cocaine in racing horses

A lead article in the Chicago Tribune (Zone NW, Pg. 1) tells us more about the world of horseracing. It is headed, "Trainers of horses face new drug fine; Rule covers animals that test for cocaine."

It opens: "Wading into a controversial issue, the Illinois Racing Board voted Thursday to fine trainers whose horses test positive for trace amounts of cocaine but to allow them to keep prize money the horses win, even after repeated violations."

Here's the explanation:

"The board sided with experts who say low levels of cocaine do not indicate cheating but accidental contamination from, for example, a drug-using stable employee who might touch a horse's bridle or feed."

We read:

"The cocaine issue has split racing officials around the country. Some states disqualify horses for low levels of the drug, expressing skepticism about contamination theories. They urge 'zero tolerance' of trainers who might try to use the drug to make horses run faster or at full speed despite injuries."

You can read the whole article on line at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0502180209feb18,1,20401.story?coll=chi-newslocal-hed
OR
http://tinyurl.com/6eu89

It presents a good opportunity for letters to the editor questioning the exploitation of members of other species for human entertainment.

The Chicago Tribune takes letters at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-lettertotheeditor.customform

or http://tinyurl.com/4lsug

On horseracing, PETA has a great fact-sheet headed "The Horseracing Industry: Drugs, Deception and Death" at http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=65

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)