BWRA Corruption

[michelle]

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if it was me i dont know if i could be bothered after all this time to carry on with a campaign which could possibly not achieve anything. part of me says that if i was innocent of something i didnt do i would fight tooth n nail to clear my name but my other side says that after all this time i'd just give up........i just hope that im never put in the situation that some people have been put in.

I've never been in favour of other competitors taking drug samples, if its going to be done properley more research needs doing on what is a performance enhancer and what is'nt in whippet racing also a vet should be doing the drug samples.

Another query

mkp'The NGRC does have a threshold for theobromine, which takes into account any amount that would be contained in normal foodstuffs.' And unlike the NWRF they don't ban trainers for theobromine findings, they fine them.

.
if theobromine could be contained in normal foodstuff's how come drug tests for the past couple of years have come back clear?

 

[mkp]

Hi Michelle,

I'm so delighted that somebody has finally asked a question of relevance.

With 3 or 4 folders here full of correspondence & information I'm happy to do my best to reply.

It's entirely possible that a few dope tests done in the past couple of years could come back negative. For starters, I have never thought that anybody would deliberately dope a pet. It's the inadvertant substances that seem to show up in tests, such as theobromine. In the past this substance has been quite prevalent. I believe it was about 1993 or 1994 when 24 dogs were tested, 3 didn't give enough sample to enable testing, and of the 21 remaining, all of them tested positive for the xanthines, most notably theobromine. There was a short furore and the whole thing was dropped by the then BWRA committee. Cue the incumbent BWRA committee. Things had died down and racers had become complacent. Testing started up again, but this time, when theobromine was found, the committee decided to impose draconian punishments. The subsequent publicity has led to racers being more aware of the risk of chocolate ingestion producing a positive test and so they take more care in the days leading up to a championship. But there's another possibility, one that's more than a little sinsister. The cost of dope testing is prohibitive, especially if done properly. I'm not convinced that all the dope tests claimed in the Whippet News were ever actually done. After all, who actually gets to see the lab reports apart from the committees of the BWRA and NWRF?

When the BBC report said that theobromine was a substance impossible to keep out of a pet, they didn't mean that a whippet would ingest a foodstuff containing theobromine on a daily basis. It's simply hit or miss, and the point is that if every whippet were to be tested on a weekly basis then theobromine would show up time and time again. If it hasn't shown up at championship testing then it's down to very careful supervision and a lot of luck. If your racing whippet is a pet that has the run of the house and is walked off the lead, then sooner or later theobromine will get you.

Just one note, Michelle. Why I continue the campaign is not the issue. Perhaps I'll explain one day. The issue is whether or not the dogs and owners I campaign for are guilty or innocent. My opinion means very little. It's the opinion of experts that has weight, and so far all the experts I've contacted have said that my campaign is just. Until that changes, I will fight on, be it 5 years or 50 years after the fact.

I will gladly send you a copy of the BBC tape free of charge, maybe then you will understand why I do this. Anyway, thanks for your interest.

mkp

 

[NEILPEM]

hi mark, debs here, i dont understand why some rubbing oils get you banned as i dont see them to be performance enhancing could you tell me why? ???

 

[mkp]

Hi Debs,

Though I'm no expert, I believe I can answer your question regarding rubbing oils. Not all oils would cause failure of a dope test, but some contain analgesics, and it's these that you have to be wary of. Analgesia means inalbility to feel pain, and the authorities, quite rightly, are concerned that unscrupulous trainers/owners might use analgesic oils to disguise any pain a dog might otherwise feel from an injury. If done deliberately, this is, of course, a particularly nasty offence. We humans know enough not to run when injured, and even if we do, at least we have the choice. Dogs don't, and running with an injury, however slight, may lead to more serious damage. Now a trainer may well rub a dog down with an oil in the belief that a) the oil contains no banned substance, and b) that the dog is healthy with no injury. The problem is proving this to the authorities. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Batesons fell foul of this particular rule which led to their quitting. From what little I knew of Steve and Julie there's no way they would do anything deliberately to harm their dogs, and given their expertise and success in the sport, well, if they can make an innocent mistake, what hope for the rest?

