(1. Attention Step)
“Imagine a best friend who is as wise as Soloman, graceful as a swallow,
and swift as a ray of light.
Imagine a best friend who never complains and is always cheerful.
Imagine receiving unconditional love and acceptance under any
circumstance.
Imagine a best friend who would never lie to you, would never hurt you.
Imagine a best friend who is a professional athlete, can no longer perform,
and for this reason your best friend is killed. Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t
it? Not so unbelievable if your best friend is a greyhound dog.
(2. Need/Problem)
Greyhound racing in America is big business. The majority of greyhounds
are bred for two primary reasons—profit and entertainment.
Millions of people go to the racetracks every day to meet friends and place
bets. These people are having a good time at the races at the expense of
these gentle creatures.
Ask yourselves, do the spectators realize the price these animals have to pay
for an evening of meaningless entertainment?
The breeders warehouse a large inventory of greyhounds.
They selectively breed their strongest and most promising racing dogs.
An average greyhound litter consists of 15 to 18 puppies.
Early on, the breeders identify the most promising racers and will often cull
the rest of the litter. Webster defines cull as “something rejected from a
group or lot as worthless or inferior.” In layman’s terms, cull means kill.
The surviving puppies are tattooed on the inside of their ears. On one little
ear they tattoo the date of birth, on the other little ear they tattoo the litter
number. The dogs are maintained in crowded outdoor pens with dirt floors.
They are not socialized or given any affection or attention. They are let out
only to run. As they grow and mature, the faster dogs are selected and the
remainder are either neglected or destroyed.
The survivors live a life in the kennel, except for the brief moments when
they race. The career of the best racers is about five years. When it is no
longer profitable to keep these dogs, they either starve to death, or are
destroyed. Over 50,000 greyhounds were killed this year! We have to do
something.
(3. Solution)
I found a light at the end of this dark tunnel
Greyhound Pets of America (the GPA) is a nonprofit organization that
rescues retired racers and cares for them in their facility. The ultimate goal
of the GPA is to find a suitable and loving home for each dog. To do this
the GPA first evaluates the health of the dogs. The dogs are treated for any
medical problems. Once they are healthy, they are vaccinated and neutered.
Most dogs spend time in a foster home where their individual characteristics
and temperament can be identified to ensure a good fit with a family.
Adopting families are encouraged to bring the entire family (including
family pets) to meet all of the greyhounds. The family is able to take
individual greyhounds out to the fenced in yard to get acquainted and to
make sure everyone gets along. The GPA has been placing retired racers in
loving homes for many years. Let’s hope that continues for many more.
(4. Visualization)
The information I am sharing with you did not all come from research. Most
of it came from my personal experience. I first learned about the troubles
and abuse of these animals a couple of years ago while I was sitting in SAC
reading a magazine article. I read about a brave greyhound named “Bill”.
He had been a champion greyhound who had won hundreds of thousands of
dollars in prize money. At his last race before retirement, which also
happened to be the championship, he came in an embarrassing fourth place.
His owners dragged him into the back and poured scalding hot water on him.
They left him in a cage for seven days with no food or water. When he was
found, his entire left side was badly burned and infected. The vitamin
deficiency caused such a serious case of rickets that he could not even stand.
Both of his back legs had been badly broken. After months of medical
attention and recuperation, he was finally put up for adoption. The author of
the article, who was also a volunteer at the GPA, adopted Bill and brought
him home to her seven other greyhounds.
On the way home, she worried about how her dominant male greyhound
“Roy” was going to treat Bill. Roy was her first greyhound. In the past,
every time she brought home a new greyhound, Roy tested each one of them
to ensure his dominant position. That’s why she was so worried—because
of Bill’s weak condition. When she walked into the house with Bill at her
side, Roy was right there to greet her and check out the new dog. Roy just
stood and stared at this weak and abused animal. Then he just turned and
walked into the bedroom. The author had never seen Roy act this way.
Then Roy walked out dragging his bed with a raw hide bone. He dropped
his bed next to Bill, who plopped down and started chewing on the rawhide.
Roy laid down next to Bill and ever since then, they have been inseparable.
After I read that article, I decided to take action. I did some research and
found out there’s a GPA right here in Houston. I went down there to meet
the dogs and learn as much about them as possible. While interviewing
volunteers and spending time with the greyhounds, I experienced first hand
just what wonderful pets greyhound dogs can be.
I talked it over with my family and it was decided, we were getting a
greyhound. I walked into the GPA for a second time, but this time with my
family. This time I wasn’t just looking around. This time, I was adopting.
Choosing my greyhound was a memorable experience. There were so many
friendly, beautiful greyhounds to choose from. After spending time with all
their greyhounds, I finally selected a small black and white female named
Midnight. We didn’t feel bad leaving the other greyhounds. We knew the
GPA will keep them until they are placed in homes. The GPA will not put
the dogs down, no matter what the circumstances. Midnight has been a part
of our family for over three years now. We don’t regret it for a single
minute. We couldn’t have chosen a better breed of dog. Like all other
greyhounds, Midnight is gentle and affectionate. She is intelligent and is
always eager to please the ones she loves. Her favorite thing is to just lay
down and curl up right next to you with her head on your lap.
(5. Challenge)
Bill and Midnight were both given a chance to retire in loving homes. They
are perfect examples of what excellent, loving pets these noble dogs can be.
For as long as it is profitable, there will be greyhound races.
For as long as there are greyhound races, there will be dogs waiting for
adoption.
(Strawman)
I have given you countless good reasons to adopt a greyhound. Can you
give me one good reason not to?”
Bibliography
Barnes, Julia. The Complete Book of Greyhounds. New York: Howell
Book House. 1984
The Complete Dog Book. 18th edition. New York: Howell Book House,
1992.
Internet: www.houstongpa.com
(Written by a 9th grade student of mine while in SAC. I added the
parenthetical analysis—please don’t read those aloud. I require 3 researched
sources and want them referred to in the speech, instead of just listed in a
tacked on bibliography. But, remember, this student was in SAC and was
not in class for any instruction or to deliver his speech which is why it had to
be a manuscript speech. I gave him my persuasive packet—which leads a
student to outline a speech persuasively according to a motivated sequence
and include all 10 motive appeals. I also gave him a copy of the Matt Vogel
speech to use as a model. Feel free to use this greyhound dog speech as a
model for your persuasive speech students. Please only use this speech for
your HS Comm. App. classes. We don’t want our students complaining that
they already heard this speech in another class.)