urning back an emotion-fueled crusade for animal rights, voters late yesterday appeared to narrowly reject a ballot measure that would have banned dog racing in Massachusetts.
''I'm still a firm believer in waiting until the votes are in,'' said Glenn Totten, a spokesman for the pro-racing Massachusetts Animal Interest Coalition. ''But I would at least say that we are optimistic. ... There's still a chunk of vote out, but the prediction is probably valid.''
A razor-thin margin persisted against Question 3 throughout the evening. But with a good portion of the state still not reporting results by midnight, the initiative's backers said the vote was too close to determine the measure's fate.
''I'd rather be them than us right now, but I don't think this is over by any means,'' said Carey Theil, a spokesman for Grey2K, the group formed to support the ban.
If the vote split stands, greyhound racetracks - which have been legal in the state for 65 years - will be able to stay open. That would mean that about 1,200 people employed by tracks, kennels, and breeders in Massachusetts will keep their jobs, Totten said.
The final hours of the tight race were busy for both sides, with pro- and anti-racing forces fanning out across the state to plead their cases directly with voters. Supporters and opponents of the initiative both said they had more than 1,000 volunteers working yesterday, and each side brought along greyhounds to help make its points.
The two sides paint starkly different pictures of those dogs' lives. Proponents of the ban say that racing dogs live only a few malnourished and diseased years before being put down when they're no longer profitable. Defenders of greyhound racing say the animals are fed well and treated with care until they retire from racing, when many are adopted.
Tart exchanges between leaders of both sides marked the last days of the campaign. They accused each other of trying to deceive the voters, and one track owner sued the initiative's backers for running ads he said are untrue.
Several recent polls showed yes and no voters in a statistical dead heat. After the polls closed last night, the initiative's supporters gathered at a bar near the Fleet Center while opponents livened up the racetracks that had been silent all day.
