Racing opponents look to place dogs

 In the wake of their historic win, opponents of greyhound racing in the state have begun building a bridge with officials in the industry with whom they’ve disagreed for years.

“The voters have spoken. Massachusetts citizens chose compassion over cruelty. Now is the time to focus on transferring out greyhounds and helping the workers,” said Christine A. Dorchak, co-chairperson for the Committee to Protect Dogs and president of GREY2K USA.

After narrowly failing in 2000 and being left off the ballot in 2006, Question 3 passed on Tuesday by more than 350,000 votes.

It will phase out dog racing over the next 14 months, a period opponents of the industry say should offer time for workers to find jobs.

While workers will be retrained to enter new fields before the Jan. 2010 deadline, the fate of the greyhounds rests with individual dog owners, who can race them in another state or put them up for adoption.

Two kennel operators at Raynham Park told Metro on Wednesday that they have no immediate plans. George Carney, longtime owner of the park, said he expects most of them to go elsewhere to race.

Regardless of the number that are left for adoption, officials are ready.

“The tracks have an adoption network and people waiting [to adopt], so I think a combined effort would find these dogs homes in a reasonable amount of time,” said Brian Adams, spokesman for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.