The Federal Government
- Exercises no control beyond interstate gambling issues as greyhound racing is a state mandated business
- Focuses on the formulation of gaming rules and their oversight.
- Fails to stipulate humane conditions for the dogs in almost all racing states. Does not generally address the "disposition" of the greyhounds leaving the system.
- Is only a Non Profit registry organization. It has no authority over the care, treatment or disposition of greyhounds.
- Has no authority to enter the private property of their members without permission.
- Are in the gambling business not the greyhound business. Kennel operators contract with the tracks to provide dogs. It is the kennel workers who care for the dogs and pay expenses related to the dogs – not the tracks.
- With few exceptions, are not available beyond the limited hours of the race event. * Sick and injured animals are generally administered to, after race hours, by kennel personnel who tend to rely on home remedies to cut costs, including incidents of "home surgery" techniques, such as sewing up a laceration with fishing line.
OrlandoSentinel.com
Dead racing dogs found at Daytona Beach kennel
April Hunt
Sentinel Staff Writer
9:27 AM EDT, August 24, 2007
Three dead dogs were the grisly greeting for state investigators who went to a Daytona Beach kennel for racing greyhounds earlier this week to suspend the owner/trainer for having dogs that tested positive for drugs.
The dead dogs are not the same three animals that tested positive for cocaine in a random test by the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation. But their discovery on Wednesday has prompted an investigation into the Nelson Ulrich's operation of BreadWinner Kennels.
"It does make you wonder, why the dogs were there dead for a period," said Dave Byron, spokesman for Volusia County's Animal Control Services, which is investigating the deaths. "This is certainly a bizarre case."
Three dogs registered to Ulrich tested positive for cocaine, a non-performance enhancing drug, in July, according to state records.
Officials with the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering office arrived in Daytona Wednesday to issue a suspension for the test failure and discovered the dead dogs in a cooler, which is standard operating procedure, said agency spokesman Joe Friedman.
The suspension means Ulrich is out of pari-mutuel wagering for good, Friedman said.
"Any time we have to take enforcement, we take it very seriously," he said. "He will not be licensed ever again."
Byron said that animal control investigators are looking into whether the dogs had been run late Tuesday afternoon and then not properly cooled, leading to death by heat exhaustion or exposure. Their carcasses were taken to the University of Florida's animal labs, where necropsies are being performed.
Animal Control officers also assigned another trainer at the kennels to care for the other 90 dogs registered to Ulrich, Byron said. As part of his suspension, he cannot have any contact with the dogs.
Ulrich could not be reached for comment this morning. State records show he has been licensed for greyhound racing since at least 2000.
There is no phone listing for his kennels. The operation is connected to, but not a part of, the Daytona Beach Kennel Club where dog races are held.
If the investigation reveals the dogs died as a result of abuse or cruelty, Ulrich could face 3rd-degree felony charges.
Greyhound advocates said the incidents highlighted unnecessary suffering in the dog-racing industry.
"The public is fed up with this so-called sport," said Carla Wilson, a representative with the Greyhound Protection League. "The time to shut it down is long over due."
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