January 8, 2003 - Group is barking up the wrong tree

Some folks upstate in Essex Junction believe they know what's best for Bennington County. They intend to make sure we get what they want.

Save the Greyhounds Inc. is on a mission to scuttle the revival of Green Mountain Racetrack in Pownal. The group's premise is that if thoroughbred racing returns here, dog racing inevitably will follow.

The group's director, Scotti Devens, revels over the Legislature's 1995 decision to prohibit dog racing. "It was a glorious day," Devens said, while predicting that the greyhound racing industry would try to overturn the prohibition. "We are poised for battle, if necessary."

There is a sordid history involving maltreatment of greyhounds at the track. Dog racing started at Pownal in 1977 and ended in 1992 after the then-owners closed it under threat of losing their license for maltreatment of diseased, malnourished and ailing dogs. The legislative ban on dog racing grew out of that incident.

But 11 years later, with ownership by a new group of investors working to reopen the facility, a local economy hard-pressed for jobs and not a word from any quarter concerning revival of dog racing, Save the Greyhounds Inc. is reaching too far to keep history from repeating itself. In doing so, it risks sabotaging one of Bennington County's best chances for a much-needed economic boost.

The odds on revival of thoroughbred racing at the Pownal track are slim enough to begin with. It's troubling to see such slash-and-burn tactics from a group well distanced from any adverse effect of their actions.

It is feasible, as one writer suggested in late December, to reopen Green Mountain Racetrack as a training and stable facility for Saratoga Race Course and other regional tracks, which have difficulty housing hundreds of thoroughbreds from early spring to late fall. The economic impact, without actual thoroughbred racing, without greyhounds, would be significant. Could horse racing grow from such an initial success? We think it could, and we think it should because the local economy and the local job market could grow as well. That immediate and measurable impact should be at the heart of any discussion on revival of the Pownal facility.

Linking the possible reopening of the Pownal facility to the remote possibility of revived greyhound racing and even more remote possibility of greyhound abuse does a disservice to Bennington County.

Source: Bennington Banner:
Bennington Banner