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Cover Stories Summer/Fall 2005 Geneva Lakes Racetrack
Announces December Closure Delavan, Wisconsin: Management at the Geneva Lakes Kennel Club announced in early September that the track would close its doors at the end of the year. Live racing will end Nov. 6 and wagering on simulcast races from other tracks will cease Dec. 31. According to Rich Pedersen, Racing Services Director for the Wisconsin Division of Gaming, 848 greyhounds were in the kennel compound as of Sept. 15. "The operation is simply not financially sustainable any longer," said Geneva Lakes general manager Milton Roth. The track and its 80-acre site may be put up for sale in the near future, Roth said. Roth blamed the decision to close on competition from the state's 11 tribal casinos and Gov. Jim Doyle's recent veto of video game-like machines that allow users to wager on previously run races. An audit of the track's 2003 and 2002 financial statements by Virchow Krause & Co. of Janesville raised "substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern" due to its "net losses, inability to service its debt and inability to extend the terms of its current financial arrangements." Greyhound Protection League president Susan Netboy faxed a letter to Peders-en Sept. 8, urging him to initiate measures to ensure the safety and welfare of the dogs. Netboy's recommendations included: compiling a list of all active and inactive racing dogs, continuous monitoring of the kennel compound and establishing a fund for food and veterinary expenses for the dogs until they could be placed with adoption groups. In a letter dated Sept. 12, Pedersen responded, "We are currently in the process of identifying every greyhound in the compound enabling us to track the movement of each dog." According to Dan Subach, the gaming division's chief steward, young greyhounds at the start of their racing careers will be moved to other tracks, including Dairyland Greyhound Park, the state's only surviving greyhound track of five that opened in 1990. Older dogs and less successful dogs will need to be placed with adoption groups. In 1990, Geneva Lakes wagering handle totaled $54 million. By 2004, the handle had fallen to $24 million.
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