So the banned substances in oils that find their way into the bloodstream via the skin are not on the hit list because of any performance enhancing quality because they have none. It's purely to protect the animal's welfare that they're banned, but unfortunately the large net cast by the authorities catches a lot of innocent people.

Good luck!

mkp

 

[Paws123]

Hi Mark

First off what exactly were you banned for?

what substances were found in ecstasy's water sample ... did you by any chance have her running on anything at the time ie pain relief etc?

 

[JoJess]

It may be a good idea to put a list on here of what exactly is a banned substance as niether I, nor many others by the sound of it KNOW what products enhance a dogs performance apart from tonics of course which we all know should be discontinued so long before a race, personally i think tonics should not be used at all but thats only my view on the subject, i have heard other people say they give their whippets a drink of tea , is this a banned substance, others say they give their whippets chocolate, is chocolate not poisonous for dogs???, so come on if you know start enlightening us , let's all share the knowledge.......... :c

 

[mkp]

Hi Denise & Jo,

and thanks for asking intelligent questions, it makes my campaign a lot more interesting when there's a bit of two-way discourse. All my literature is at work right now as I've been making photocopies for Vicky, but I think I can answer your questions without reference. By the way, with a bit of luck Vicky will receive my package in the post tomorrow and within a few hours she should be as qualified as most to add her thoughts, my hope is that she will back my campaign but we'll have to wait and see.

What was I banned for? Honestly, I don't know, and neither do my BWRA reps as none of us were aware of the meetings that were held behind our backs. It wasn't any of my dogs that were tested. All I did was to contact the 4 members who were accused of doping, and when I found proof that they were innocent I pestered the BWRA to reverese their decisions. Obviously a bit too strongly as they banned me for 'threatening behaviour' and 'bringing the sport into disrepute'. A bit vague, and despite repeated requests by myself and my BWRA regional rep to find out exactly who I am supposed to have threatened, to this day we have never been told. The fact is, Denise, that I became a thorn in the side of the BWRA committee and they chose the easy way out.

Xstasy's sample showed theobromine at 12ug/ml. Sounds sinister, but theobromine is one of the xanthines found predominately in chocolate. The other 2 by products of cocoa are caffeine and theophylline, and the lab report stated these may have been present although a figure was never produced. This is probably because chocolate ingestion gives a predominant theobromine reading with low levels of caffeine and theophylline. Despite what the BWRA and NWRF might say, it takes a very small amount of chocolate to give this reading. A study was done in America a few years ago where greyhounds were used to see what tests would result from various chocolate and caffeine feeding. One greyhound was fed a single chocolate drop, and after 4.45 hours the urine sample taken showed 14ug/ml of theobromine! So it's entirely possible that something like a chocolate biscuit could have accounted for Xstasy's result. The BWRA, NWRF and Whippet News say to keep chocolate away from your dogs before a race. The trouble is that theobromine can stay in the system for up to 6 days, so what so whippet racers do? Do we muzzle and kennel our dogs like greyhounds? Xstasy stayed with Jane Poole's parents during the day while Jane was at work. Jane's mother is crippled with arthritis, and if she dropped a chocolate biscuit, and I know they always had them in the house, there was no chance to recover it before Xsatasy or any of the other whippets got in first. Our best guess is still that Xstasy must have pinched something like a chocolate biscuit, and the lab result is consistent with that. Please note that the greyhound division of the British Veterinary Association declared unanimously that the reading of 12ug/ml would have had absolutely no effect upon her performance.

The above preempts your question about pain relief drugs, nothing else was found in Xstasy's sample. She was, in effect, as clean as any whippet there.

Jo's point about list of banned substances is valid. I received an e-mail recently in answer to a query of my own that confirmed that greyhound owners in America are given a list of the banned substances including the thresholds where applicable. I believe that this is also true of greyhound racing in Australia. In fact it only seems to be Britain that is coy about issuing these lists, and I don't know why this should be so.

