Don't get us wrong - we love wiener races. They are a great opportunity to spend quality time with your Dachshund, have fun getting their attention them from 50 feet away, and seeing whose Dachshund can dash down that track the fastest for a ball, a toy, or a piece of fried chicken. Wiener races are truly entertaining for kids of all ages, and they are a great way to socialize your dog.
When wiener races go bad is when there is any talk whatsoever of them being organized as a public exhibition - whether for wagering at a racing facility, or where the Dachshund's human is not directly involved with the racing to ensure the safety of their charge. We've covered a bit of this in When Wiener Races Go Bad.
In our opinion, wiener races also go bad when the Dachshunds race on ice. Obviously, Dachshunds are prone to having some sort of back issue or IVDD problem, and we see no reason to push the envelope by asking them to run at full speed across a slippery surface of ice. It's a no-brainer.
We know that many of our readers feel the same way, but finally some folks in Huntsville, Alabama, are doing something about it with a boycott of the Havoc game. Excerpt from ABC31:
The Huntsville Havoc will host a wiener dog race on the ice this Saturday as they try to raise money for the Ryan Newman Foundation. However, Dachshund owners say that’s a bad idea.
Karen Borden is the president of Dixie Dachshund Rescue. She says, “I think it's a great fundraising event, weiner races. But, I was really upset with the environment that it was going to be held in.”
Borden says running the dogs on ice is dangerous because the breed is already prone to back problems. She says, “Because of the overbreeding that has gone on, many are born with the propensity to have blown discs or bad disks.”
Valley residents are so upset, they have created a page on Facebook encouraging folks to boycott this weekend’s game. They say it endangers and exploits the breed. However, not everyone agrees with the boycott. Melissa Horne is a Veterinarian at the Animal Care Clinic in Huntsville. She says, “As long as they're not having any problems and don't have a history of problems, there shouldn't be any reason they can't participate.”
On Tuesday, Ashley Balch, the HAVOC's Vice President issued a statement addressing the safety concerns. HE SAYS "The race will take place at the first intermission, after the ice has been cut-up by the player's skates for a full period and is no longer very slick to the people or the dogs."
If the surface is not slick, Dr. Horne says running should not be a risk. “If it's agility or something like that where they're going up ramps and things like that then that may not be the best exercise for them,” she says.
We're thrilled that someone is finally speaking up about Dachshund races on ice, and we challenge all Dachshund Lovers to set up public boycotts of such events in your area. Here's the facebook page for this boycott: Boycott Huntsville Havoc Game - Endangering and Exploiting Dachshunds.
Just a few weeks ago, there were wiener races on ice at a Knoxville Ice Bears hockey game. The youtuber notes: In the second heat, watch for a guy in a blue shirt to wipe out. And in the final race watch the bottom of the screen for two dogs to crash. Hilarious!
Not really.
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