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STATE-BY-STATE NEWS UPDATE: The Racing States/First Quarter
FLORIDA The incident occurred Saturday afternoon, April 12, when one of the trailer's wheels started falling apart, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Another motorist flagged down Daly and helped her get the dogs out of the burning trailer. Four greyhounds died at the scene, 10 suffered burns that ranged from mild to severe. A veterinarian driving by stopped to assist with the injured dogs; no further information about the dogs is available. Manatee County Animal Control officers are investigating, according to sheriff's reports. Motorists driving by saw several of the dogs wandering along the highway moments after they were freed from the burning trailer, according to Carla Chapman, a Bradenton woman who witnessed the incident. "I just stopped because there was a bloody dog running down the road," Chapman said. "It was one of the most horrible things I've ever seen." Chapman said at least six cars stopped to help before Manatee sheriff's deputies, firefighters, highway patrol officers, and paramedics arrived. Daly was treated at the scene for minor burns on her hands. "These dogs died a horrible death," said Susan Netboy, director of the Greyhound Protection League. "Greyhound hauling vehicles are notoriously dangerous. Many are old dilapidated trailers that are virtual death traps on wheels, but old or new, the greyhounds don't have a chance when something goes wrong." Sources: Bradenton Herald:
Nevy Wilson Tampa: Authorities have arrested Stephen L. Ferguson, 43, former office manager for Tampa Greyhound Park, on charges that he defrauded the track of nearly $1.2 million between November 1999 and May 2002. Investigators said Ferguson used his access to a computer payroll program to alter his direct deposit check amounts on a weekly basis. An investigation by Tampa police detective James Lifetree into the greyhound track fraud case led to Ferguson's arrest in Alabama. Ferguson waived extradition and was brought to the Hillsborough County Jail on Friday, April 11. He faces charges of making false entries on corporate books, first-degree grand theft, and organized fraud. Source: St. Petersburg Times: Brady Dennis IOWA The Iowa Legislature established the tax rates in 1994 when slot machines were approved for the Dubuque and Council Bluffs greyhound tracks and the Prairie Meadows thoroughbred track in Altoona. In June 2002, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in favor of the racetracks and declared Iowa's tax system unconstitutional. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller appealed the decision in Polk Country District Court, which upheld the state's high court decision Jan. 9 and ordered the state to repay $112 million in taxes and interest to the racetracks. U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson filed a friend-of-the court brief in February in support of Iowa's attorney general. Miller issued a statement Feb. 28 calling the Justice Department's filing of the brief "a very promising development." Miller said, "This is an extremely important case for Iowa. There are huge amounts of money at stake, and the legal principles are extraordinarily important." The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in the case April 29. A ruling is expected before the court recesses July 1. Sources: The Des Moines Register:
William Petroski Dubuque: The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission gave its approval March 6 to a compromise settlement between the Iowa Greyhound Association (IGA) and the Dubuque and Council Bluffs dog tracks that will boost the amount of money from slot machine revenues each track must contribute to purses. Dubuque's purse payouts will increase from 8.25 percent to 9 percent; Bluffs Run purse payouts will increase to 9 percent, a half percent increase. The IGA originally had asked for 12 percent, but the tracks refused. The compromise settlement was reached through the intervention of a three-member arbitration panel appointed by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. Racetrack operators questioned whether the amounts of money going from slots to purses should continue to increase while the amount wagered on racing continues to decline. Racing is not a moneymaker at the Dubuque track, which sustained a loss of $640,000 on live racing last year. "That's one hell of a loss leader," said Bruce Wentworth, the track's general manger. The rate increase means the Dubuque track will pay out nearly $3.7 million in purses this year, an $880,000 increase from last year's payments. Pete Welen, Bluffs Run general manager, said the track's pari-mutuel business operates in the red "to the tune of $8 million to $9 million a year." Greyhound association president Bob Hardison said the organization of kennel owners just wants its fair share. He said the racetracks "benefit by greyhound racing because that's how they got casinos in the first place." Wentworth said, "It's not a matter of greyhounds generating revenues to pay their way, it's a matter of greyhounds subsidized by another game. While we realize that was part of the intent, it's gone from partial subsidy to total subsidy." Racing commission chairman
Mike Mahaffey said the debate over slot contributions to purses "appears
to be an opening salvo in the debate about the future of the greyhound
