Animal Groups File Complaint Against Agency After Greyhounds Test Positive for Cocaine

Animal Groups File Complaint Against Agency After Greyhounds Test Positive for Cocaine; GREY2K USA, The Humane Society of the United States Ask Attorney General to Launch Independent Investigation

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Contact: Christine Dorchak of GREY2K USA, 866-247-3925, or Laura Bevan of The Humane Society of the United States, 850-508-2482, Web site: http://www.grey2kusa.org

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., May 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- GREY2K USA and The Humane Society of the United States today filed a formal complaint with Attorney General Charlie Crist, calling for an independent investigation into recent allegations of cocaine use at greyhound racetracks across the state.

According to the complaint, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, has not appropriately handled more than 100 recent cases of positive cocaine tests in racing greyhounds.

"Despite clear and on-going evidence of state law violations, the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering states that it does not alert law enforcement when a greyhound tests positive for cocaine," the complaint states. "Nor does the Division try to determine how such drugs are administered to the dogs, or by whom."

According to state records, 119 dogs have tested positive for cocaine at Florida racetracks over the past three years. Division officials claim that current testing procedures are adequate. A copy of the complaint can be obtained by calling 866-247-3925.

Citing a case in which a dog trainer was suspended for only nine days after being accused of failing to prevent a dog from ingesting cocaine before a race, today's complaint asserts that the Division is not sufficiently addressing the problem.

"This empty response makes a mockery of the duty of the Pari- Mutuel Division to monitor the racing industry," the complaint states.

GREY2K USA is a national, non-profit greyhound protection organization with more than 10,000 members and constituents.

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with over eight million members and constituents. For 50 years, The HSUS has protected all animals through legislation, litigation, investigation, education, advocacy and fieldwork.

Grey2K is a rabid anti racing group. They are the PETA's of the greyhound racing world. Do not believe a word they say!!

It will be interesting to see how this plays out...if these charges are actually true. Drugging a dog is a stupid thing to do. After each race, a urine sample is collected from the winning dog and another random dog and tested for the presence of performance enhancing drugs. Drugging a dog to win a race will always backfire because winning a race guarantees that your dog will be tested.

Many charges leveled by Grey2K in the past have turned out to be completely false or greatly exaggerated. Any trainer would be stupid to risk losing his kennel booking at a track and being banned from racing by the National Greyhound Association by giving his dog, of all things, cocaine.

Coke is waaaay too expensive, easily detectable, and oh yeah, merely possessing it will land you in the slammer.

I don't support levelling false charges to advance an agenda, but I've never heard of Grey2K so I can't prejudge their claims.

I tried looking them up on the web, including in newsgroups, and couldn't get any real objective info, positive or negative - mostly just news reports about their actions. No indication as to whether they should be believed.

I'd be interested if you do have any info on them, links especially.

That said, I don't think greyhound racing is inherently bad; I just worry about the general treatment of these dogs, and what happens to them after they can't race anymore.

This thread has made me want to send a small donation to a reputable dog rescue group. If anyone has a suggestion, please let me know.

Here is grey2k's website...I cringe as I copy and paste it:

http://www.grey2kusa.org/

While they are a non-profit group, they have paid employees and channel a lot of their resources into lobbying lawmakers to ban greyhound racing. If you'd like to donate to a group that actually places retired racers into homes, Here's a link to the group I volunteer with:

www.greyhoundadoption.org

Click on the Panhandle Haul fund. We are all volunteers, not paid. We PLACE dogs in homes when they are retired. Not waste money on stupid political stuff and try to deprive hard working people of their right to participate in a legal business. Our group hauled over 500 retired racers from the panhandle of Florida to adoption groups from SC to PA to OH.

Ten years ago, the garbage that Grey2K currently spews forth may have been true. But now days, the greys are treated well in most cases. There are bad apples in every crowd. And G2K goes out of there way to publicize these bad apples and paint the whole industry as such.

