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Greyhound racing could be ending now that U.S. House has passed Farm Bill

WHEELING — A provision in the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 that passed the U.S. House on Thursday would criminalize greyhound racing nationwide.

That means the nation’s two remaining dog tracks — Wheeling Island Casino Hotel Racetrack and Mardi Gras Casino & Resort, both in West Virginia — could see greyhound racing come to an end unless the Senate intervenes.

The House passed H.R. 7567 by a 224-200 vote. Both of West Virginia’s representatives — Riley Moore, a Republican representing the 2nd District, and Carol Miller, a Republican representing the 1st District — voted in favor of the resolution.

Moore, whose district includes Wheeling, had offered an amendment earlier that would have exempted the tracks in West Virginia from the provision. That amendment was defeated 239-187. Miller voted for the amendment as well.

Moore expressed his disappointment in the amendment’s rejection when reached Thursday evening, as well as with House members on both sides of the aisle.

“I can sit here and tell you I was disappointed with the Democrats, but I’m just as disappointed with the Republicans,” he said. “I’m disappointed with everybody in this whole process.

“This is insane that we’re legislating on the federal level what is a state issue,” he continued. “It just does not make sense to me. It just feels like there’s this bizarre obsession in this town, Washington, D.C., with what people in West Virginia do for a living, whether it’s coal, greyhounds, natural gas, steel, whatever. It’s just really disheartening.”

Moore’s amendment had the support of organizations like the National Fraternal Order of Police and International Association of Firefighters, which said the amendment would protect funding for pension systems for West Virginia first responders.

“Revenue from these (West Virginia) tracks fund roughly 40% of the pensions for law enforcement officers and other first responders,” a letter from National FOP President Patrick Yoes read. “Specifically in Wheeling, these pensions receive approximately $255,000 annually through a revenue sharing agreement with the racetrack, which supports more than 300 active, retired or disabled law enforcement officers, other first responders and their surviving spouses.”

In ultimately voting for the bill, Moore said the larger overall bill had a lot of aspects that he considered good points, especially for farmers. He liked an amendment from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, that was passed that removed liability protections from companies that manufacture glyphosate-based pesticides like Roundup. He also supported a pilot program from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, called the Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act, which allows a slaughter facility to sell slaughtered meat and meat food products directly to consumers within the state in which the facility is located.

Groups opposed to greyhound racing applauded the vote.

“This is an historic victory for everyone who cares about dogs,” said GREY2K USA Worldwide Executive Director Carey Theil. “It is the result of years of hard work by grassroots advocates and greyhound rescuers. …

“The walls are closing in on this cruel industry. Greyhound racing is illegal in 44 states, and since 2022 gambling on greyhound racing has been outlawed in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Greyhound racing only exists in West Virginia because of subsidies totaling more than $19 million each year. The company that owns the final two dog tracks (Delaware North) wants out of racing, but is required by law to continue to subsidize the activity to maintain its casino licenses.”

But the financial impact to a city such as Wheeling could be massive.

Wheeling led the charge many years ago to protect greyhound racing in the state, as it creates jobs and produces revenue for the city.

“We’ve twice made the case to the Legislature on the importance of greyhound racing to our region,” Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said. “Our point is this should not (be) a matter for the federal government but for the state.”

Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, a longtime proponent of greyhound racing in West Virginia, expressed frustration over the lack of attention brought to the issue by West Virginia’s House members.

“To me, I didn’t feel like there was any push from our local representation to get on top of this, to secure the votes for the amendment” to allow greyhound racing to continue in West Virginia, Fluharty said. “That’s disappointing. It’s going to have a devastating impact, particularly on the Northern Panhandle, and we should have had our congressional delegation sounding the alarm.

“They never did. Hopefully Sen. (Shelley Moore) Capito and Sen. (Jim) Justice can deal with this in the Senate.”

Moore also had hope that the part of the larger bill banning greyhound racing can be removed through the Senate.

“(The ban) is not in their bill in the Senate,” Moore said. “There’s obviously going to be differences, and they’re going to go to conference over this bill. Not only that, but Sen. Justice sits on the Senate Agricultural Committee and is presumably a conferee in this process. So I think we still have a long way to go before this is a done deal.”

Capito discussed the greyhound ban during her video conference with West Virginia media Thursday, and reminded everyone that this was “just the first of many iterations of an agricultural bill.” She said she has been talking with Wheeling city officials about the pension funding that comes from race track revenues and she and Justice are ready to go to work on their side.

“I think it must have just bubbled up as they were marking the bill up just last week, so we’re on it,” she said. “We know what’s going on here. We want to be able to preserve the revenues that are coming in, so we’ll see what happens, and then we’ll face that over here in the Senate with Sen. Justice.”

Former Delegate Erikka Storch, R-Ohio, also worked for years to protect greyhound racing in the state. She, too, expressed disappointment with the potential for racing to end at West Virginia’s two race tracks.

“My primary concern would be for those families that might be affected — the jobs in our community and our state that greyhound racing provides,” Storch said. “I took every opportunity as a House member to understand this industry, to meet with the people that worked there, to go to the kennels, to meet with the breeders, to speak with the veterinarians, to really get a picture of what that industry looks like. It’s so strange to me that Congress is considering eliminating an entire industry.”

She also addressed the impact it would have throughout the state.

“It will negatively impact our municipalities and our counties, which receive money from racing. You also can’t discount the people that come here for the greyhounds. Without that, there’s really nothing to differentiate the casino in Wheeling from, say, The Meadows or The Rivers. That could really impact people traveling here.”

Wheeling Councilman Dave Palmer echoed the concerns with Congress’ involvement in a state issue.

“Why is the federal government telling the states what they can and cannot do? It’s hard to believe a provision to kill an industry that’s been legal for 100 years, they have to sneak it through a farm bill,” he said.

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