By: Shannon Hegy

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) -- It's been over a year since Massachusetts voters put a stop to greyhound racing in the state, but the debate continues over whether voters made the right choice.

Mark Hewitt voted to keep the tracks open, a decision he says he made based on his concern for the local economy.  It wasn't until Hewitt adopted a 45 miles-per-hour couch potato named Roux Gumbo, that his views on the issue changed.

The 2-year-old greyhound used to race at the track in Raynham.  While Roux Gumbo may be happy at his new home, the feeling at his former track seems to be exactly the opposite.

When Question 3 passed, track owner George Carney was forced to lay off over 250 workers.

"These people, who never did anything wrong, who worked hard for the last 30 to 35 years, are all on unemployment," said Carney.

Carney says the simulcasts the track airs throughout the day have allowed it to stay in business, but employees at the track like Nancy Mansulla say that business hardly compares to the packed parking lot the track used to see.

"It's like a ghost town," said Mansulla.  "We still have customers with the simulcasting, but the way I knew it is gone."

Some argue the vote may have done more harm than good.  It shut down dog racing in the commonwealth, but 70% of the dogs that raced at Raynham are now racing in other states across the country, states that could have less regulations than Massachusetts did.

Leslie Harris, Executive Director of the Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society in Springfield, an organization that endorsed the measure to end greyhound racing, argues you have to look at the bigger picture.

"Massachusetts is a victory.  On to other states to end greyhound racing state by state," said Harris.  "Thirty percent of the dogs, the track didn't take with them, and so those dogs are in the process of finding new homes and will never have to race again."

Harris says the process to adopt the remaining greyhounds has been extremely successful.  At adoption agency Greyhound Friends in Hopkinton, only two dogs from the Raynham track are still without homes.

"I would highly encourage anyone looking to get a dog to adopt a greyhound," said Hewitt.

Hewitt says he would still vote to keep the tracks open, but that he'd want more oversight into how the dogs are treated.

Carney maintains that his dogs were always treated humanely.  He's currently trying to get slot machines installed in his facility to bring in more revenue and hire back some of the employees he was forced to lay off.