Friday Hound Blogging

Hello and welcome to this week's installment of What Foreign Substance Are They Putting In The Greyhounds Now. Tonight's episode takes us to Iowa where the overlords are shocked we tell you shocked to discover that there is chicanery at the track.

Scientists will study whether the death of a greyhound in Dubuque has any link to the use of a risky performance-enhancing drug found in other animals from the same kennel, a regulator said Thursday.

"Scientists" will investigate what killed that greyhound? Man. That can't be good. Was Dr. Hakim Hamici not available? Oh yeah, we forgot. He's never available.

The commission is looking into dogs that have tested positive for the banned substance ractopamine. Ohorilko said two or three dogs from two kennels have tested positive for the drug, which is widely used in the U.S. as a feed supplement to help pigs, cattle and turkeys increase muscle mass. Other samples came back as suspicious and additional testing is underway at Iowa State, he said. In response, trainers Alicia Bushey, of Dubuque, and Jessica Hughes, of Bellevue, Iowa, were suspended Saturday, pending a hearing.

Hey come on. The track just opened a couple months ago and you're already going all Inspector Clouseau on them? Sounds a little fishy to us. Almost like there's some sort of conspiracy going on. Dean Miner doesn't race his dogs there, does he? Just asking.

Jerry Crawford, an attorney for the Iowa Greyhound Association, which operates the track, said all “evidence points to no wrongdoing” by any kennel employee. He said he believes the dogs ate the drug when it came in their food, unbeknownst to the employees. He said kennel employees have passed polygraph exams conducted by retired law enforcement officials in which they attested that they never gave the dogs ractopamine.

When questioned about the results of the polygraph tests Mr. Crawford defended his decision to hire the retired law enforcement individuals himself to administer the test and not to make the results public. "Just trust me on this," Crawford said. "I'm a lawyer."

As for the death, Crawford said he suspects it is from a lung infection but “has no idea” whether it could be linked to the drug.

 "Look, we lose dogs all the time for all sorts of reasons," he said, "the sad part is that dog was making somebody money and now he's not. Let's keep the real victim in mind here."

Racing and Gaming Commission Administrator Brian Ohorilko said the source of the drug hasn’t been confirmed, and that samples of meat the dogs were fed are being tested. He said regulators haven’t seen the substance in Iowa racing before.

 "We also haven't seen just one track in the state either," Ohorilko said. "One track with a bunch of desperate losers trying to suck the last few bucks out of a dead industry by trampling over one another chasing the next two dollar bet."

Well now that's a little harsh isn't it Mr. Ohorilko? After all, the overlords have told us time and time again that the wholesale commodification and heartless curelty involved with placing innocent living creatures in harm's way in the pursuit of (no) profit is all about the dogs. You've probably heard that many times, huh Bates? By the way, what happened to your leg? Would you like a little ractopamine for that?

Bates can live with cats and/or small dogs, but we don't yet know if he can be an only dog. For more information about this dog, 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.