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Dog Doping at the Iditarod

posted by martyb on Thursday October 19 2017, @10:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the some-hurtin'-dogs dept.

takyon writes:

Several dogs from one of the top twenty finishing teams at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race failed a drug test:

It's not your ordinary sports doping scandal: some dogs who mushed this year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race have tested positive for the opioid pain reliever Tramadol, the event's governing board said Wednesday.

The Iditarod Trail Committee Board of Directors, which oversees the nearly 1,000-mile race, says that when dogs were tested six hours after finishing in Nome, Alaska, in March, several from one team came back positive for the drug. It is the first-ever positive result since Iditarod testing for prohibited substances began in 1994, officials said.

The Board announced last week that "a prohibited substance" had been found in some of the dogs. The latest information clarifies that it was Tramadol. The Associated Press reports that investigators estimate the drug could have been administered up to 15 hours before the test.

The rules will be changed to require mushers to prove that they did not intentionally administer drugs to their dogs in the case of a positive test. Currently, race officials are required to prove that the doping was intentional.

Tramadol.

Also at The Guardian and DW.

See Also: Routine On U.S. Racetracks, Horse Doping Is Banned In Europe
Report: Horsemen Keeping Tabs On Development Of New Human Drugs
Doped up greyhounds add to the disgrace dogging parimutuels in Florida

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday October 19 2017, @11:57PM (2 children)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Thursday October 19 2017, @11:57PM (#585001) Journal

    People have doped themselves with substances that could cause a lot more health problems than tramadol. So it's not shocking for people to administer drugs to dogs. I wonder how effective the pain killers are though. The NPR on-air story said that it helps dogs "run through the pain".

    lol: Anti-doping efforts still in their infancy in eSports [dw.com]

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Friday October 20 2017, @01:38AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 20 2017, @01:38AM (#585040) Journal

    Who would drug dogs?

    In some cases, themselves. Dobby the dog tripping on cane toads [youtube.com]

    ---

    See also:
    - bufotenin [wikipedia.org]
    - toad licking [gizmodo.com]

    Toad licking has long been recognized as a stupid, risky way to try to get high.
    ...
    The stuff itself is called 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine. The chemical gets into the body and acts as a serotonin agonist, binding to serotonin receptors and releasing a lot of the feel-good substance into the body. People who take 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine report a full-body rush and powerful hallucinations... although notably, most people who take 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine, generally do so in purified form.

    As it's not much in the toad's interest to get people high, it secretes some other stuff as well. One of the chemicals it secretes probably could be used to treat people medically. It's a cardiotoxic steroid which is a close cousin to digitalis, the chemical produced by the foxglove... A toad's version of the toxin releases massive bursts of adrenalin in the person or animal that ingests it; the adrenalin first increases the heart rate and then causes fibrillation. Enough of the toxin causes irregular heartbeat, seizures, and death.

    Just as a bonus, toads secrete substances that weaken muscles and cause extreme nausea, too. So the overall effect of toad licking can cause a person to have vivid hallucinations, a racing heart, and muscles too weak to carry their constantly-vomiting body to the bathroom, let alone the hospital.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @01:45AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @01:45AM (#585044)

    I'd never heard of tramadol until earlier this week -- when an elderly relative broke their arm (knife-like pain when disturbed) and this was prescribed as something a bit stronger than Tylenol. Pharmacist said it wasn't on any opioid watch lists (presumably because it's not very strong?) After two 50mg tablets taken 6 hours apart, they have sworn it off--made them too dopey and incompetent feeling, although it did work on the pain. If pain returns they might try again with half a tablet.

    One thing for sure, it is cheap -- in this case the co-pay along with a senior drug plan was 44 cents for 14 tabs.