As to what makes a dog run faster, this is difficult to answer. There is a school of thought that says there's nothing you can give a dog to make it run faster, only slower. If you look at human sprinters, when they wanted to cheat it was through things like steroids, that didn't actually make you run faster in itself, but helped put on more muscle and allowed the competitor to train harder. To be honest, I don't know the answer to that question and never wanted to. I like to think there's no substitute for hard work, and poor old Xspell probably worked harder than any whippet in history.

If there are still people that give their dogs a bit of chocolate and drinks of tea, beware. Should you get tested then the chances are that you will return a positive result.

As a footnote, all these warnings you see on the web about chocolate, especially dark chocolate that contains much higher levels of theobromine, being deadly to a dog, strike me from personal experience as being a bit alarmist. This story is true. One christmas we had to look after one of Ron Hardy's dogs as he was away for a few days. We awoke the next morning to find that the box of Ferero Rocher ('scuse spelling if it's not right) and 1/2lb bar of Bournville dark chocolate, that had been under the tree, had been totally consumed. We watched that dog all day. Not only did he not die, he didn't even throw up. But I shouldn't treat this topic lightly, if the experts say that chocolate in certain amounts is dangerous, so be it, I won't argue. This is not, however, the argument when it comes to whippet racing. All we as racers want to know is whether or not chocolate makes the dog run faster. The experts say no. End of story. Xstasy, Hillside Lad, Avalanche and Don Ambro are innocent, and the BWRA knows it.

mkp

 

[tony warren]

tony you said it could be part of a betting ploy to keep it in well no like our tests it takes a few weeks for results to come back i know it sounds stupid in a comp like the greyhound derby well there you go were not all perfect and as of the dog that failed the test droopys hewit was a 25 to 1 outsider but getting back to the subject of whippets yes there are no such guide line on what is banned and what is not there. :c :8 ??? are so many new things hat are one the market you can never tell the only thing i would say ask you regional rep for guidence or go to the top to be on the safe side. but good luck to all at this years champs

 

[michelle]

This maybe a really stupid question but would dogs and people(professional athletes) fail drug tests on the same things?.

I've found some sites which give lists of banned substances in professional sports......would these apply to dogs?

 

[Vicky]

The BWRA, NWRF and Whippet News say to keep chocolate away from your dogs before a race

Easier said than done, I know i keep saying it but these people have obviously never lived with a dog like mine - we have to lift the bin when we go to bed, the neighbours have even been warned about putting food out for the birds....People might think we're daft for not just putting her in a kennel, lead walking her & keeping a muzzle on her - but for god sake they're pets when all said & done, i'd rather pack in open racing before go to these extreme's.

 

[Whippet-les]

hello mark

its les here(john lee hooker)just to say the dog that got the supreme

bend title was using ibrufren gel pain killer,i would have taken titles off them but i

would not ban them and knowing the people for 20yrs or more that would have been enough punishment.i still think you and all the others were railroaded .

I BELIEVE YOU.

 

[michelle]

Little Madam also tested positive for methyl-xanthines

Tony

 

[mkp]

Wow, is it true that Little Madam failed on xanthines? How ironic is that? It was Ian Heaney represented Jane Poole at her first hearing, and I seem to recall him telling me that Julie Bateson, one of the regional reps at that hearing, was among the most vociferous in wanting to throw the book at Jane for the same offence! This sport is full of such ironies and definitely has its fair share of hypocrites. The minutes of one of the meetings where my ban was muted states that a southern regional rep proposed I be banned after I pestered the committee to reverse their decisions regarding the failed dope tests. Could this be the same southern rep who then did a complete about face and went to bat for her friend Irene Cunningham when the NWRF banned her? It's amazing how people suddenly sit up and listen when something like this happens close to home. What I don't understand, is how the NWRF can adopt such a ridiculous doping policy if it's true what I'm told that the Armstrongs, who sit on the NWRF committee last I heard, were among those back in 1994 or so when Ian Heaney was BWRA secretary and 21 dogs failed for the xanthines at championships.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Les.

