A dog trainer in New Zealand has been disqualified after her winning dog tested positive for methamphetamine after a race.
Zipping Sarah, a dog owned by Angela Helen Turnwald, won her race at Christchurch’s Addington Raceway in November 2020, along with an NZ $4,000 stake for her owner.
However, Turwald would not collect the prize money earned by her pooch because a post-race urine test showed that the dog had both methamphetamine and amphetamine in her system.
Warwick Gendall, panel chairman of the Judicial Control Authority for Racing, said that the test posed “significant animal welfare issues.”
“The level of amphetamine in the sample was particularly large,” Gendall explained.
Though, despite the presence of the drugs in the dog’s system, the panel did not find Turnwald guilty of “deliberate wrongdoing” because they were unable to ascertain when the drugs were given to the dog.
In the end, the panel decided to disqualify Turnwald for four months and fine her NZ $3,500.
The animal rights group SAFE called for a suspension of dog racing until a thorough review of the entire industry can be conducted.
“Giving a dog methamphetamine to improve their race performance is depraved,” SAFE spokesperson Will Appelbe said.
The case involving Zipping Sarah is the third such dog doping case in the last six months, the New York Post reports.