I did a bit of googling and discussed this with Hans and think I may have misunderstood the prejudice thing. It's more a hunting issue (and that's pratically a religion in the French countryside!). All sight hounds are not allowed to hunt and technically should be always leashed in public places so country ppl don't keep them because there's no purpose to them (in their view). They have their hunting dogs outside and often a smaller lap type dog inside for the wife! Also this is a fairly poor region and a big dog who doesn't earn it's keep is too big a luxury.
Amma, greyhound racing is big in the UK as well where there's a big betting culture. Apparently it's the second most popular sport after football (soccer). I have major issues with it because of the welfare of the animals... :hunf: