The TGA and it’s Board of Directors are aware of the story that is being circulated concerning the welfare of greyhounds that are housed at The Pet Blood Bank in Cherokee, Texas. We acted as soon as we knew and sent an Inspector, who went along with the local county Sheriff to the property, to inspect the dogs. The TGA is on high alert anytime there’s a welfare issue that involves a racing or retired greyhound and will get involved to make sure they are taken care of.

Thank you all who have called with concern for our beloved greyhounds.

Dear Members,

I received the email below concerning Phyllis Mangold, longtime TGA member:

It is with regret I email you to let you know that Phyllis Bandy Mangold passed away May 27, 2017 at home.  She was a lifetime member of the TGA. She spent the better part of her life involved in raising, training and racing greyhounds. It was one of her “loves”.

Thank you for all you do for the TGA.  Stephanie Laughinghouse – Daughter

Should you want to donate to one of Phyllis’ favorite charities, the family has requested all donations go to an Alzheimer’s Association or the Diabetes Foundation.

Click here to read Phyllis’ 2014 Women In Racing Article.

 

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The TGA wishes to extend its sincere condolences to the family of Scott Allan Riola, the son-in-law of longtime TGA member Peter Limmer.

Riola, who lived in Amarillo, was a Yoe High graduate and the son of Dominic and Karla Riola. 

Visitation will be Friday; May 5, 2017, from 6-8pm, with Rosary at 7pm, at Marek Burns Laywell Funeral Home in Cameron.

Services are 10am Saturday; May 6, 2017, at St. Monica`s Catholic Church in Cameron, with burial at a later date.

Click here to view Scott’s Obituary.

Mr. Riola was born in Temple and graduated from Yoe High School and the University of Texas in Arlington.  He was a Flight Nurse EMT.  Survivors include his parents, wife, and many other family and friends. According to social media posts by the family, the Scott Riola Memorial Scholarship account has now been established in order to provide future scholarships to students seeking to pursue a career as a flight nurse. Those scholarships will go to students at Cameron Yoe High, Tarleton State University, and Amarillo College.  Riola himself was a flight nurse and had joined Rico Aviation back in December.  

Those wishing to help the family are being asked to donate to Scott`s memorial scholarship fund by sending donations to Benefit Fund for Scott Riola, 4501 Bell Street, Amarillo, TX 79119.  Donations will also be accepted in Amarillo at Amarillo National Bank. 

Click here to read the news story.

Joe Frey served as a Director on the TGA Board for several years.  He & his wife live on their greyhound farm and greyhounds have been his livelihood for over 30 years.  He took his responsibilities as a Director very seriously and always spoke in the best interest of the greyhounds and the breeders.  He worked together with the other Board Members, doing what he could to make the industry viable enough to keep the breeders we have and attract new ones.

On 03/25/17, the TGA honored him with a special thank you and a plaque for his tireless & selfless efforts, while serving on the Board.

Dear Mr. Trout,

We would like to thank the Texas Racing Commission (”TxRC), the Texas Greyhound Tracks and Andrea Young and staff for a successful greyhound meet held at the Valley Race Park (”VRP”).

Bringing greyhound racing back to Texas was very special in of itself and this meet went further than that. The three month “Boutique” meet agreed to was initially met with much skepticism as most preferred the more traditional year round racing format. The year round racing was no longer being run at any of the Texas tracks. With this new format the greyhound industry, as a whole, had a chance to move forward with the times allowing live racing to continue.

The three-month meet was very successful for the greyhound owners and breeders. Thanks to Valley Race Parks cooperation with the Texas Greyhound Association, (“TGA”), the kennels booked at this meet advanced racing to a much better business model for the breeders of the dogs. Most of the kennels booked were owned by either large breeders or groups of smaller breeders and all were Texas residents. This is a bigger advancement for the industry than most realize, as the old way of having a kennel owner who is not a breeder, reaping the rewards without putting into the industry, hurts the breeder. The nonbreeder kennel owner means money paid to this type of owner is not necessarily returned back into the industry. This meet returned most of the money back to active breeders and owners of greyhounds. A non-breeder kennel owner has their concern primarily in how much money a dog is making them where the concern of a breeder/owner lies much more in the return on their investment and allows future investment.

