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Racing Greyhounds
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Most Greyhounds are not bred in loving homes by reputable breeders. They are bred in "Greyhound farms" which are basically a mass breeding facility with similar conditions to a puppymill. These animals are living in their own feces, infested with fleas and/or ticks, as well as being pestered and bitten by the flies that are drawn to the feces.
There are some better Greyhound farms, those that are kept clean and the dogs are taken care of. The good ones have a sprint field, long chained runs, and long kennels. The dogs have plenty of opportunity for exercise and learning to run. The puppies are getting supplements, their shots kept up, their teeth cleaned, and that the farm has a training program instead of haphazardly getting dogs ready for the track.
Around 10 to 12 months of age, they can be trained with a drag lure. This is basically a kind of device that will drag the artivicial lure along the ground so the pup will see it and chase it. Typically they're equipped with a noise maker that keeps the attention to the lure.
The practice of using live lures is pretty much a thing of the past. In those days, rabbits were either whicsket around on a whirligig or chased down in an enclosed field by dogs-in-training until they were killed. The primary reason for not using live rabbits anymore is due to them chasing artificial lures at the track, so they prefer to train them with the artificial lures.
When their training is completed, usually by 17 or 18 months of age, they're sent to the track. The trainers at the race tracks work at different kennels, so the dogs go to the track literally racing for their life. The track is actually leasing the dogs from the owner.
The best runners go to top tracks while slower dogs go to cheaper, less competitive tracks. The culling out of the slowest Greyhounds is another bitter controversy that, according to animal welfarists, claims the lives of tens of thousands of dogs a year, beginning right from puppyhood. Some of the pups may be used for breeding, some will be given away as pets. And some will, unfortunately, be euthanized.
Those involved with the racing of these dogs are not truly dog lovers. They are not seeking the best interest of the dogs by any means, they are only in this for the profit. They simply want the best racers, and the rest are useless to them.
Greyhounds are housed in cages their entire existence and the cages are not all that large. If you look at the hind legs of a Greyhound, you'll see a high percentage where their hair is totally worn off and their thighs are bare. That's from lying in these cages constantly.
Many Greyhound adoption groups complain that Greyhounds are not given heartworm preventives and that many, if not most, are bothered by a variety of parasites including hookwork, webworm, tapeworm, roundworm - or worse.