b'The Day I Learned toFight for Greyhoundsby Christine A. Dorchak, Esq.My path to becoming a lawyer for greyhounds began with a came when I was asked to join a group of protesters outsidenear fatal accident in 1992. Thanks to a collision with a speed- WonderlandGreyhoundParkinRevere.Ihadneverevening train, my life literally changed course and I found myself heard of dog racing before. But when I found out that twoentering a strange new thousanddogswereworld of animal advo- beingheldintiny,cacy, politics and per- stackedmetalcagessonal exploration. insidedarkwarehous-Earlyonemorn- es, and made to run foring while walking my their livesI felt com-dogKelsey,Iwas pelled to do whatever Istruckbyoneof couldtofreethem.Bostonshistorictrol- Now that Kelsey and Ileycars.Somehow, were on the mend, weKelseymanagedto Campaigning in Miami becameregularsatpull us slightly offside, racetrack rallies and wepreventingahead-on Campaigning in Jacksonville even tried to pass a billcollisionandsaving onBeaconHill.Butboth our lives. When I nothing changed.awoke from my coma, In 2000, the finalmyfirstwordswere, piece fell into place. IHowsKelsey?In decidedtobecomeafact, my brave girl had lawyerandvolunteersuffered a broken hip foraproposedvoterthatday,butwasto Campaigning in Tampa questiontooutlawthrive until the age of dogracing.Ballotfifteen,dyingjusta The culmination of years of lobbying for the Greyhounds in Tallahassee resulted in Question3lostbyfew days before I fin- a victory at the polls on November 6, 2018. Vote Yes 13 supported prohibiting 51%-49%thatyear,ishedlawschoolin wagering on live dog races in Florida. GREY2K USA held campaign rallies across andwhilesome2005.the state. Sixty-nine percent of Florida voters voted yes with 5,407,543 votes. walkedaway,CareyFacing severe cognitive loss and great physical disability, I Theil and I decided to keep fighting. After all, the dogs werefound myself strapped down to a rotating therapeutic bed in still waiting for help and could know nothing about a failedthe ICU of Beth Israel Hospital. Kelsey was all I could remem- election.Withnewly-availablepublicrecordsinhand,weber, and I knew in my heart that she had saved our lives. I learned that a racing greyhound was injured every three days,vowed that if I should ever walk again, I must return the favor: suffering broken necks and legs, spinal cord paralysis, seizures,I promised to devote my days to rescuing dogs.head injuries and more. Of the dogs that survived, some wereBut how?released for adoption, but most were sent to race elsewhere orI began volunteering here and there, but the answer finally simply handed over for medical experimentation.46 THE NEW BARKER www.TheNewBarker.com'