Greyhound Racing Has a Drug Problem

Kiowa Try Thelma tested positive for cocaine in February 2015.
Photo by the Greyhound Breeding and Racing Database.

Over the past two years there have been 75 documented drug violations in the American greyhound racing industry, including violations in every racing state. The vast majority of these drug cases resulted in fines or suspensions.

• Six greyhounds tested positive for cocaine at dog tracks across Florida, including two dogs that tested positive at Palm Beach Kennel Club.

• In December 2015, a greyhound trainer at Tucson Greyhound Park was fined $1,500 and suspended for 45 days after a dog in his control tested positive for the anabolic steroid metandienone.

• Dozens of greyhounds at Iowa Greyhound Park tested positive for ractopamine, a growth hormone that is used by the factory farming industry and prohibited in 160 countries.

• At Southland Greyhound Park in Arkansas a greyhound trainer was fined $500 after a dog in his control tested positive for lidocaine, a local anesthetic that is commonly used in dental procedures.

• At Tucson Greyhound Park, a greyhound trainer was fined $450 after a dog tested positive for dexamethasone, a corticosteroid used to treat certain types of cancer.

• A greyhound trainer at Daytona Beach Kennel Club was fined $1,000 and suspended for 60 days after a dog in his control tested positive for oxymorphone, a powerful narcotic.

• Several greyhound trainers in West Virginia and Florida were fined after dogs tested positive for dimethyl sulfoxide, a controversial industrial solvent.

These are powerful drugs that can harm greyhounds, and we should all be concerned about this constant drum beat of drug positives. These drug violations also call into question the integrity of dog race bets being made across the country.

Greyhound racing in the United States has a drug problem that just won't go away.