 greyhounds were living in a prison compound behind the grandstands. Each dog was kept in a barren and solitary concrete cell with metal bars. The greyhounds had no beds and no toys and were fed a noxious gruel that caused their teeth to rot.

According to the track website, thirty Australian dogs were shipped in each month and thirty more were killed to open space inside the crowded kennels. This cruel calculation meant that nearly 400 young dogs were destroyed each year, a practice that had started in 1963! 

Greyhounds who did not “place” (win money) in five consecutive races were given the needle, as were all injured dogs. There was no adoption program at all. The bodies of dead dogs were left out each week with the trash. 

Watching the greyhounds as they were led to race, Charmaine took a photo of a particularly stunning pup. His dirty, makeshift collar read “Brooklyn.”  It was this beautiful face, peering beyond a wire muzzle, that inspired an international campaign to #ClosetheCanidrome. 

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