National bill introduced that would halt West Virginia’s greyhound racing

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — A bill to ban greyhound racing, which has failed several times at the state level, was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives last week, and West Virginia’s representatives aren’t thrilled about it.

The bill, H.R. 3894, would amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit greyhound racing, live lure training and open field coursing. It was introduced in the House on June 7 and referred to the House Committee on Agriculture the same day, but no other action has been taken since.

Although it is a national bill, West Virginia is the only state with operational greyhound racing tracks. The Mardi Gras Casino & Resort near Charleston and the Wheeling Island Hotel Casino Racetrack are the only two left in the country after the Iowa Greyhound Park in Dubuque closed in 2022. The will would halt racing at those faculties and ban remote wagering on greyhound racing in the United States.

Supporters of the bill say that greyhound racing is a cruel and dying industry. According to Grey2K USA, an anti-greyhound racing activist group, more than 11,000 racing dogs have been killed or injured in West Virginia since 2008, and 666 were injured just in 2022.

However, because West Virginia is the only state affected, its representatives Alex Mooney (R-WV) and Carol Miller (R-WV) both have expressed that they believe the decision should be left to West Virginia instead of the federal government, according to Casino.org.

Rep. Alex Mooney sent 12 News the following statement on Thursday:

Greyhound racing has a rich history in the state of West Virginia. Decisions related to the future of dog tracks in the state should be made by the state government and the private sector.

According to the National Greyhound Association, West Virginia’s two dog-racing tracks handled more than $350 million worth of betting wagers in 2022.

H.R. 3894 is not the first attempt to ban greyhound racing, and several other attempts have been made at the state level. A state bill was introduced in January in the West Virginia House of Delegates to Eliminate the West Virginia Greyhound Breeding Development Fund, and before that, a bill to defund the fund was passed by the State House and Senate and then vetoed by Gov. Jim Justice in 2017. The State Senate also voted against a similar bill in 2020.