A recent article in the Tampa Tribune revealed that more than 100 greyhounds have tested positive for cocaine at Florida racetracks over the past three years. In fact ten dogs have tested positive at the Flagler Dog Track, and thirty-nine positive tests came out of the Hollywood track.
Regulatory agents and animal advocates agree that the positive tests might not be the result of intentional doping. That is, owners probably aren't giving the dogs coke to make them lose weight or run faster. "Cocaine wouldn't be the drug of choice to fix a race," says David Roberts, director of Florida's Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.
Apparently there's so much coke floating around Florida that it's being accidentally ingested by dogs. Transference from a trainer's hand to the dog's skin and thence to the bloodstream, and inhalation of crack smoke from nearby baseheads are two of the ingestion theories proposed to The Bitch. By the time regulators get lab results, weeks have passed and there's no way to apprehend the culprits. One thing, however, is clearly illuminated by the testing: Hollywood is where the party's at.