Greyhound tests positive for the finish line, disqualified coach and sentenced

Published: April 28, 2021, 4:15 am

Last updated: April 28, 2021, 07:42 h.

A New Zealand greyhound trainer whose winning dog tested positive for methamphetamine starts his temporary disqualification on Friday.

Trainer Angela Helen Turnwald was disqualified for four months and fined approximately $ 2,530, according to New Zealand Herald .

Turnwald's 3-year-old greyhound Zipping Sarah finished first in the race on November 12 at the Addington Raceway in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The winning bid, around $ 2, 879 in US currency, was not paid after Zipping Sarah tested positive for both methamphetamine and amphetamine in a urine sample after the race, the newspaper said. the drug sample found in the dog was "particularly large".

Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant of the central nervous system, an important animal welfare issue, ”he said.

Authorities said it was unclear where and when the drug was given and who might be responsible for it. Race regulators ruled that Turnwald did not commit "willful misconduct," the newspaper said.

Turnwald had "an impeccable record in the long term of greyhound training", according to the newspaper.

A licensed breeding hand brought Zipping Sarah and another dog to the track on race day. The person stopped briefly on the way to the track to visit a friend, the newspaper reported.

The incident prompted Racing Minister Grant Robertson and others to call on the government to review the greyhound racing industry. He said he would consider shutting down the industry in light of "too many incidents" that have resulted in the deaths and injuries of the dogs.

Dogs intoxicated with cocaine

Dog doping incidents have occurred in other parts of the industry.

From 2008 to 2017, the Florida racing industry had 46 cases of greyhounds positive for cocaine, a stimulant, according to the Associated Press.

Florida officials revoked the trainer's license in 2017 after five greyhounds tested positive for cocaine.

In November 2018, Florida voters approved Amendment 13 to ban the sport in late 2020. The last race was in December.

Dog racing has been legal in Florida since 1931. At one point, the state had 13 out of 17 dog tracks in the country.

Due to the Florida ban, dog racing is only legally staked in Iowa, Arkansas, and West Virginia.

Soon to one country

West Virginia is expected to be the only state in which legal greyhound racing will be run by the end of 2020.

In Iowa, a grant to the greyhound industry sunsets in December 2022. This is expected to end dog racing in the state.

At Southland Casino Racing in West Memphis, Arkansas, dog racing is expected to be phased out by December 31, 2022. Southland lies across the Mississippi River from the greater Memphis, Tennessee metropolitan area .

With the decommissioning, the number of dog racing in Southland will increase from 6.66 in 2019 to 2.662 in 2022, according to media accounts.