I’ve been hearing some commercials for a Peter Noone/Herman’s Hermits concert that is tomorrow, and it’s at a place called Twin River, in Lincoln, RI. It used to be called Lincoln Park, and was primarily known as a greyhound racing track. That right there makes it a VERY evil place, because I am vehemently against the cruelty of that so-called *sport*.
It’s not as awful as dog-fighting, but it’s still pretty bad. Dogs that don’t win are often destroyed, unless one of the many greyhound rescue places steps in. I guess they have some sort of performance management system in place, to keep track of who does and doesn’t win. That would be well and good, but do they really have to mistreat the dogs (they keep them in these little tiny pens when they are not racing)? And do they have to destroy them for not winning?
Anyhoo, the place has been revamped and renamed, with more emphasis on the casino, restaurants and entertainment, and less on the dog racing thing.
Mike and I went to see Peter Noone/Herman’s Hermits in concert several years ago, it was a free concert put on by the local oldies station. Peter Noone is really funny, he puts on a great live show. You probably know who Herman’s Hermits are, even if you’re not as old as I am…they had hits like “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter”, ‘There’s A Kind Of Hush”, “I’m Into Something Good”, and my personal favorite, “I’m Henry the VIII I Am” (SECOND VERSE, SAME AT THE FIRST! 
)
But no, we will NOT be going to that show, because I went to the Twin River website to see if they still had dog racing, and sure enough, they do. Sorry, but I refuse to spend a penny at any place that still has this awful *sport*. No can do.
I’m hoping that it will be banned in Massachusetts this year. It was a ballot question here in 2000, but it lost, because of the track owners who cried poverty if their tracks got shut down. This is a HUGE pile of crap…the guy who owned Wonderland up in Revere, at the time, Charles Sarkis, also owns the Back Bay Restaurant Group, which no doubts rakes in a LOT more cash than the track ever did. No way was he ever starving! I blame him for the 2000 question getting defeated, and even though he’s since sold the track (to the guy who owns the only other track in MA, , in Rayhnam), I will NEVER forgive him. I started boycotting his restaurants when I first found out that he owned a dog track, and I will probably continue to do so forever.
Grey2KUSA, who sponsored the question the first time, has managed to get it on the ballot again for this November. Damn straight I’ll be voting for the ban. To learn more about the harsh realities of dog racing, I urge you to visit the Grey2KUSA website, it might well open your eyes to stuff you never knew about before!
So, no Herman’s Hermits concert for us! At least not at this time.