 

[Tony Taylor]

Mark,

I was at a BWRA NW meeting at the time of Xcstacys failed test and the discusion as to what should be done by the BWRA came up. To be fair Steve and Julie Bateson were as ignorant as to the effects of theobromine as everyone else was at the time although Steve was of course familiar with the use of caffine ( which doesn`t mean he used it!!!!). At this time I knew theobromine was related to caffine and it was my view that to acheive a level of 12 micro grams/ml the amount of chocolate ingested would be too high to be accidental or the chocolate administered via other forms eg drinking cocoa - I`m now convinced that this view was wrong.

Subsequent conversations with them have led me to believe that Steve and Julie were not that convinced about BWRA drug testing being correct.

You cant have it both ways with regard to chocolate causing toxicity - either it takes a lot and it is safe to allow dogs to eat in the amounts you indicated happened to your dog or small amounts are toxic and thus will produce high urine levels for small amounts ingested. I believe the latter to be true and this was confirmed by an article written by the cheif of the Veterinary Poisons Information Service ( they have a web site and have information regarding the amounts of theobromine ingested and the levels of toxicity produced; although its a subscription service, they may provide relevant information if you contact them and explain your needs)

 

[Vicky]

Received the tape this morning & after listening to Jan Ambrozini, Rab Patterson, Davy Cooper, Ian Heaney, Bob Osmond (all reputable in the racing world) it actually made me want to cry especially Jan's story.

I've only had a quick flick through some of the documents so far & i cannot (or dont want to) believe what i've read - i can fully understand why people are packing up now!!

 

[alsh]

i am currently waiting for my bitch pup to be old enough to race this will be my 1 st racer though i have had long dogs & lurchers for some 16 years now and each morning my bitches have a cup of tea to warm them though as my whippets are worked during the winter period now the way i see it i would get a life ban JUST for caring for my whippets what do they think is going to happen is she going to mutate into a cheetah hey lets ban baked beans hmm theres an idea 6 tins of beans and naked flame at the rear of the trap.

 

[mkp]

Hi Vicky!

Still wading through all the documents? When the BBC first broadcast the show I sent a copy of the transcript (provided by the BBC) to Whippet News with a note along the lines that it was in the members' interest that she publish said transcript. No reply, of course. I haven't listened to the tape myself for years because Jan's trembling voice makes me break down. I look forward to your views once you've finished reading all the documents. Obviously you know mine, I think the committee is out and out corrupt, and I believe the documents I sent you prove that they have systematically tried to cover up their corrupt behaviour by methods that include promulgating lies to the membership. This is a powerful accusation, but one that I have always been prepared to substantiate in a fair hearing, something that the BWRA is terrified of granting me. I don't want to put you on the spot, so don't answer if you don't feel comfortable, but do you think that there is enough evidence there to warrant an EGM and make the BWRA committee answer to my charges?

Talk to you soon.

mkp

 

[Vicky]

What i don't understand is why you didn't get a meeting in the first place? Isn't this every members rights? Looks like you went down the right route of through your regional rep - then to the board themselves, was a reason ever given as to why you or your rep's were not invited to a meeting?

 

[mkp]

No reason that I can recall. Bob Osmond, one of my regional reps, was furious with the BWRA committee and I know he phoned John Fitzpatrick to admonish him. He also wrote a letter of complaint, a copy of which I sent you. But, sure enough, the BWRA held a second meeting of which they didn't notify myself or my regional reps. If there was a reason given I don't know of it, you'll have to ask Bob Osmond. As for member's rights, !!??????

Mark P.

 

[mutley]

pc been down so i havnt been on k9 for a week or so but the title bwra coruption seems a bit harsh :angry: your timing is as good as ever mark, you seem to pop up every year near the champs ,the bwra needs our support not all this trash, :angry: why not give it a rest you were caught full stop............