THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 13, 1995 TAG: 9502130056
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Evelyn P. Jones didn't have a clue about what she was getting into when she decided to make Virginia the second state in the nation to outlaw greyhound racing.
Jones, 49, is a self-declared and devout independent and 100 percent apolitical. She never before rallied for a cause.
But something happened after she adopted two greyhounds and heard claims of racing dogs being electrocuted, shot, starved, beaten or drowned.
She decided to make a change. So she did. Eight days ago and nearly two years after she began her quest, the General Assembly passed a bill - Jones' bill - to ban greyhound racing in Virginia. The legislation is awaiting Gov. George F. Allen's signature.
This is her story, a story about how one person can make a change.
``I got into this because I got tired of not feeling in control of myself and my own destiny,'' said Jones. ``You see, government to some degree is taking control of my life, and I'm not happy with it. I'm not willing to give them that control.''
Her quest began in 1992, shortly after two Virginia Beach legislators introduced a bill to legalize dog racing and on-site betting in Virginia.
Jones didn't know the party affiliations of the state delegates with whom she tried to talk. And while furtively trying to get in touch with the right people, she'd tell them: ``I don't know what I'm doing. I just know what I want.''
The bill didn't move ahead that year, and was killed in the 1993 General Assembly session.
That wasn't good enough. What she wanted was a statewide ban on greyhound racing, a sport in which over-raced greyhounds eventually become as useless to their owners as a losing ticket.
She wrote to Maine state officials and got a copy of the legislation making Maine the first state in the nation to ban greyhound racing. Then, armed with a brown bag filled with literature and a picture of her greyhound Murphy, Jones visited state Sen. Fred Quayle, who said he would help. Sam and Gay Latimer of the National Greyhound Adoption Program of Tidewater also offered help, as did others.
``A lot of people thought it was a stupid idea and that it would never happen,'' said Jones.
``Basically, I didn't say anything and turned around and walked away because I knew in my heart it was going to happen. One way or another, I was going to make it happen.''
Over time, Jones became a one-woman lobbying force, sending faxes and making numerous phone calls. She paid for everything out of pocket.
``I would tell anyone who would listen,'' she said. ``People who stopped me on the street to compliment my dogs got an earful.''
She and Sen. Quayle finally got Senate bill No. 537 introduced at last year's General Assembly, where it was tabled. Jones held fast and had the bill carried over to this year's session.
In November, she went to a subcommittee meeting with a full slate of speakers - and a greyhound. The bill passed unanimously.
The full Senate passed it unanimously as well. And on Feb. 5, the House passed Jones' bill 98-2.
When she read the news in the newspaper the next day, she screamed and cried.
``I did it,'' she said.
Jones knows who the dissenters in the House are. ``And I'm going to ask them why,'' she said.
Gov. Allen is expected to sign her bill into law at the end of the legislative session. And if he doesn't, said Jones, he'll be in trouble.
Jones, an engineer for the city of Chesapeake and a resident of Suffolk, now wants to help residents of other states prepare legislation outlawing greyhound racing. And every now and again, she said, she'll probably ``get on my soap box when someone stops me to tell me how pretty my dogs are.
``In my own way, I wanted to try and prevent any more dogs from having to undergo that abuse,'' Jones said. ``It isn't going to change the world, but I feel that I've made a statement.'' ILLUSTRATION: Greyhound Racing
JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI/Staff
Evelyn Jones cradles her 9-year-old greyhound Ruffin at her Suffolk
home. Jones says Ruffin, a formerly unsuccessful race dog in
Florida, was slated to be killed before she saved him. State Sen.
Fred Quayle, right, plays with Jones' other greyhound, former
Australian AAA racing champion C.D.
by CNB