Amendment 13: What's next for greyhound racing in Florida?

LONGWOOD, Fla. — The voters have spoken by overwhelmingly supporting the phasing out greyhound racing in Florida, but not everyone was celebrating Wednesday.

The change will affect thousands of employees at racetracks statewide.

Groups that find homes for the greyhounds also say the amendment could harm the dogs they are intended to protect.

A banner outside Lyman High School reads "home of the greyhounds."

The school is across the street from the Sanford Orlando Kennel Club, which has held greyhound races for decades.

The dogs will soon have to find new homes and one adoption group has no idea where they are all going to go.

For the last 12 years, Carol Becker, president of God's Greyts Greyhound Group, has been helping racing greyhounds, such as Hunter, get adopted after their running days had ended.

Becker said that by passing Amendment 13, the fate of thousands of greyhounds will be thrust into uncertainty.

"Greyhound adoption groups right now in Central Florida, we are all working at capacity," she said. "To have tracks closing as soon as Jan. 1 is very scary to us."

With about 8,000 dogs in the state, Becker said she expects some of the state's 12 tracks to close much earlier than the 2020 deadline, something that could make finding new homes even harder.

"There is not enough time and money in a day to do that," she said.

Even if the adoption groups take on the task, Becker said they don't have room for thousands of dogs, and she worries too many will die in shelters.

"These dogs are not pets. We help them become pets in our greyhound adoption groups," she said. "They have special handling, special requirements. They run 40 miles an hour. You can't let them off of a leash."

Kate MacFall said she has a more optimistic outlook.

The Florida state director for the Humane Society of the United States and the co-chair of the Yes on 13 campaign said she believes all of the race tracks will honor the 2020 deadline and that the 26 months between now and then will take care of a lot of the rehoming.

"It stops the cycle, the flow of new dogs and displacing the retired ones who are lucky enough to make it out," she said.

Penn National Gaming, the owner of the Sanford Orlando Kennel Club, and Fred Guzman, the president of the Daytona Beach Racing and Card Club, both said that the passage of the amendment with affect their tracks, but they are committed to running the greyhounds as long as they are allowed.

They said they are exploring plans for the future.

Penn National Gaming provided Channel 9 with the following statement:

"We were disappointed by the decision of voters to ban a sport that has been in existence in this state for 80 years. This will have an obvious impact on our investment at Sanford Orlando Kennel Club and our 100 plus employees, some of whom have worked there for several decades. For now, it will be business as usual as we begin to contemplate our next steps."

Cox Media Group