Greyhound betting in Colorado will soon be a relic of the past.<\/p>\n
Gov. Jared Polis on Friday afternoon signed HB23-1041 into law, which will prohibit wagering on dog races conducted at out-of-state race tracks.<\/p>\n
Colorado hasn’t seen a greyhound race since 2008 and in 2014 officially banned the sport.<\/p>\n
But betting on dog racing continued here at off-track betting venues, which simulcast races occurring in states where it remained legal. Colorado gamblers placed more than $22.3 million on greyhound racing last year — the fifth-highest mark in the country.<\/p>\n
The bipartisan bill closes a loophole that has allowed Coloradans to bet on a sport that the state already had outlawed, bill sponsors said.<\/p>\n
“We’ve come full circle,” Rep. Monica Duran, a Jefferson County Democrat and House Majority leader, said Friday. “We’ve finally completed the job.”<\/p>\n
Christine A. Dorchak, president of Grey2k USA Worldwide, a nonprofit working to end greyhound racing said the bill signing “marks a victory for everyone in the state who cares about greyhounds.”<\/p>\n
The law will take effect Oct. 1, 2024.<\/p>\n
The legislation also creates a greyhound welfare and adoption fund, which will provide $75,000 in funding over the next three years before it’s repealed in 2026.<\/p>\n
Colorado becomes the fourth state in the past 18 months to outlaw or restrict simulcast and account wagering on greyhound racing, following Kansas, Oregon and Massachusetts.<\/p>\n
There are only two active tracks left in the United States — both in West Virginia. Forty-two states have banned dog racing, according to Grey2K, but the sport continues to be run in the United Kingdom and Mexico.<\/p>\n