First they came for the Greyhounds.

Florida, a state where people eat each others faces on Highway on-ramps, made the decision last night to ban betting on Greyhounds by 2021.

Florida Approves Constitutional Amendment to Ban Greyhound Racing. WSVN.com

In Florida amendments need 60% of the votes to pass, Prop 13 passed with approximately 69% of the popular vote. In fact, it appears that the only Florida proposal not to pass was the one to increase the homestead exemption.

So super-majorities of Floridians agree on increasing taxes, restoring voting rights to felons and ending dog racing.

"Bah, this is just Florida" you might be tempted to say, "there's no way this can bleed into other, sane, states."

You would be wrong.

Since most Greyhound racing was centered in Florida it's more than likely this decision signals the death knell for the sport.  Granted, given the way the industry policed itself (Dogs with cocaine in their system, poor kenneling conditions, deaths, etc.) there's an argument to be made that it's an industry whose end is due.  This doesn't change the fact that hundreds, if not thousands, of dogs are going to be euthanized now, or that many people are going to find themselves unemployed due to circumstances some of them had no control over.

I've not bet Greyhounds in many years, but that doesn't mean I want to live in a world where Greyhound racing doesn't exist.

A more immediate concern for many should be how this could potentially impact horse racing. Because we're in a time where the idiots from PeTA are starting to hold-sway over even right-thinking people when it comes to sport and especially animal sports.

If horse racing is next in Florida?  Some people might say 'no big deal' but it would be because the Nation's most important track (Gulfstream) is housed there, as is Tampa Bay Downs and others of less importance but still note-worthy.

It becomes incumbent on horse-racing leadership to clean up the rough edges of the sport, to get a handle on doping, to not allow trainers to run animals that are in dodgy physical condition and to work to limit life-threatening injuries.

Only through efforts such as this will horse racing survive.