industry in Iowa." Sources: The Omaha World-Herald: Julie Anderson KANSAS The district court judge ordered a pre-sentence investigation. Brundige and his attorney said they expected him to be placed on probation because he has no prior criminal convictions. After the hearing, Brundige, who has been free on bond, said he is working as a self-employed carpenter and would repay the money "slowly but surely." Brundige has been subpoenaed to testify against his father-in-law, former Woodlands' general manager August J. Masciotra, who is charged with three counts of felony theft. A preliminary hearing for Masciotra, 53, was scheduled for late March. Masciotra, who now lives in another state, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission uncovered a fraudulent purchasing scam at the Kansas City track after other track employees discovered undocumented expenditures on the books. During its lengthy investigation, which began in February 2002, the commission found evidence that falsified vouchers and phony receipts had covered up more than $180,000 in stolen funds. Update: On March 18 Brundige, testifying in the first phase of a preliminary hearing in Wyandotte County District Court for his father-in law, said that he schemed alone in stealing an estimated $74,000 in cash from the track. "At any time did Augie Masciotra become involved with you in stealing this money?" Masciotra's lawyer, Tom Bath, asked Brundige. "No," Brundige answered. "This was your deal?" Bath asked. "Yes," Brundige said. Source: The Kansas City Star: Rick Alm, James C. Fitzpatrick MASSACHUSETTS Six deaths were reported at Wonderland, including Die Cut, a 74-pound black male who was euthanized after his hind legs were paralyzed during a race; Sebastian Cabot, a 73-pound blue brindle male, collapsed on the track before completing the race and was pronounced dead on examination; and SR's Clorox, a 59-pound white female, was euthanized after suffering a spinal cord injury during a fall while running in the rain on a muddy track. Two other dogs, whose names were illegible on the records, were euthanized after they sustained fractures. The sixth dog, name also illegible, died suddenly after a race. Two deaths were reported at Raynham/Taunton. Carolina's Alarm, a 69-pound brindle female, died of cardiac arrest at the end of a race; M's Curly Slim, a 72-pound black male, was euthanized after suffering a compound leg fracture. The records were the first to be released under a provision included in the $5 million bailout bill for the racetracks approved by the Legislature in 2001, which required that injury reports be made available to the public. "I think that dog racing would be outlawed today if voters knew how many dogs were seriously injured," said GREY2K USA vice president Christine Dorchak. Greyhound protection groups were unable to obtain injury records during their 2000 ballot campaign to ban dog racing in the state. The measure lost by a narrow margin of less than 2 percent. Source: Boston Globe: Jennifer
Peter, NEW HAMPSHIRE Hopfenbeck, a Massachusetts-based veterinarian, provides services for the Greyhound Rescue League of New England. Hopfenbeck filed the complaint against Nelson after the death of Savs Wilson Lee, or Willie, a 3-year-old black male, who died within 24 hours of his last race at the Hinsdale track on Sept. 27. Willie failed to complete the race. Willie's trainer called Hopfenbeck for help the following morning; the dog was immediately transported to the Sutton Animal Hospital but died en route. Hopfenbeck performed the necropsy on Willie and found collapsed lungs, 3.5 liters of free blood in his chest cavity, evidence of chronic massive bleeding, and a large fibrous mass on his diaphragm. In her complaint, Hopfenbeck contended that Nelson should have spotted the dog's problems and not let it race; failing that, she wrote, he should have taken care of the animal after it failed to finish. [Please see the Winter 2002-03 edition of GNN for complete details of this story. - Ed.] Source: The Union Leader: Stephen Seitz RHODE ISLAND London-based Wembley PLC released its annual earnings report on March 3, which further stated that the charges would be "vigorously resisted" and that the directors "remain of the view that the allegations are without foundation." Providence attorney John Tarantino, who is representing Wembley, told The Providence Journal March 13 that the grand jury investigation is still ongoing. The grand jury was convened in January 2002 after Francis Sherman and David Brents, the former president and chief financial officer of Wembley USA, reached an undisclosed settlement in a wrongful termination lawsuit they filed in May 2001 in U.S. District Court in Denver against their former employer. Sherman and Brents, who had direct oversight of the Lincoln dog track, alleged in their civil lawsuit that they were dismissed after refusing to approve a contract that would have given a Rhode Island attorney "multimillion dollar payments" for unspecified services. Wembley USA is based in Aurora, Colorado. Wembley also owns and operates greyhound tracks in the United Kingdom and three tracks in Colorado - Pueblo Greyhound Park, Post Time Greyhound Park in Colorado Springs, and Wembley Park, formerly Mile High Greyhound Park in Commerce City, a suburb of Denver. In other news, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri's budget, released March 5, proposed that the state would take the first 65.75 percent of the revenue from video lottery terminals at Lincoln Park and Newport Jai Alai, an increase of 11.75 percent; the owners of the state's two gambling venues would receive 24 percent of the machine's revenue, down from their current 30 percent; and the 5 percent share currently used to supplement purses for the 15 kennel operators at the Lincoln track would be eliminated. Richard Brindle, chairman of the Rhode Island Greyhound Owners Association, said greyhound racing would end if the owners' share is eliminated. "To pull the plug out from under them is unconscionable," he said. Daniel Bucci, Lincoln's chief executive officer, agreed with Brindle's assessment. "It would put them out of business," Bucci said of the dogmen. Bucci said the amount of money the track handles from live greyhound racing would not be enough to support the purses that attract high-quality racing. The 15 kennel owners operating at the Lincoln track split $14.5 million in supplemented purses in 2002. Sources: The Providence Journal:
