Greyhound advocates point to new injury records at Tucson Greyhound Park

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - As greyhound advocates once again turn their attention to Tucson, they have new information about injuries at Tucson Greyhound Park.

Greyhound advocacy group GREY2K USA said injury reports from the Department of Racing showed racers that were injured at Tucson Greyhound Park in January and February. One dog suffered the same injury in four different races over the course of two weeks.

The status of racing reports has become a concern once again since video of a race early last month showed a dog bumping the electrified inside rail. It later died, according to track watchdogs. Requests by Tucson News Now to the Department of Racing for track rosters and kennel disposition logs were answered with the reply that the department doesn't maintain those records.

GREY2K USA had been asking for injury statistics from Department of Racing, and received those from January and February in mid-April. Out of 16 reported injuries, half were fractures.

And in February, one dog, Smoo's Zenia, didn't have a fracture but suffered non-specific lameness in the right front leg in four different races in less than two weeks.

"Well the records show that the dog presented as lame and was raced over and over again, so there's no question that the dog was not fit for racing," said GREY2K USA president and general counsel Christina Dorchak.

A message for track general manager Dale Popp was not returned.