Delay race ban, workers plead

Dog track staff seeks town's help

(Mark Wilson/Globe Staff)

Employees at Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park, bitter about the recently approved ban on greyhound racing and angry about promises for retraining that have yet to materialize, have mobilized to delay the January 2010 deadline for the statewide ban for two years.

A binding referendum to ban dog racing by January 2010 passed on Nov. 4 with 56 percent of the state's voters in favor. That result will eliminate the jobs of about 650 workers at Raynham's dog track and an estimated 300 at Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere.

"You're eliminating an industry," Raynham resident Chip Pizzutti said of the ban. Pizzutti worked for 16 years as a trainer at Wonderland and in Raynham before spending the past 10 years in the Raynham track offices.

"Where you're eliminating an entire business, it's not like we can pick up and find something," Pizzutti said. "All our talents and specialties are related to the greyhound industry."

Park employees attended the last two selectmen's meetings in Raynham to plead for help from town officials.

Raynham's selectmen have unanimously agreed to support the Raynham track employees, putting a request for an extension in writing to Governor Deval Patrick, state Representative David Flynn, and state Senator Marc Pacheco.

At the moment, the employees' only hope appears to be persuading the Legislature to reverse the voters' decision.

According to Brian McNiff, spokesman for the secretary of state's office, the measure officially becomes law 30 days after the office certifies the Nov. 4 election result. The certification is expected the first week of December, said McNiff, "so the [Greyhound Protection Act] will officially become law in early January. Once that happens, it's a law like any other law."

McNiff explained that the state Legislature could vote to amend or repeal the law, and that bill would then go to the governor's desk.

Supporters of the delay argue that delaying the ban to January 2012 would give employees more time to find jobs in the currently unstable economic climate. It also might delay the pullout of kennel owners, who have already begun searching for new venues for their greyhounds. The extension could even allow time for another referendum vote on the issue.

"It's unfortunate the kennels have the opportunity to leave prior to the 14-month deadline in the ban," said Christopher Roberts, who has been a parimutuel announcer at the Raynham track for 11 years. "The dogs are going to tracks in Florida, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. But how can you blame the kennel owners for leaving? These greyhounds are investments to them."

Roberts said the dogs have always been treated well at Raynham. "We have a 100 percent adoption rate for dogs that retire," Roberts said. "Wherever they go, it will be to worse situations."

Raynham track owner George Carney has already decided to streamline the track's schedule. "We'll now be closed for simulcasting on Mondays and Tuesdays," Carney said. "We've got to make some business decisions."

Carney, who said he isn't involved in the employees' effort to extend the deadline, planned to meet with his attorney to discuss if an appeal of the ban should be filed in court. "I don't know what recourse we have legally, but I expect we'll do something," Carney said. "I don't know of any other industry that has been put out of business by a referendum question."

Roberts said workers at Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park believe the public was misled about what would happen to the approximately 1,000 track employees in Raynham and Wonderland if the referendum passed.

"The question I have is what happened to the promise about how Grey2K was going to have training for all the track workers," Roberts said of the national group that lobbied for the state ban. "I don't think anyone has heard one iota from them. I think the main focus now should be about keeping 1,000 people employed, rather than throwing them out on the street. We think there's been a grave injustice done."

But Christine Dorchak, cochairman of the Committee to Protect Dogs, said that voters knew exactly what they were doing. "We brought the facts to the public, and the public decided to support the ban," Dorchak said. "There is no value in rehashing this."

Dorchak said the gradual elimination of racing up to January 2010 will allow workers to find jobs and humane shelters to place greyhounds. The governor has already committed to creating retraining programs for the track workers, she said, "and we intend to file legislation at the opening of the new session that would give the workers the soft landing they need."

Joseph Pacheco, chairman of Raynham's Board of Selectmen, said his board is glad to help the track workers, many of whom are Raynham residents.

"We're writing to the governor about the loss of jobs as well as the loss of revenue to the town and the state," Pacheco said. "The state makes about $5 million a year from the track in nontax revenue, and the town gets more than $400,000 a year in nontax revenue." Those amounts come from a percentage of the track's handle.

"We never took a formal position against Question 3 to ban greyhounds, but all three of us were very vocal," Pacheco said of his board. "We were unanimous in our opposition. Last week our unanimous vote to write to the governor and our representatives was again unanimous. It shows our continued opposition to the ban and our continued support for the track workers."

Timothy Taylor, the staff director for Flynn, a Bridgewater Democrat, said he believes voters are already beginning to rethink their support for the ban.

"I think some people are getting buyers' remorse," Taylor said. "They're beginning to realize the dogs won't be treated as well again as they were in Raynham."

Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com