The Alumni and Development Office for UT held a scholarship night at Tampa Greyhound on Oct. 18. Proceeds from the $15 per person and $25 per couple entrance fees go to UT scholarships, according to the posting on the UT website.

A scholarship night for fundraising is a great idea and fundraising is important to any university, but fundraising at a greyhound track is simply a poor choice. Nearly 20,000 dogs are killed each year as a result of greyhound racing, according to the Greyhound Protection League. Only sixteen out of 50 states have legalized greyhound racing and unfortunately Florida is one of them. Florida has 16 greyhound racetracks, five times more than any other state, according to The Humane Society of the United States.

Since greyhound racing is not discussed in the Animal Welfare Act, the industry itself is the primary source of regulation. Excessive breeding, destruction of “unwanted animals,” and general treatment of living in close conditions are several of the inhumane processes that plague greyhound racing as an activity. As practice, more animals are bred than necessary, which means excess animals are often killed.

Death might be humane when the other choice is to spend the majority of their lives in a kennel or crate. When dogs are no longer useful and are “retired,” they are placed in adoption programs, but finding homes for all of the animals is impossible and many of them must be destroyed as a result.

In the United States we consider dogs our domesticated friends; why should greyhounds be an exception? If we saw an article about dogs being inhumanely treated, starved, kept in small cages, how is that more deserving of a reaction than the senseless death of greyhounds because they are not as qualified for racing as another greyhound?

For the University of Tampa to hold a fundraising function in such a place is an endorsement of an activity that poses significant harm to animals and is a black mark on the state of Florida and the institution.