West Virginia is the only state in the country that still allows greyhound racing.
A new bipartisan bill in Congress would ban greyhound raising nationwide, outlawing the country’s last two remaining greyhound racetracks: the Mardi Gras Casino and Resort in Nitro and the Wheeling Island Hotel Casino and Racetrack in Wheeling.
“Public records reveal that some greyhounds used for live commercial racing suffer serious injuries including broken backs, broken necks, head trauma, paralysis, seizures and electrocution,” the bill said.
While live racing is declining in popularity, West Virginia’s race tracks are still important economically. Revenue from racetracks help fund public services across the state along with providing jobs in a state where jobs are diminishing.
“All 55 counties benefit from these casinos,” said Steve Sarras, a greyhound breeder in West Virginia, who said his dogs are well cared for to abide by strict state regulations. “Pensions are funded from these races. Police and fire [services] get a portion of simulcasting wagering.
Sarras said the greyhound racing industry brings thousands of jobs to West Virginia.
The casinos employ nearly 900 people, according to Glen White, director of corporate communications for Delaware North, the company that operates both casinos. The businesses “are positive economic drivers for the state and their regions,” he said, adding that they give back to local charities.
Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, represents the area that contains the Wheeling track. He noted that the track provides jobs in dog training, veterinary services and more.
“These are specialized economic and employment opportunities directly tied to the industry which would be gone tomorrow if racing is eliminated,” Fluharty said. “Not to mention, the owners and trainers of these dogs are residents of West Virginia. They are business owners employing people locally.”
Since 2007, state law has said all state-sanctioned casino table games and video lottery machines cannot operate without having horse or dog racing. State-level legislative attempts to undo the mandate have failed.
Casinos make annual video lottery payments to the West Virginia Lottery Commission. The lottery commission transfers some of the money into a purse account for kennel operators that they earn when they win or finish well in races. A separate fund — the West Virginia Thoroughbred Development Fund — supports the state’s horse racing industry.
The legally mandated Greyhound Development Breeding Fund typically pulls between $15 and $17 million annually. The fund, which goes to owners of accredited West Virginia whelped greyhounds, is supposed to promote better breeding and training track facilities.
Carey Theil is executive director of GREY2K USA Worldwide, which works to end greyhound racing around the world. He said that money could be better spent on the state’s roads or public education system.
“The Legislature, if it wanted to, could absolutely end the live racing mandate and take that $17 million and redirect it anywhere it wants,” Theil said.
Over the past five years, there has been a steady decline in the number of greyhound racing patrons at both Wheeling Island and Mardi Gras, according to White.
“At Wheeling Island, three kennels have closed in the last two years due to lack of profitability,” he said.
Delaware North faces fierce competition from other casinos, he said, and focuses on marketing what’s profitable — slots and table games, the restaurants and hotels.
Regardless of what happens with the federal legislation, White said the company has said for years that if state lawmakers passed legislation that allowed it to operate without operating racing, “we would work with the kennel owners to phase out racing.”
Sarras said the decision should be made at the state level — not in Washington, D.C.
“The federal bill doesn’t really concern me,” he said. “I kind of feel like it’s more optics and posturing … Our country has a lot bigger problems to address.”
National organization already working to end greyhound racing in West Virginia
For Theil, the potential federal ban represents a hope to end greyhound racing in West Virginia after his own efforts to lobby state legislators on the issue haven’t succeeded. His organization’s opposition to racing centers on animal welfare concerns.
State records indicate that 487 greyhounds were injured at the two tracks in 2024, and it included 162 dogs that suffered broken bones, Theil said. Thirteen greyhounds died.
“These dogs have very short racing careers, and they’re out of the industry by age 3 or 4,” Theil said. Besides training, racing and using the bathroom, he said, “the rest of their life, basically, is spent in a cage.”
There are also concerns about live lure, where rabbits and possums are used in greyhound training.
Sarras emphasized that greyhound racing is an “extremely regulated” industry, and dogs are seen regularly by veterinarians who oversee the greyhounds’ care. Racing isn’t permitted without veterinarians on-site, and Sarras said any injuries to the dogs are treated immediately on-site then sent to a veterinary hospital.
“Those misconceptions of abuse and neglect are just people putting out lies. I always tell people, ‘Believe your eyes and not the lies.’
He continued, “These dogs are seen on the regular by veterinarians. There’s no room for abuse and neglect … I can promise you, those dogs are very well taken care of, and they’re happy and healthy and extremely fit.”
For Delaware North, White said, “As long as the company operates racing at Wheeling and Mardi Gras, we will do so to the highest of standards, always keeping the safety and wellbeing of the greyhounds as our top priority.”
Fluharty emphasized that the push to end greyhound racing is not coming from West Virginia residents.
