TGP: No way to treat a dog

Bad branding: Skechers promotes greyhound racing

Late last year filming by Skechers for a Super Bowl commercial happened at the end of the line dog track in South Tucson.

Advocates jumped to attention sending hundreds of letters and petitions signatures to Skechers asking them to retract the commercial and not promote greyhound racing (last count 45,000+ signatures). They said no dogs were harmed during the making of the commercial. That’s not the issue – greyhound racing in itself is cruel and inhumane – and dogs sustain injuries at that dog track on a regular basis.

Dogs die. They don’t call it a blood sport for nothing.

Prior to using Tucson dog track, Skechers approached the adoption group Homestretch Greyhounds in California and offered them $10,000 for the use of some dogs. To Homestretch’s credit they refused, saying they didn’t want to help promote dog racing.

This is what Skechers and Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks (who is also in the commercial) will be associating their brands with:

Here’s a video where the general manager of the Tucson dog track refuses the press entry to the dog kennels, yet compares TGP to the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is an amazing example of timeless architecture. I wonder why TGP still exists. I don’t see the correlation.

It was pointed out by Ironicus Maximus that the Taj Mahal has several levels of meaning. See, the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum. It’s a giant tribute to death. Ah, now I get the connection.

Here is a 2008 injury report compiled from public records from the Arizona Department of Racing. At that time Phoenix Greyhound Park was still in operation. Mercifully, PGP closed December 19, 2009.

Two dogs listed in the 2008 injury report are still racing – each of these dogs has raced more than 200 times. AK’s Toureg (turns 5 years old on January 28) and CDC Make Me Stop (now 5 years old).

The above injury reports were obtained from public record requests. Now the Arizona Department Racing thinks it has found some “loophole” and injury records are no longer available. How convenient is that? How accountable is that?

Hey animal lovers, contact your Arizona legislators and ask them to close that loophole and make Arizona dog racing accountable. While you’re at it ask about the hardship tax credit TGP has been getting since 1995.

In the state of Texas records were obtained from the Texas Racing Commission — 1,351 greyhound injuries were reported at Gulf Greyhound Park between January 2008 and August 4, 2011. During this same period, 49 greyhounds died or were euthanized. Read the report. This is the state of the Dallas Mavericks.

Broken leg dogs are no big deal

South Tucson dog track is so end of the line that in this article (near the bottom) the general manager says that if they don’t get racinos, that is the end Tucson Greyhound Park – “Our days are numbered, our years are numbered,” Taylor said. “We either have to get slot machines here or we’re going to have to close. It’s the only thing proven to work across the United States.”

The end of the line dog track is a black mark on South Tucson

And that’s just the tip of the bloody iceberg.

So much for brand marketing and its relationship to mass greyhound cruelty.

BOYCOTT SKECHERS Get more facts & sign the petition.

Tucson Skechers Protest – January 28
SW corner of Campbell & Ft. Lowell Blvd in front of 3175 N. Campbell Avenue from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday – January 28. If it’s not hot, please bring your greyhounds. No small dogs, please.

Bring a sign or use an existing one.

See you there!

(Photo is from GREY2K USA from a public information request of PACC.)