Dog Days

Only a handful of spectators approach the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track's outside rail as seven sleek racers take off at the crack of a starting gun. The dogs dig hard through the initial straightaway and speed around the first turn, racing beneath the colorful names of past champions like Alley Gator and RMJ's Gypsy Joe, painted on a beige retaining wall bordering the far side of the oval.

Despite the spirited contest, only a single child's voice cheers the dogs on as Sailor's Way takes a big lead and hangs on for a narrow victory. Once the greyhounds cross the finish line, the rail birds quietly straggle back to their seats at patio tables and among rows of aluminum benches to watch the faded green scoreboard for official results.

It is an overcast Sunday afternoon in early summer-off-season for Florida dog racing-but if state statistics are any indication, the empty grandstand and subdued atmosphere at the track in Bonita Springs are becoming the rule at racing venues across Florida.

Over a 10-year span ending with the 2003-'04 season, the total handle, or amount wagered, at Florida greyhound tracks decreased by 39 percent, according to numbers released by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Actually, those numbers are buoyed by simulcast dog and thoroughbred racing; betting on live dog races decreased by 62 percent during the same period.

Although a state report on last year's racing season has not yet been released, the industry's total handle decreased by another 9.5 percent in 2004-'05, according to DPBR spokesperson Kristen Ploska.

Track owners, dog breeders and kennel operators say increased competition from gambling boats, the Internet and Indian casinos unfairly threaten a historic industry that employed almost 5,000 Floridians last year and provided the state with nearly $25 million in total tax revenues.

Industry critics say that dog racing is on life support; and without generous tax breaks from the Florida Legislature and new laws allowing additional gaming at the tracks, a sport marred by its cruel treatment toward animals would soon die a well-deserved death.

GOING TO THE DOGS

The Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track is a good example of dog racing's steady decline. Despite rapid growth and healthy tourism in Southwest Florida, what was once one of Bonita Spring's most popular attractions has experienced a decrease in wagering of more than 44 percent over the last decade.

"It's become a different business than it was 25 years ago," says Larry Baldwin, executive manager at the track. "In 1980, there were only four television stations you could watch and about six golf courses in the area. With all the growth, there's now much more to do here. There are also computers, videos and movies and a restaurant at every strip mall."

Changing demographics may also be depressing dog racing's numbers. Greyhound fans have tended to be older and often working-class, and many of those who filled the track's grandstand in the 1970s and '80s have died, and rising property values mean new residents are often wealthier than some of the retirees who relocated here in the past.

"People who live in the gated communities do not consider us upscale," says Baldwin. "They'll come during the Kentucky Derby or the Breeders Cup, or to play poker every once in a while. We're a seniors-driven business because it's affordable for them and it's something they've been doing for a long time."

Tourism has also changed since dog racing's heyday, says D.T. Minich, executive director of the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau. Over the last few decades, the rise of eco-tourism and growing numbers of international tourists have left traditional Florida attractions like dog racing behind.

"We definitely include the dog track as part of the destination in our marketing," says Minich. "But, throughout the world, we're more known as an ecological tourist destination now. People think of "Ding" Darling and Corkscrew [Swamp], and even places like the Edison Home, when they think of Southwest Florida. They don't think about the dog track."

OUT OF THE GAMING

Local demographics and tourism may be changing, but Florida residents and visitors are gambling more than ever, says Fred Havenick. Havenick is president and CEO of Southwest Florida Entertainment Inc., which owns and operates the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track. He also operates dog tracks in Miami and Texas.

"The losses are primarily due to competition," says Havenick. "You've got gambling cruises and Indian casinos, plus the Bahamas and Mississippi casinos are nearby. We've become a completely regulated business in a world that has become deregulated around us."

In a state where gambling has become commonplace, Havenick argues, his industry is hamstrung with rules that aren't applied to its competitors. From 1988, when huge Florida Lottery prizes first led to longer lines in convenience stores, through the 1990s and up until today, competition has steadily increased. Unlike dog tracks, Indian casinos, gambling cruise ships and Internet gaming are mostly untaxed and unregulated.

The state has made changes to help the dog racing industry over that period of time. A series of tax breaks has lowered the state's share of dog track revenue from $67 million in 1994-'95 to just $15.6 million in 2003-'04. In the early 1990s, state lawmakers also allowed simulcast betting at tracks, and by 1996 low-stake poker rooms were added to the mix.

"Right now, dog racing is only about 30 percent of our business model," says Baldwin. "Though, of the revenue generated by wagering, it is still our best percentage."

According to Baldwin, more than 400 live races at the Naples-Fort Myers track brought in $22 million in total handle last year, while simulcast horse and dog races generated $36 million. Profits from simulcast races are split in thirds, however, between the Bonita track, the track where a simulcast race is held and Calder Race Course, which is licensed to handle the simulcast signal.

"The poker rooms are doing OK, I think, and simulcasting is helping some, too," says Eric Wilson, who monitors the industry as president of the American Greyhound Track Operators Association. "But the way it is all structured impacts how much tracks actually take in. The changes have not been the salvation the industry needs."

According to Havenick, Wilson and other track operators, video lottery terminals or slot machines would give dog racing a better chance to compete with casinos and gambling boats. A state referendum passed last year allows voters in Dade and Broward counties to decide if local jai alai frontons and horse and dog tracks can install slot machines at their facilities. While Broward County residents voted to allow the machines last spring, a similar referendum was defeated in Dade.

"One of the biggest problems in our industry is that there are haves and have-nots," says Baldwin. "Tracks with slot machines can supplement their purses and subsidize the dog owners. Whether we'll ever have slot machines here is the big question right now. Some say it will come, some say it will never come. I like to live in the present."

INHUMANE IMAGE

One problem slot machines won't solve is the bad reputation dog racing has acquired over the years. The sport has become a hot point for animal activists who claim the industry is inherently abusive to greyhounds.

A series of high-profile controversies at the Naples-Fort Myers track has not helped. A kennel fire in June that killed 17 dogs and injured dozens more attracted national attention and galvanized activists, but it was just the latest in a number of well-documented problems.

In the past five years, greyhounds at the Bonita track have tested positive for cocaine at least 19 times; and at least two seasons were interrupted by outbreaks of kennel cough, which critics attribute to overcrowded kennels. In 2004, the state filed complaints claiming the track didn't provide a veterinarian for 15 separate races.

"Those kinds of isolated incidents happen, and I don't think they necessarily warrant outlawing an industry," says Carey Theil, president of GREY2K USA, which works to build public awareness of cruelty to greyhounds. "But when they plague a track month after month, you'd have to be an idiot to think it won't hurt business."

According to Theil, legions of greyhounds are destroyed each year when they can no longer compete and earn money for their owners. The dogs are also sometimes fed unsafe food and kept in cramped conditions that contribute to the spread of parasites and illness. The Humane Society of the United States, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other groups have made similar claims.

Wilson says greyhound track owners, kennel operators and breeders have all made a commitment to improving the welfare of racing dogs as well as the industry's image. "That's one of the big goals of our industry right now," says Wilson, "to make sure the treatment and welfare of greyhounds is where it should be."