Dog Doping Scandal Finishes Career of Shady Greyhound Trainer

It is not uncommon to hear about sports figures using performing enhancement drugs; however, what if the doper was a greyhound racing dog, fed the drugs by its trainer? In a recent court case, however, it was a performance inhibiting drug, cyclizine, which is classified as having sedative affects. Any drug that is used to stimulate, sedate or otherwise change behavior is considered illegal in dog racing.

BBC’s Panorama, a current events news program, caught Chris Mosdall, a racing dog trainer bragging about how he has won £150,000 cheating by fixing bets. He went on to explain his crimes while the undercover cameras rolled, catching his impromptu confession.

Mosdall had been doping the dogs for over a decade. He was giving the dogs the drug antihistamine cyclizine. Cyclizine, a powerful antiemetic, is routinely prescribed to cure acute vomiting in dogs, and is not meant to be used long term. It is excreted through the kidneys. Even in small quantities, prolonged use of the drug can cause irreversible kidney damage. According to the evidence, Chris Mosdall nonchalantly added that he knew it was harmful to the dogs but that he rotates the dogs he dopes so that their kidney’s don’t quit.

According to Vet.org, testing for illegal drugging of racing dogs only applies during race day. Other factors like veterinarian prescriptions for the proper use of cyclizine, may mitigate the chance of being caught illegally medicating the dogs to alter performance. Some dogs are now being forced to ingest EPO, Erythropoietin, a favorite choice of cheating athletes. Most drug testing is performed post racing, and if a trainer cannot produce a urine or blood sample, they may be banned from the track.

Professing himself the “Biggest Crook in Wimbledon”, Chris Mosdall astonished the undercover reporters with his blasé attitude about cheating. One way he used performance inhibiting drugs was to slow his dogs down for a particular time, making them eligible to compete (and then later win) lesser competitions.

This became a landmark court case as it was the first time an individual was prosecuted for cheating bets by The UK Gambling Association. According to the Gambling Act of 2005, cheaters can not only incur sanctions, but also full criminal prosecution resulting in fines and jail sentences. In addition to Panorama’s taped evidence, testing was done on Mosdall’s canines. Two of the eight dogs tested positive for drugs. This combined evidence helped the proseciution convict Mosdall and he received a jail sentence of four an one half months.

During sentencing, Judge Peter Lodder castigated Mosdall for his conduct, and remarked that his conduct “strikes at the heart of gambling”, citing that gamblers deserve to have a fair chance when betting.