I have 3 retired racers, the joys of my life. I've actually been I(N a racing kennel, helped with turnouts, etc... You'd be hard pressed to find a G2K person who's even been to a track, much less behind the scenes. The dogs I've seen in the kennels are happy and well cared for.

If you abuse or mistreat a dog, he ain't gonna run fast. These dogs are athletes in the truest sense of the word. They run like the wind and must be in good condition to make money for their trainers. The health and well being of a trainer's hounds are in his best interest if he plans to stay in business.

G2K will tell you that tens of thousands of greys are killed each year. Not true. The number is more like 2 or 3 thousand. Of course, I think that 1 is too many. But, percentage wise, any dog would be lucky to be born a greyhound. G-d knows how many tens of thousands of shelter dogs are put down each year. A greyhound's odds of being placed into a home after retirement are much higher than many other dog's.

G2K is a propaganda machine.

If you want to donate to a local group, tell me where you are and I'd be happy to point you in the right direction.

Hi...I'm a retired racing greyhound trainer. Grey2K is a political action group, who contributes not dime one to the adoption of retired racing greyhounds. Their leader, in MA, doesn't even own a retired racing greyhound. They do, however, make a whole heap of money pushing an animal rights agenda on an unnsupecting and uninformed public, and by propaganda and outright lies, demonizing an entire class of people---racing greyhound professionals----as animal abusers. They managed, in 2001, a ballot initiative which sought to ban greyhound racing in the Commonwealth of MA----and which was defeated by the voters.

The HSUS is another political action group, the richest of its ilk in the country. They have nothing to do with the support of local humane societies....their former vice president was quoted by the AP as having said...."the life of an ant and the life of my child should be accorded equal respect".....they are a rabid animal rights organization, and have been since the late 1980s.

Racing Greyhounds are the most perfectly adapted canine specimens in the world. They are the perfect expression of form following function, and they are selectively bred from only the most fit, well-bred and well-performed specimens, to themselves perform a specific function.

They are the only breed of large dog completely free of the degenerative and crippling defects of congenital hip dysplasia, and have the most well-developed and efficient cardio-pulmonary systems in the canine world. They also have the highest muscle-to-bone ratio of any purebred (including non-racing greyhounds), and to put their athleticism in some kind of context, pound for pound, they are over 10 times faster than a thoroughbred racehorse.

There are 46 distinct female families of racing greyhounds, and racing greyhounds have inbreeding coefficients that are among the lowest of all canines. Their life expectancy is 12-14 years, much higher than is the norm for other large breeds.

Recently, Rooftop Gizmo, an untried and unraced sapling, sold at the National Greyhound Association auction in Abilene KS, for $70,000. Of course, it is possible that his new owner bid on him and purchased him solely for the purpose of neglecting and abusing him----but not likely----- as he is now racing with distinction in the top grade, against the top greyhounds, at the premier track in the nation, in Wheeling, WV.

During the 75-plus year history of greyhound racing in the US, there have been only couple of scandals concerning alleged doping and/or race fixing-----as greyhounds run on their own, with no jockeys. Daring criminals who desire to fix races, or to dope the contestants have traditionally looked to other racing sports to perform such deeds.

At all US racetracks, the greyhounds are unrine tested after each race.....the winner and the last place finisher, and usually a random contestant, are tested. These urine samples are controlled and regulated by the states, and tested by gas-chromatography---an acutely sensitive method.

During the time in question, there were over 35,000 urine samples tested in FL------a handful of them came back positive for cocaine.

Historically, there have been numerous instances of false-positives and of drug contaminents in the meat that greyhounds are fed as part of their racing diet----which also result in positive urine tests (for example, procaine from procaine penicillin)......my guess is that the racing greyhounds exposure to cocaine is less than the canine population's at large...but we wouldn't know that, because racing greyhounds are the only breed which routinely undergoes unrinalyis.

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