Group challenges cited numbers of workers at dog parks

The committee that penned the ballot initiative to end greyhound racing in the state by 2010 is contesting a statement by Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park owner George Carney regarding the number of employees that are supported by his operation and Wonderland in Revere.

The ballot question to ban greyhounds is expected to be included on the presidential election ballot in November.

In a story that ran in Globe South March 20, Carney was quoted as stating that between 6,000 and 8,000 workers would be affected if the two tracks closed. Christine Dorchak, cochairwoman of the Committee to Protect Dogs, called Carney's number grossly inflated. "We're very concerned that, after appearing in The Boston Globe, that number will be repeated over and over again," Dorchak said. "According to our sources, there are about 800 employees paid directly by the two tracks. [Carney] must be counting everybody who even comes in and changes a light bulb."

But Carney countered, "There are 900 employees directly involved at the two tracks." The others, he said, service the tracks in a variety of capacities.

Dorchak said state legislators, when arguing in favor of putting slot machines at the state's four racetracks, consistently cite erroneous figures.

"During debate on the floor in 2006, Senator Marc Pacheco said it was 10,000 employees, but he was talking about all four tracks," Dorchak said. "I sat there just gaping when he said it." Another time, she said, a legislator cited the number of employees at the tracks as 5,000. The numbers are constantly changing, Dorchak said, "and they're not based in reality."

Last week, Carney was unwilling to lower the number of jobs he predicted would be affected if Raynham and Wonderland were closed down. "I'm sticking by the 6,000 to 8,000 people related to the two tracks," he said.

"I'm talking about all the people that are involved," Carney said. Many service the track in different capacities, but are not direct employees, he said. "That includes dog owners, trainers, and breeders. Some of the greyhounds are bred in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas by people on farms. This is far-reaching."

Dorchak said not only dog breeders, but often dog owners, come from out of state. "They have never even seen their dogs," she said. "Wonderland and Raynham will be taken out of the circuit [if the initiative to ban racing passes,] but there will still be 31 tracks nationwide." Owners would simply send their dogs to one of the other locations. "About 65 percent of the dogs running in Massachusetts now," she said, "are sent to race elsewhere."