David McPherson WISCONSIN The first phase of the project is scheduled for opening by the summer of 2004. Phase two will begin after the hotel opens and will include the addition of another 252 hotel rooms and the expansion of the water park. Source: ABC Affiliate WBAY-TV: Jerry Burke Kenosha: Racing-related injuries to greyhounds running at Dairyland Greyhound Park increased by nearly 30 percent last year, from 318 in 2001 to 412 in 2002. The Geneva Lakes track in Delavan had a 5.5 percent injury rate increase, from 215 in 2001 to 227 in 2002. "This certainly alarms us," said Lenka Perron, co-founder of Michigan Retired Greyhounds as Pets. According to Perron, injury rates could be increasing due to a number of factors, including poor track conditions, running dogs that recently suffered a minor injury but were not given adequate time to recuperate, or a combination of factors. "We picked up one female with a broken hock whose track records showed that she had actually been injured five weeks earlier, with no apparent treatment," Perron said. "As a result of this delay in treatment, her injury worsened and resulted in major surgery and increased the possibility that she may never be able to bear weight on the injured leg." Decreased income for the tracks means lower payouts to dog owners, which leads to spending less money on trainers and caregivers for the dogs, Perron said. Because of declining attendance, Dairyland lost about $750,000 over the past two years; the Geneva Lakes track is losing millions of dollars every year. Susan Netboy, director of the Greyhound Protection League (GPL), said the injury rates at Wisconsin tracks were excessive. She said the state should examine the tracks' maintenance records as well as its original construction. Officials with the state Division of Gaming, which oversees the tracks, discounted the jump in injuries, saying that a one-year increase doesn't mean the tracks are unsafe. Netboy disagreed and said that if the gaming division fails to take action, GPL will file a complaint with regulatory officials. Perron said she hopes that newly elected Gov. Jim Doyle will appoint a racing administrator who will make the welfare of greyhounds a top priority. Perron said a formal complaint would be made to the gaming division's new appointee. [Editor's Note: In 1993, the gaming commission warned Dairyland officials that the track could be shut down if its extremely high injury rate was not reduced. The track recorded 180 injuries in the 14-week period between June 1 and Sept. 14. The commission also ordered Dairyland to hire a full-time official to maintain the track surface, which was blamed for the high injury rate.] Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Kelly Wells, Steven Walters (1993) Madison: Gov. Jim Doyle renewed the gaming compact between the state and the Potawatomi Feb. 19, a move that angered the Republican-controlled Legislature, who just days earlier had passed a bill that would strip Doyle of his sole authority to approve gaming compacts with tribes. The compact has no expiration date, but includes a clause that either the state or the tribe can review the deal in 25 years. Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer said that Doyle "sold the future for a handful of magic beans." Administration Secretary Marc Marotta, who negotiated the compact, called it "a very, very good deal for the state of Wisconsin." Marotta said tribal casinos are - and will remain - part of Wisconsin's landscape, so it made sense to let the Potawatomi offer 24-hour wagering and previously forbidden games to compete with casinos in other Mid-Western states, and help bail the state government out of its $3.2 billion budget deficit. The new compact calls for the Potawatomi to pay the state $90.5 million through mid-2005; the previous compact called for payments totaling $12 millon over the same period. The compact also allows the tribe to offer simulcast betting on dog and horse races. Officials of the Dairyland dog track in Kenosha were stunned when they learned about the simulcast clause. Within days, however, the Potawatomi voluntarily agreed not to offer simulcast betting at its Milwaukee casino as long as the nearby Dairyland dog track is operating. Earlier this year, Dairyland filed a lawsuit against the state aimed at halting all Indian casinos in Wisconsin. Dane County Circuit Judge Richard J. Callaway rejected the lawsuit on Feb. 11. Dairyland vice president Roy Berger said the ruling would be appealed to the state Court of Appeals. Indian tribes operate 17 casinos in Wisconsin under 11 compacts. Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Steven Walters, Dennis Chaptman
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