Protesters line street outside of Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – More than a dozen protesters gathered outside of the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track Saturday afternoon trying to spread the message that dog racing is abusive.

Ellen Schmidt, a protester, says she adopted two greyhounds straight from the track.

“They were fantastic, they were kind, they were smart,” Schmidt explained. “I came out here for all the greyhounds too, because we are their voices.”

The protesters, who are volunteers for Grey2K USA Worldwide say they do this protest every year, holding signs saying the greyhounds are suffering at the racetracks.

 

“They’re confined to really small cages where they’re hardly able to stand up, barely able to turn around, they’re muzzled,” Kelly Hyland said. “When they’re not racing they’re basically in the cages.”

Protesters even say when they are racing it could be deadly.

“Dogs that run into each other, racing accidents, broken legs, broken backs, euthanasia,” Chuck Danielian, who organized the protest, said.

According to Grey2K’s website, Florida recently passed a law that would require injury reporting at the racetracks.

The protesters say they hope it is just one step closer to the end of greyhound racing.

 

 

“We just don’t think that animals should be used for entertainment and we don’t think anyone should be able to profit off of their exploitation,” Danielian said.

Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track said they did not have a comment on the protest.