“It is being pushed by out-of-state propaganda groups like Grey2K,” he said. “They lie about the industry then pack their bags and go home. It’s pathetic.”
“Go visit a kennel. The dogs are very much taken care of when they are racing and afterwards with a 99% adoption rate after their racing career,” Fluharty added.
State lawmakers have tried but failed to end greyhound racing
In West Virginia, dogs have raced at Mardi Gras since 1985, and Wheeling Island transitioned from horse to greyhound racing in 1976.
State lawmakers have in the past considered ending greyhound racing by terminating the West Virginia’s Greyhound Breeding Development Fund. The Legislature passed a bill to end the state dog racing mandate in 2017, but it was vetoed by Gov. Jim Justice.
In 2020, then Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, prioritized ending greyhound racing in the state, introducing legislation to eliminate the Greyhound Fund and decouple live dog racing from casino operations. He argued that greyhound racing — which he called a dying industry — was harmful for dogs, and that it should not be considered a priority for the state’s funding.
But lawmakers who represented the Wheeling-area spoke out against it, saying it would devastate the area economically. The measure failed.
Earlier this year, separate bills were introduced by Republicans in the Senate and House of Delegates during the legislative session to end the state mandate for greyhound racing at casinos.
Tracks wouldn’t have been required “to conduct a minimum number of live racing dates”, the bill said, in order to qualify for a video lottery or racetrack table game licenses.
Once a licensed track wanted to discontinue dog racing, the bills would have required the track to pay $250,000 to $1 million in live racing cessation fee that would go into a special revenue account.
The funds would have been allocated to facilitate the care, adoption of or placement in no-kill animal shelters of whelped greyhounds that had been running at the tracks, according to the legislation. Sarras told West Virginia Public Broadcasting in 2022 that most of his dogs get adopted.
Neither bill was taken up for a vote.
Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam, sponsored the House version.
“As the delegate who represents the area where Mardi Gras Casino is located, I try to be responsive to requests for bills on this topic and mindful of all the entities involved,” Hess Crouse wrote in an email in June. “As such, what I was hoping to see would have been a step-down approach to the end of greyhound racing to be sure all the animals were properly cared for. I’ve not had any recent conversations about this issue, so I’m not sure what any potential legislation next year may look like.”
Sarras said support for the greyhounding racing industry is still strong in the Statehouse.
“West Virginia doesn’t have a lot of jobs, so I don’t know why anyone would want to sponsor a job-killer bill that would take out five- to 7,000 jobs,” he said.
Federal bill seeks to ban ‘cruel,’ ‘unpopular’ greyhound racing
In August, Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif, along with a list of bipartisan co-sponsors, introduced the Greyhound Protection Act, a bill to ban greyhound racing in the United States permanently. The legislation would also prohibit gambling on live and simulcast greyhound races.
“Greyhound racing is a relic of an era long-past in the United States. It is cruel, inhumane, and thoroughly unpopular with the American public — which is why nearly every state in the union has already voted to outlaw it,” Carbajal said in a news release from Grey2K.
Other states have outlawed greyhound racing, and a handful of states, including Alabama and Iowa, still permit, but have no active tracks. Seven states have passed laws to outlaw remote gambling on greyhound racing since 2022.
“I think this issue is reaching a tipping point because you’ve seen so many other states act and outlaw greyhound racing,” Theil said.
Some lawmakers who represent the Wheeling-area still don’t want to see the sport end. Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, has fought to retain greyhound racing. He adopted a fawn brindle greyhound, a retired racing greyhound who is a regular at the state Capitol. Weld has maintained that the greyhounds are treated well after visiting a kennel operated by Sarras.
Greyhound racing is still an economic juggernaut in Wheeling, according to Fluharty, who is an attorney. He is also president of the National Council Of Legislators From Gaming States.
“Total handle in 2023 was $260 million with a large portion from a national simulcast audience, showing the national reach. In 2023, Wheeling’s signal transmission fee totaled $8.87M, reflecting heavy out-of-state demand,” Fluharty said.
“The federal ban is being pushed by a California representative who probably couldn’t find Wheeling on a map,” he added.
Theresa Bruner, president of the Federation of Humane Organizations of West Virginia, has been fighting for years to end greyhound racing in the state.
“These dogs belong on couches and not on the race tracks,” she said. “We believe they’re exploited in a cruel way.”
The $15-17 million in required annual subsidy to the greyhound purse funds could be used to fix the state’s other glaring issues, Bruner said, like the financially-troubled Public Employees Insurance Agency. It shouldn’t be propping up the greyhound racing industry, she said.
“The industry should be left to survive on its own. If it survives, it survives,” she said.
This article originally appeared on West Virginia Watch.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.
