Dog racing ‘has a drug problem’ as 12 Florida greyhounds test positive for cocaine

By Kyle Swenson July 6 at 5:17 AM

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For the greyhounds running at Florida’s dozen racetracks, a trip to the winner’s circle also means a urine test. Per state regulations, the dog officially known as “WW’s Flicka” submitted her sample on the same day, April 27. The results came back positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.

But a hardcore narcotic swimming through the bloodstream of an innocent pup shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone paying attention. According to state records, Flicka had already tested positive five times for cocaine this year before the late April test — including a positive drug test just the previous week.

Flicka would turn out to be one of 12 greyhounds that tested positive for cocaine on 18 occasions over a four-month period in Florida this year. As first reported by First Coast News, the same trainer, Charles McClellan, handled all the doped dogs. Despite the steady run of failed tests, McClellan continued to work with animals at races until June 9, when state regulators filed an emergency order suspending his license.

The Jacksonville scandal is easily the “biggest greyhound drug case in American history,” Carey Theil, executive director of industry watchdog group, GREY2K USA Worldwide, told The Washington Post. This is the second cocaine testing to rock Florida’s dog tracks this year, fitting into larger pattern of increased cocaine across the sport, Theil explained.

Florida’s cocaine-fueled greyhounds spotlight how far some will go to squeeze whatever money they can from a shrinking industry and, critics say, showcases a lack of accountability in the current regulatory setup.

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