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Group seeks legislation to end W.Va. dog racing

Charleston Gazette-Mail photo by Bonnie Jo Mount of The Washington Post Greyhound racing in Nitro and at Wheeling Island Racetrack (shown here) could come to an end if legislation backed by the anti-greyhound racing group Grey2K USA is approved.
Charleston Gazette-Mail photo by Bonnie Jo Mount of The Washington Post
Greyhound racing in Nitro and at Wheeling Island Racetrack (shown here) could come to an end if legislation backed by the anti-greyhound racing group Grey2K USA is approved.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It was no coincidence that the national board of directors of anti-greyhound racing organization Grey2K USA selected Charleston for its annual meeting.

“This is a top state for us, absolutely,” President Christine Dorchak said Monday, as the board closed out a three-day retreat in Charleston’s East End.

Board members — some who came from as far away as New Mexico — spent the weekend at the Brass Pineapple bed and breakfast, a half-block from the state Capitol — where they hope legislation will be passed during the 2016 session to eliminate greyhound racing at racetrack casinos in Nitro and Wheeling.

“We’re very hopeful this session,” Dorchak said. “We think the time has come in West Virginia.”

While Grey2K USA is a humane association focused on the welfare of greyhounds, Dorchak said the board members recognize that legislation to end greyhound racing in West Virginia will primarily be driven by financial concerns.

During the 2015 regular session, time ran out on negotiations on legislation introduced in the Senate to eliminate the provision in state law that requires the two racetrack casinos to offer greyhound racing, while providing a multi-million dollar buyout to current greyhound owners and breeders.

On Monday, Sen. Chris Walters, R-Putnam, told the board members that an agreed-to bill will be ready on the first day of the 2016 session…

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