By Renee Nadeau

Yesterday marked the end of an era as greyhounds took their last run at the Raynham Park dog track, the final track to close after voters banned dog racing in Massachusetts.

“It’s going to be quite a turnout for the burial,” presiding judge Larry Hurley said before last night’s final race.

Hurley was 12 when his father began racing dogs at the track in 1942, two years after it opened. Now 79 and living in Easton, he began working at the track as a ticket seller in 1955. He went on to become a clubhouse maitre d’ and had been presiding judge for the past 15 years.

“It’s tough to see all those people lose their jobs,” Hurley said. “A lot of people have worked there for many, many years.”

Linda Jensen, president of Racing Owners Assisting Racers Inc., said about 130 greyhounds were retired after the final race at 8 p.m. yesterday.

ROAR is helping coordinate adoption efforts by several shelters.

“Their temperament is very sweet, very calm,” said Louise Coleman, executive director of Greyhound Friends in Hopkinton, which finds homes for about 300 greyhounds every year.

Many of those who work at the track aren’t sure what they will do now that it is gone. Jim Fortunato of Raynham, a trainer and kennel co-owner, said he and his wife will lose their health insurance now that he is out of a job.

“I’m 64, and I doubt there are too many job opportunities out there,” said Fortunato. “We don’t know what we’re going to do.”

A ballot initiative spurred by animal rights advocates led to the track’s demise - a fight that still rankled among many track workers.

“I think that if people really knew the truth, that the vote wouldn’t have come out the way it did,” said Debbie Gehrky, a veterinarian who had worked at Raynham and Wonderland. She said she never witnessed abuse at either track.

Protection of Working Animals and Handlers plans to file a lawsuit in the new year in an attempt to reverse the referendum, said Jensen, who heads the group.

“It’s a crime,” she said.