A dog trainer at Tucson Greyhound Park is under investigation for allegedly giving steroids to two of the animals in his care.
Willie Davis has been suspended while the investigation is underway, said Amanda Jacinto, spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Gaming, which oversees the track.
Urine samples were taken from two dogs, Last Two Tails and Last Two Gigs, who were both race winners before being tested.
“On Nov. 25, the results came back and they were found to have a prohibitive substance in their urine,” said Jacinto. The drug detected is called methandienone. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Davis could not be reached for comment Friday. The kennel owner, George Fune, did not respond to interview requests.
Fune has hired a new trainer to run his dogs, Jacinto said, but she said she couldn’t provide more details. When a trainer is suspended, state law mandates that the entire kennel is not allowed to race.
Davis has been racing Fune’s dogs at the park for about 30 years, said Dale Popp, manager at Tucson Greyhound Park.
“They are both really perplexed over how it happened,” Popp said. “They both maintain that they didn’t do anything to the dogs.”
Popp wouldn’t speculate on what happened.
“That’s why we limit access to the kennels,” he said. “Someone drops a candy bar and a dog eats it, and then there’s caffeine in the system.”
It isn’t the first time Davis has been investigated. He was fined $1,000 by the state in 2011 for failing to properly care for greyhounds in his care, state records show.
The animals were kenneled for at least eight hours without a break in September 2011, records show.
Earlier this year, an Arizona Daily Star review of public records found Tucson Greyhound Park had not reported dog injuries to state authorities at least 30 times from January through August.
However, the state’s gaming department maintained that no laws were broken.
Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik said the latest problems emphasize the need to shut down the track.
“In any legitimate sporting activity, people are looking at major sanctions for performance enhancing drugs,” said Kozachik, who has spoken out against the sport for years.
“They treat the animals like they are a commodity to be bought and sold, and run into the ground.”
