Some Iowa greyhound owners skeptical about deal

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - Some Iowa greyhound owners are skeptical about a measure approved by the Legislature that would make millions of dollars available to the industry in return for closing one dog-racing track and changing ownership of another.

The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports (https://bit.ly/1jibglC ) some greyhound owners are distrustful of the Iowa Greyhound Association board members who negotiated the agreement. They think little of the $72 million agreed to in the deal will go to small operators who could use the money most.

The Legislature approved the measure this week and it awaits the signature of Gov. Terry Branstad.

The measure would end greyhound racing in Council Bluffs but allow dog owners to continue operating a track in Dubuque.

The agreement requires casinos that have long-subsidized the dog racing tracks to pay $72 million. Half the money would support the Iowa Greyhound Association’s effort to operate racing in Dubuque and the remainder would be available to no-kill adoption shelters and greyhound owners dealing with the reduced racing.

The legislation doesn’t specify how the money would be distributed to greyhound owners but notes that anyone who earned racing purse payments from 2010 to 2014 would be eligible for payments.

Some dog owners said they fear payments will be distributed based on past racing performance, which could send most of the money to large, profitable kennels, including some owned by people on the association board. According to figures provided to the Telegraph Herald by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, three board members have received race purse payouts ranging from $1.2 million to more than $2 million during the 2011 and 2012 racing seasons.

“That is ridiculous. That is not a soft landing. That is a retirement fund,” said Melissa Schmidt, a kennel owner from Bellevue. “Those people have already earned that money from racing dogs. It’s double-dipping.”

John Filipelli, a greyhound kennel owner from Council Bluffs, has similar concerns.

“The way it’s balanced out to pay out, it’s covering about four or five board members to make (millions of dollars) in the whole thing,” he said. “It’s just not set up the way it should be to cover everybody.”

The measure gives the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission authority for establishing a payment process.

Brian Ohorilko, the commission’s administrator, said the panel won’t agree to a process until the governor signs the bill. If that happens, the commission will give the public a chance to comment before approving a payment system.

“We would get that input and handle it like we would any other time we adopt a rule, which is obviously to send it out to all stakeholders and get input from all parties, have all of those discussions at public commission meetings prior to passing any rules,” Ohorilko said.

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Information from: Telegraph Herald, https://www.thonline.com