Dog lovers present signatures to ban dog racing in Mass.

REVERE-The local advocacy group pushing to prohibit dog racing presented 83,000 signatures to the Secretary of State on Wednesday morning.Christine Dorchak, co-chairperson of the Committee to Protect Dogs was expected to hand the signatures to William Galvin’s office with her greyhound “Zoe” by her side.Once Galvin certifies the signatures, the measure will be presented to the state legislature for consideration on the November 2008 ballot. Advocates hope to ban dog racing at Massachusetts’ two live racing tracks by 2010.If voters approve the question then the ban would effectively end all live racing at Revere’s Wonderland Greyhound Race Track and the Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Race Track in southeastern Massachusetts.The proposed ban comes at a time when the future of Wonderland and its 600 employees is anything but certain.The Item reported on Tuesday that Wonderland President Richard Dalton is pushing ahead with plans to build a casino on the site with funding from world famous businessman Donald Trump. However, the plan will certainly face several hurdles since Gov. Deval Patrick wants to limit the number of casinos built in the Bay State in the likely event that casino gambling becomes legal.Dog advocates say more than 700 dogs have been injured while racing in Massachusetts over the past five years, including dogs that suffered broken legs, cardiac arrest, spinal cord paralysis and a broken neck. Nearly 80 percent of these injuries involved broken bones.They also say thousands of dogs endure lives of nearly endless confinement at the two Massachusetts race tracks, kept in small cages barely large enough for them to stand up or turn around for long hours each day.Both track owners have denied any animal mistreatment.