Your worst nightmare

Let’s imagine you have a loved family dog named Bella, who loves people, walks, food (especially cheese), and is generally pretty good with other dogs. You can’t imagine life without Bella, as she provides the family with lots of laughs and unconditional love.

Now imagine your lovely pet dog living like a racing greyhound in Australia. Let’s rename Bella by a catchy fictional racing name, “Loads of Fun”.  It’s race day and the trainer is getting your dog ready. She is up at 6:30 am and given breakfast in her kennel along with the other greyhounds. Loads of Fun is one of six dogs registered to race on this day. The dogs are put into their crates in the van and off they go on their 60 min trip to the track.  

The trainer had high expectations, but the results so far are a mixed bag.  The trainer has the following standings for their stable: 6^th, 3^rd, 5^th, 8^th and a 1^st, yay a win! Now it’s time for the race that Loads of Fun is entered in. She gets a reasonable start and is in the middle of the pack. The dogs are bunched and legs get tangled. Loads of Fun takes a fall at high speed and tumbles on the track. Her front legs break from the fall, and she screams in pain. Unfortunately, her place in the race is “DNF” (did not finish). The on-track Vet is called in to kill Loads of Fun to put her out of her misery.