KENNEL COUGH SPREADS TO MORE FLORIDA GREYHOUND TRACKS

Mar 26, 2003 - Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - Miami, Florida - Dog racing insiders reveal that the Florida kennel cough epidemic continues to spread through the state and possibly beyond its borders. The Greyhound Protection League (GPL) accuses the dog racing industry of putting profits before the welfare of the dogs. "There is no excuse for this situation to have gotten out of hand," said national GPL spokesperson, Susan Netboy. "Both the Florida state regulatory board and the dog tracks disregarded precautionary measures that could easily have contained and prevented spread of the disease."

Dr. Karen Michalski, a practicing veterinarian with expertise in racing greyhounds, spells out why the harsh criticism is warranted:
1. Inoculation for kennel cough is inexpensive and mandatory where hundreds of animals are housed in tight quarters. It is apparent that this preventative measures were not taken.
2. Because kennel cough is a highly contagious airborne disease, a quarantine on the movement of greyhounds should have been implemented at the first sign of disease not after the disease has already spread throughout the state.
3. The assumption should have been made that all greyhounds in the kennel compound were exposed.
4. All races should have been cancelled immediately to prevent spread of the disease and undo stress on the dogs' systems.

Citing the severe outbreak of a fatal kennel cough that ravaged racing dogs nationwide in 1999 and an outbreak of distemper that killed over a hundred racing dogs in Kansas, Florida and Arizona in the last 5 months, Michalski comments, "Animal husbandry is obviously not the industry's strong suit."

Netboy is more succinct: "The money always comes first."

The Greyhound Protection League is a California based, national greyhound advocacy organization.

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