ust days before the issue goes to the state's voters, one of the state's two dog track owners has sued a group trying to ban dog racing in Massachusetts.
Charles Sarkis, owner of Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere, is seeking $10 million from Grey2K and its leaders for defamation and slander, according to Kevin M. Considine, attorney for Sarkis and the park.
In a suit filed Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court, Sarkis contends that his reputation and business have suffered because of Grey2K charges and advertisements, Considine said last night.
''Grey2K is putting forth advertisements depicting dead and abused dogs, with the implication that those dead and abused dogs are connected to Mr. Sarkis and Wonderland,'' Considine said. ''It's outrageous.''
A Grey2K attorney, Andrew Upton, said that while the group has few resources and limited assets, its workers will contest the lawsuit. They maintain they they have have honestly depicted conditions at the state's dog tracks, he said.
''This is a Nixonian pattern of intimidation and harassment by the track owners,'' Upton said. ''The track owners have millions of dollars at stake in this industry.''
The suit came five days before Tuesday's election, in which voters will be asked if they want to ban greyhound racing through ballot Question 3 and as Grey2K claims come under increased scrutiny by opponents.
Yesterday, a former state racing offical said his comments were misused in a campaign ad paid by Grey2K. And Thursday, a nonprofit greyhound adoption service said Grey2K listed the service as endorsing the ballot question without official consent.
Grey2K officials deny misleading anyone and say the endorsement information was an honest mistake. But critics are accusing the initiative's advocates of intentionally distorting facts.
''It's flat-out dishonest,'' said Glenn Totten, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Animal Interest Coalition, a pro-racing group funded by Sarkis and others. ''At every turn, they seem to think that they can say anything they want, that the ends justify the means.''
In the latest Grey2K television ad, which began airing last night, a voice states that one racing greyhound is killed every five days in Massachusetts. The ad then segues to Gary T. Piontkowski, a former chairman of the Massachusetts State Racing Commission, who says: ''It's an absolutely deplorable situation. If a dog cannot perform and make enough money, he's killed.''
Piontkowski, chairman in 1991 and 1992, said he has never been contacted by Grey2K and does not have a position on Question 3. He said he was not talking about Massachusetts dog tracks in the ad.
''I can guarantee you it wasn't about Raynham and Wonderland,'' said Piontkowski, who now is president of Plainridge Racecourse, a Plainville horse track. ''In my years as chairman, I did not see any abuse.''
Also in that ad, some of the footage of the dogs was recorded in other states, said Carey Theil, a Grey2K spokesman.
''We have to make our strongest case,'' he said. ''The images represent what happens in this industry, what happens in Massachusetts and other states. This is a national industry.''
Grey2K has also been accused of wrongdoing by the president of an Idaho greyhound adoption service, who faxed a complaint to the Massachusetts attorney general's office Thursday.
John A. Hern, president of Greyhound Pets Inc., said his group was listed as endorsing Grey2K, even though Greyhound Pets is a charitable organization that does not take sides on political issues.
Theil said the listing of Greyhound Pets was corrected on the Web site after some confusion was sorted out.
