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Albuquerque Journal, Dec. 10, 2009
By Monica García
Communications Manager, Animal Protection of New Mexico
A controversy over Eastern New Mexico University’s acquisition of two greyhounds who will act as university mascots has only grown louder in the months since the school announced it would obtain them. ENMU took possession of the dogs on Dec. 1.
Animal advocates, greyhound advocacy organizations and many ENMU students have attempted to elicit humane reasoning from university leadership with regard to numerous concerns over how the mascots, now named Vic and Tory, are being maintained. ENMU’s responses to thoughtful objections have been vague, all-purpose assurances that raise more questions than they answer.
One issue in particular is raising the level of alarm: ENMU is not even attempting to find a permanent home for the dogs.
Two Animal Protection of New Mexico staffers met with ENMU President Steven Gamble in mid-November to again pose questions sent originally in a letter e-mailed one week before the meeting. Specific questions were met with frank uncertainty, or with ambiguous assertions that the dogs would be well-cared for.
APNM discovered that those in the ENMU community enamored of the idea of having live mascots had not given substantive thought to preparing for their arrival.
APNM asked Gamble if ENMU had tried to find a home for the dogs. He said no. Asked why not, he indicated the student body president was enthusiastic about taking care of the dogs. Will that student commit to keeping the dogs when he moves on?
The university has talked a good game about how Tory and Vic will be attended to, and walked, by “hound handlers” made up of junior and senior students. Still, as of this week, ENMU has not chosen those caretakers.
The buzz on campus is that not enough senior and junior students applied to help, and now applications will be accepted from any student.
ENMU responded to media interest in the dogs by arranging informal interviews with one of the caregivers. On Dec. 4, CBS and NBC news reporters got to see the cramped office space in the ENMU Agriculture Department Annex building where the dogs will spend the bulk of their days, before returning to the cramped, oncampus apartment where two roommates will keep the dogs at night.
Student caregivers may be well-intentioned, and may even grow to love the dogs, but when push comes to shove nobody is attending ENMU to learn how to take care of greyhounds.
An ENMU spokesperson told one TV news reporter that the dogs would have been euthanized if they had not taken them.
In this country, healthy greyhounds are not automatically euthanized when it’s time for them to retire, or when tracks are shut down. Even if the dog racing industry irresponsibly creates the glut of animals that will need homes after a couple of years on the track, ethical dog rescue groups would never settle for an unstable living arrangement for the dogs they place.
ENMU will count on Tory and Vic to raise school spirit in numerous venues for years to come. Where is the reciprocal benefit of someone coming forward to commit his or her home to the security, consistency and care that dogs crave? ENMU’s brand new mascots are already being treated like an inconvenience.
To review a fact from Dogs 101: Dogs are pack animals. Dogs want to be with human caretakers with whom they form permanent bonds. They need the consistency of forever. It is not acceptable that these dogs be relegated to living with one generation of junior or senior students after another, and be forced to absorb the stress and severe upset every few semesters over the disappearances of their human caregivers.
Students will likely enjoy taking care of the mascot dogs, and may even be great caretakers for an hour or two at a time. However, there will be times when consistency of care will slip. Inevitably, a student will have to make a choice over cramming a little more for an exam or walking the mascots. At some point, proofing a paper or sleeping in may seem more important than feeding the dogs.
The damage potential is complex and growing. Who will step forward to prevent it before it’s too late?
If Vic and Tory will be expected to do something for the sports fans of ENMU, the very least that ENMU can do for them is to give them a permanent home with a real family.
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