What’s next for Kennel Club if Amendment 13 passes?
If Florida voters pass Amendment 13, the greyhound racing ban, what will happen the Sanford Orlando Kennel Club, its 110 employees and — most importantly to some — the thousands of greyhounds that race there?
In a sometimes-ugly debate pitting two groups that defy party affiliation — Republican State Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida both support the ban, for instance — getting consensus on those answers is tricky. But interviews and research of state records reveal the following:
What happens to the dogs?
It’s a question being raised mostly by the No on 13 campaign, whose supporters have suggested that dogs may be euthanized if the measure passes — an accusation many observers reject.
Carey Theil, executive director of GREY2K USA, one of the primary backers of the racing ban, calls it a blatant scare tactic, noting that the amendment allows the tracks two years to phase out operations.
“So let me get this straight — the tracks have this great adoption rate, and they have waiting lists [to adopt], but if this passes they’re going to kill their dogs?” said Carey, referring to previous claims by the Greyhound Racing Association of America that more than 90 percent of retired greyhounds are either adopted as pets or returned to their owners for breeding. “In reality, Amendment 13 is an opportunity to help thousands of greyhounds find loving homes.”
But Mitch Cohen, the Longwood track’s general manager, said there are 8,000 dogs statewide that would be “put at risk” if the ban were to pass — although state records show the number of dogs racing in Florida has dropped below 5,000 in recent months.
“Sadly, there is no conceivable way to adopt out this many greyhounds in the time frame laid out in Amendment 13,” Cohen said. “The adoption groups will try their best,” but some dogs could end up in shelters that will euthanize them, he said.
Richard Drummond, a Longwood city commissioner since last year and security manager for the track for six years, said he does not foresee any dogs being euthanized. But Drummond, who opposes the ban and said it could cost him a job personally, does have concerns about the quality of homes the dogs could go to.
“There’s a huge demand for greyhounds,” he said. “The problem is having the distribution network in place to have the dogs adopted out. The adoption agencies that are out there now for greyhounds are very particular about the families that they send them to. They do a lot of background work” to check on prospective adopters.
What happens to the business?
The Sanford Orlando Kennel Club is the thirdlargest employer in Longwood, with about 110 employees. Opened in 1935, it is now one of only a dozen active greyhound racing sites statewide. And Florida is one of only six states where the dogs still race.
Unlike every other track in Florida, Sanford Orlando Kennel Club does not have a card room — a far more lucrative draw than greyhound racing. That means it depends solely on the live racing of dogs and the simulcast racing in its clubhouse, where people bet on greyhounds, thoroughbreds and harness racing from around the country.
The club appealed to the Longwood City Commission to discuss allowing a card room, but that issue would have to be approved by Seminole County voters, at the least. If another ballot measure — Amendment 3 — passes, it would require statewide voter approval for any new gambling operations.
In 2017, Cohen said a card room of 30 tables would generate an extra $100,000 in tax revenues for the city of Longwood and another 100 or more jobs. That seems unlikely now.
Without it, and without dog racing, “it would no doubt be a major challenge to remain open. … One hundred-plus employees … would be at risk, the $100,000 in tax revenues we generate for Longwood would go away, and the $75,000-plus we donate to local charities … would also go away,” he said.
That is, however, a worstcase scenario.
Simulcast racing could continue to keep the club in business, though most agree it would likely not have as many employees or generate the same level of profit.
That’s what has happened in Massachusetts’ Raynham Park, where a 2010 ban on greyhound racing led the track to revamp its business model. Like Sanford Orlando, Raynham Park also lacks a card room, something owner George Carney is hoping to change.
But even without one, Carney, now 90, said it has been “very successful.”
“When we were voted out, we had to stop doing dog racing of course, which people loved,” he said. “But I take simulcasting from different dog tracks [in other states], and we also take horse racing. It has worked out. We keep a lot of people working, and we have a lot of people come to the track.”
Current employees number between 75 and 100, he said. At its heyday a few decades ago, the track had over 400.
What about tax money from the track?
The state’s former director of pari-mutuel wagering, which includes greyhound racing, said he believes it now costs more money to regulate the greyhound industry than the industry pays in taxes, although he said the numbers are hard to pin down. Locally, Sanford Orlando generates about $100,000 a year for the city of Longwood, which has a budget of $48 million.
“So it’s not huge, but there would still be an impact on the city,” Drummond said. “We’re in the process of replacing septic tanks with sewer systems, and those run into the tens of millions of dollars. Just the salaries we have alone run about $30 million.”
But in an op-ed in March, lobbyists for the Florida Greyhound Association claimed the amendment’s passage would require the state to compensate track owners for the fair market value of all real and personal property as well as millions in legal fees.
Supporters of the ban contend that, even if that were true, it’s still more important to stop a practice that has led to the deaths of more than 483 dogs in the past five years, injuries to scores more and doping scandals involving cocaine and steroids.
Couldn’t the track be used for horse racing?
Cohen and Drummond agree the answer is no, at least for thoroughbreds. The track is too small to accommodate the horses.
But the track does sit on a large chunk of land, which could be sold if Penn National Gaming, the corporate owner, should decide to do so.
Cohen said that conversation is premature.
“We haven’t discussed our future at Sanford Orlando Kennel Club if 13 was to pass as of yet,” he said.