Like millions of other Americans, the citizens of Massachusetts like dogs. Half a million families in the state currently welcome dogs into their homes. To judge by the conversations I have every day with passersby who stop on the street to pet my dog, many more people yearn to live with a dog companion but are prevented by lack of time or space or by unsympathetic landlords.

I regularly talk to people about dogs because they are curious about my dog. Hope is a rescued greyhound. As delicate and graceful as a fawn, she receives compliments from her admirers gravely, with a slight wave of the tail. To some people she seems exotic, a little strange, perhaps not quite like other dogs. They want to know if she needs to run a lot. (No, greyhounds are very quiet dogs.) How is she with children? (Very small, pre-verbal kids love to pet her.) How about cats? (Hope is fine with cats, although it must be said that not all greyhounds are.)

Not exotic

I suspect that the very fact that greyhounds look different from most dogs is one reason that the dog-loving voters of Massachusetts have tolerated the cruelty of greyhound racing for decades. Track owners have exploited that misconception, and of course it's a myth. Greyhounds are not at all exotic.

They are just regular dogs, like the labrador or chihuahua next door. If that labrador or chihuahua were treated the way racing greyhounds are treated at the track, you can be sure that the neighbors would be up in arms. The Greyhound Protection Act, which will appear on the November ballot as Question 3, will phase out greyhound racing by 2010.

It is sponsored by the MSPCA, the oldest and most respected animal welfare organization in Massachusetts. Other sponsors and supporters include the Animal Rescue League, the Humane Society of the United States, greyhound protection group GREY2K USA and all the major animal shelters in the state.

For many years, through a combination of disinformation and secretiveness, the racing industry was able to hide the facts about greyhound racing from the public.

They are still at it, but now they are up against some hard truths. To begin with, newly available photos taken by the tracks themselves show the pitifully small space in which a racing greyhound is confined. Because each track needs a population of about a thousand dogs, and because space is limited, the dogs are warehoused in stacked tiers of cages.

The regulation size of a cage is 32 inches wide, 42 inches deep, and 34 inches high, barely large enough for the dog to lie down or turn around.

A large greyhound who stands 30 inches at the shoulder cannot raise his head if he stands in his cage. Greyhounds spend 20 hours a day in those cages from the day they begin racing, typically at 18 months, until they retire. Hope lived in one until she was four.

Then there are the injuries. Thanks to a law passed in 2001, the state's two greyhound tracks are required to report every injury suffered during a race. The reports are public records, signed by track veterinarians under the pains and penalties of perjury. They reveal that from 2002 to the present more than 800 greyhounds have suffered racing injuries. Track owners claim that these injuries are "minor," but in fact the records show that nearly 80 percent of those injuries are broken legs. Other injuries include paralysis, seizures, cardiac arrest, broken necks and head trauma.

Only 13 states still have greyhound tracks. It is time for Massachusetts to join the vast majority of states where this cruel industry is illegal. To see a photo of a cage at Wonderland and to find out more, go toProtectDogs.org. And when you cast your ballot in November, please vote YES on Question 3.

PAULA BLANCHARD is co-chairperson of the Committee to Protect Dogs.