Friday Hound Blogging

Frequent reader(s) of this blog will recall the deep, cool lake of days in which you swam in your youth now that you look upon the barren shores of the now and feel the desiccating wind of time on your face...erm...we mean will remember overlord extraordinaire and friend of the blog James "Barney" O'Donnell. When last we looked in on James "Barney" he had gotten himself in a bit of a pickle with the local Gendarmes due to his creative approach to complying with state regulations and his rather loose interpretation of required vaccinations.

"Well, I'm sure the Vet would have signed the forms if he hadn't up and died," James "Barney" told reporters at the time. And as for the anabolic steroids, including testosterone, boldenone, and androstenedione, how am I supposed to tell that stuff apart? Have you seen the print on those little bottles? Who can read that? I'm 84 years old, you know. My eyes ain't what they used to be."

OK, that is a point James "Barney." And since the retirement plan for overlords is only slightly better than it is for the greyhounds, in that you get to live, we understand why you're still trying to suck a couple bucks off your fellow senior citizens instead of playing Bocci Ball and flirting with the ladies who still have most of their teeth at the local retirement community. Still, rules are rules and if you do the crime you have to do the time, right  Department of Business and Professional Regulation?

Since 1995, O'Donnell has been charged with nine public (noncriminal) complaints, including animal abuse. He's been either reprimanded or fined three times, according to state records.

Ouch. This isn't good James "Barney." We understand that being a serial screw-up is the price of admission to a career as an exploiter of innocent living creatures, but here on the outside where people with hearts bigger than raisins live it's not commonly considered a positive trait. We're afraid you're about to feel the hammer of justice come upside your empty overlord head. "DBPR, what say you?

On July 3, the state renewed O'Donnell's license to race dogs for three more years.

We're sorry James "Barney," but you brought this on yourself. Now you can look forward to a few years of saying "Welcome to Walmart" until you finally...wait, what?

Three years after the allegations of forgery, the case status remains "open." The steroid case was closed with no action taken. According to Carey Thiel, president of the animal-rights group GREY2K, this is caused by a lag in the system that's unique to Florida. In any other state, he says, an investigation would take about two months...

"In most states it's innocent until proven guilty,: Thiel said. "In Florida it's innocent until everyone either dies or moves away."

Tajiana Ancora-Brown, director of communications for the DBPR, chalks the lag up to due process. "The timeline is dependent upon the Administrative Procedures Act and other external factors," she says.

When asked to detail those "external factors" Ancora-Brown said, "Well, the staff is drunk most of the time. Add to that the fact that they don't really know where the tracks are because they've never been to any of them and it gets to be a real challenge."

Yeah, we see your dilemma. Still you're kind of letting us down you know? If the state won't step in and do its job where are we to turn?

O'Donnell's reputation has been ruined. He's been banned from working at Mardi Gras Casino in Hallandale Beach, for instance, as well as at Best Bet in Jacksonville.

Oh that's just piling on right there. We mean, when you're such a lousy overlord that even the other overlords don't want you around anymore it's time to start that new career as a returnable can and bottle collector.

On July 3, the state renewed O'Donnell's license to race dogs for three more years.

Right. We forgot about that. So the overlords don't want James "Barney" around, but the state says he's good to go. Looks like somebody has some 'splainin' to do, don't you think boys?

 

 

 Have you ever wondered the effect Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum had on Alice when she sees them in a forest? Twins are very close and seeing that greyhound style is delightful. Clyde & Omar were littermates and have been together for most of their nine years, so wherever you find one, the other one is usually close, doing the same thing whether it's keeping you company while watching TV, asking for some much appreciated TLC, or enjoying the yard outside. And do they ever enjoy the cooler weather as they can help their foster brother survey the property from a shady spot and keep those pesky rabbit neighbors under control! Then rattle those leashes and they are more than ready to head out and keep you company on a walk - you never know when one of those neighbors might actually be The White Rabbit! Clyde and Omar are true "make you feel good" boys, gentle and affectionate, just being with them is enough to make you smile - perhaps even like a Cheshire Cat! Canine Blood Heros...Ask why that makes them special! For more information about these dogs, and other rescued racing greyhounds looking for homes, go here. If you don't know about the plight of racing greyhounds go here and here.