Post by princecharming on Apr 17, 2006 16:36:36 GMT -5
As I said before, injuries are a fact of life in greyhound racing. Sometimes they are career-ending and sometimes they are not.
Cayman Went is a good example of the latter: one of the greatest racers in modern times who came back from having a broken bone plated to continue running and winning at Derby Lane, won both Flashy Sir and Rural Rube Awards last year. He may very well be in the HoF some day.
Sometimes the injury is not really career-ending, but the owner does not want subject the dog to a procedure that *might* restore a dog to racing form, either because they do not have the $, or because they do not want to put the dog at further risk.
As Cary pointed out, many of the top dogs are injured more than others, because they are running at the top end of the performance curve and the stress on their bodies is probably higher than lesser dogs. Sometimes a top dog will suffer a minor injury, such as a dropped muscle, and be retired simply because it can no longer run at the level it used to. There is no point in putting a dog at further risk under those circumstances.
And yes, there are people who don't care, who run dogs long past when they should be retired, trainers who don't properly condition the dogs and there are tracks who don't maintain the racing surface properly, which in turn leads to increased injury rates.
The question is not whether dogs get injured- they do. The question (should be) how can the chance of injury be minimized, and when it does happen, what happens to the dog afterwards. In all but the most serious injuries, it is my opinion that the dog should be medically cared for and petted out after it has been healed.
Cayman Went is a good example of the latter: one of the greatest racers in modern times who came back from having a broken bone plated to continue running and winning at Derby Lane, won both Flashy Sir and Rural Rube Awards last year. He may very well be in the HoF some day.
Sometimes the injury is not really career-ending, but the owner does not want subject the dog to a procedure that *might* restore a dog to racing form, either because they do not have the $, or because they do not want to put the dog at further risk.
As Cary pointed out, many of the top dogs are injured more than others, because they are running at the top end of the performance curve and the stress on their bodies is probably higher than lesser dogs. Sometimes a top dog will suffer a minor injury, such as a dropped muscle, and be retired simply because it can no longer run at the level it used to. There is no point in putting a dog at further risk under those circumstances.
And yes, there are people who don't care, who run dogs long past when they should be retired, trainers who don't properly condition the dogs and there are tracks who don't maintain the racing surface properly, which in turn leads to increased injury rates.
The question is not whether dogs get injured- they do. The question (should be) how can the chance of injury be minimized, and when it does happen, what happens to the dog afterwards. In all but the most serious injuries, it is my opinion that the dog should be medically cared for and petted out after it has been healed.
folks. Let's just try to keep it on topic. Let's keep the topic discussion going and no derail. 