Another great advancement for the industry was running the entire meet starting with all young maiden Texas bred greyhounds. This was also met with much skepticism but ended with a very positive buzz around the country. It leveled the playing field for all breeders and owners, big or small. It allowed breeders and owners to better recoup costs of raising litters very early in the dogs’ career, which is huge for them financially. The meet has created Texas puppy prices to rise along with a demand for them and added interest in non-Texas residents raising dogs here. Thirty-two percent of the dog owners at the Valley meet were non-Texas residents. They had purchased puppies that were already Texas bred.

Not only is this good for business for Texas farms but in preparing for this very competitive meet, money was spent training and schooling pups all over the country that would not have been spent otherwise. Also, while many gamblers were skeptical of the format those who actually tried betting on VRP found great returns because of the young dogs and the Valley tracks reasonable betting minimums.

The TGA and greyhound breeders have taken an even more active role on injuries of the greyhounds as evidenced by the TGA’s Injured Athletes Program. It is vital to have a track surface that is as safe as it can possibly be. The Valley Race Park Meet began with a fantastic surface and the VRP staff welcomed the TGA’s input on maintaining a safe surface, which yielded a very low injury rate.

When anything that is out-of-the-norm is tried there are issues which need to be worked on and improved upon but we are happy to report that the breeders, owners, the tracks and racing fans have benefited greatly by this new kind of meet.

In conclusion, the Valley Race Track meet was very positive and we feel has taken a few giant steps forward for the greyhound racing industry, especially here in Texas. We hope to continue this, which will allow live racing to be viable in the state of Texas for years to come.

Thank you,

David Peck
President

The TGA is committed to the safety & welfare of our athletes and ensuring that “No Greyhound Is Left Behind”. We are working with Greyhound Adoption League of Texas (GALT) http://www.galtx.org who will be taking the greyhounds into their program upon retirement and then placed into loving homes. Adopt a greyhound, they make GREYT pets.

Click here to read the full story.

 

Melvin Katt passed away November 08, 2016.

Details will be available when we receive them.

By Dennis McKeon

I wish I had a fifty dollar bill for each time I heard someone remark:

“The reason Greyhounds wear those muzzles, is because they’re vicious.”

Now anyone who has even the slightest familiarity with the National Greyhound Association racing Greyhound, might be astounded by such an absurd notion. How could anyone think such a thing? These dogs are universally acclaimed for their placid, sweet and gentle natures.

Well, to understand how this characterization became part of the racing Greyhound’s pop narrative, we have to go back to the earliest days of anti-racing activism. Even then, the people who knew the least about the Greyhound were writing that narrative, and making it up as they went along–as they continue to do today. [Read more…]

By Dennis McKeon

One of the most educational aspects of working with large populations or colonies of Greyhounds in racing, is to watch how the pack interacts, and to observe the dynamics of it. Greyhounds have always been pack animals. Not just historically, but in actuality. They have hunted and coursed in packs, and today they race in packs. There is a lot of discussion today attempting to debunk the very existence of certain pack dynamics and interactions, based on a study of wolves. Greyhounds aren’t wolves, and anyone who has ever worked with colonies of greyhounds, would dispute the popularly implied conclusions of that study.

Greyhounds are kept with their dams much longer than most, if not all breeds, and they begin their socialization training within their own family units. Within that unit, a pecking order develops. There is usually always a dominant individual, and depending upon the size and nature of the litter, there might be both an alpha male and female. Often, they are the play leaders. The alphas are not always the best athletes or the fastest in the litter, and they can often seem to be “above the fray”, particularly when mature adults. Occasionally you come across one who is noticeably “above the fray” and who is intently focused, to the point of appearing to be aloof. Sometimes they turn out to be superior performers on the racetrack. [Read more…]