Right now in Florida, the state mandates that a specific number of live greyhound races must be held at each greyhound racetrack in order for the track to offer more lucrative forms of gambling, such as slot machines and card tables. Decoupling would permit greyhound tracks to end live racing without affecting those other forms of gaming, thus making the ending of live greyhound racing more appealing to track owners. Decoupling has been widely discussed for several years and there were high hopes that this most recent legislation, Florida Senate Bill 7052 (http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2014/7052/BillText/__/PDF), would be the legislation that finally gave racetracks the option to end live racing at their tracks for good.

On Monday, February 24th, 2014, the Senate Gaming Committee presented Senate Bill 7052, which included 453 pages of legislative change to the Parimutuel Division. What it did not include was the promised decoupling. Now is our chance to make a really significant difference in reducing the number of greyhounds in an industry where they risk their lives every time they race or are simply euthanized because they are not fast enough. It's time for us to speak out LOUDLY and CLEARLY and QUICKLY to let Florida legislators know that decoupling must be put back into Senate Bill 7052! It has worked before and it can work again, but it will only work if you speak out instead of simply nodding your head in agreement. Please sign our petition if you feel decoupling should be put back into Senate Bill 7052.

Click the following link for an article that includes links to contact information for Florida state legislators:

http://www.ngap.org/greyhound-availability-y653.html