Apparently doping isn’t just for humans anymore.

One of Ireland’s most prized race dogs has been banned indefinitely from racing after a blood test revealed the Irish greyhound’s blood tested positive for Benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite found in cocaine. Clonbrien Hero will have to give up his titles and some of his $35,000 in prize money from his winnings at this July’s Irish Laurels finals.

Three tests were administered at Cork Greyhound Stadium between June 25th, July 1st and July 22nd by the Irish Greyhound Board. The latter date coincides with the dog’s win at the Laurels finals.

Clonbrien Hero’s owner and trainer have denied the accusations and released a statement saying the dog would have ingested any drugs “accidentally.” Kay Murphy told The Times:

“We feel we are being victimized here for something we haven’t done. If you know you are going to be tested when you win a race, you are not going to administer cocaine to a greyhound. I’ve been training greyhounds for over 30 years, and now I’m accused of doping them.”

Holland added his hypothesis as to how Clonbrien Hero could have ingested the cocaine, suggesting it could have happened when the dog was pat on the head.

“You can pass traces of cocaine by handling money,” Holland said. “When a dog wins a race, people are walking up to the dog and patting it on the head. If they have cocaine on their hands, they can pass that to the dog, and it can come out in a urine sample.”

Sounds like a familiar excuse.



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