Wisconsin
State Journal
HEADLINE:
FROM DOG TRACK TO THEIR DOOM
INSTEAD
OF BEING ADOPTED, HUNDREDS OF GREYHOUNDS WERE USED IN LAB EXPERIMENTS, THEN
KILLED.
Sunday,
May 14, 2000
Section:
Front
Edition:
All
Page:
1A
Illustration:
CATHY ACHERMAN PHOTO
Marcia
Latz, who runs a greyhound adoption agency in Rochester, Minn., struggles to
hold onto greyhound sisters Stat US Biscuit, left, and Stat US Saucy, still
``frisky'' despite having been subjected to medical tests. The dogs were among
more than 850 former racing dogs destined for adoption but sent to labs
instead.
``I
thought he was going to a good home,'' said Becky Boyce, owner of
Beckysdreamer, one of six dogs released from a medical lab on Thursday. Despite
his ordeal, the dog appeared to be in good condition.
WSJ
Graphic
Source:
Division of Gaming records
Greyhounds
shipped from Wisconsin tracks by Daniel Shonka
Source:
State Division of Gaming records
Paper
Trail
Andy
Hall and Phil Brinkman Wisconsin State Journal
TEXT:
More than 850 retired Wisconsin racing greyhounds that were supposed to have
been adopted into homes instead were sold into cardiac-research experiments at
a private Minnesota laboratory, where most of them died, interviews and public
records reveal.
Only
about 100 of the dogs will be returned from the lab at Guidant Corp.'s St.
Paul, Minn., research facility, state gambling regulators said. Six were
released on Thursday to a private adoption agency in Rochester, Minn.
Investigators
with the state Division of Gaming, state Department of Justice and U.S.
Department of Agriculture continue to investigate Daniel Shonka, a Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, resident who operates a greyhound adoption program at his home
and a racing kennel in Hudson. Shonka also holds a USDA license to sell animals
to research facilities.
Shonka,
a longtime scout with the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles,
hasn't been formally charged with wrongdoing.
But
Scott Scepaniak, administrator of the Wisconsin Division of Gaming, said the
state may bring disciplinary action against Shonka if it can determine he
violated state rules governing the greyhound industry.
Scepaniak
declined to go into detail about the case, but said the state was looking into
allegations that Shonka falsified paperwork showing where the dogs went, failed
to handle dogs humanely and abandoned his kennel.
While
it is legal for a dog's rightful owner to donate the animal to research, it is
against the law for an adoption agency to promise to adopt out a dog and sell
it for research instead.
Fines
imposed by state racing stewards could reach $2,000 per violation, and
Scepaniak has authority to impose additional fines of $10,000 per violation.
The
Department of Justice also continues to review the case for possible criminal
charges.
Stephen
Morgan, a Madison lawyer representing Shonka, said, ``I believe we have
evidence that shows absolutely nothing was done wrong.''
Morgan
said it's premature to specify Shonka's defense, because no charges have been
filed.
However,
he said, ``Shonka . . . had the permission of owners, in most situations, with
signed documents.''
A
Wisconsin State Journal review of Division of Gaming records shows that Shonka
or his companies took control of 936 greyhounds at Wisconsin race tracks since
1997. The records, released under the Wisconsin Open Records Law, show that all
but 11 of those dogs were picked up from St. Croix Meadows Greyhound Racing
Track in Hudson, where Shonka has his kennel.
Scepaniak
said two of his employees, Dan Subach and Chris Patton, matched more than 850
dogs listed on Division of Gaming records with USDA records listing dogs
delivered by Shonka to Guidant.
Some
forms show that on the same day Shonka picked up dogs at the Hudson track, he
also delivered them across the St. Croix River to Guidant, Scepaniak said.
``I
think that's proof that there was a falsification of the information that was
being provided, that these dogs did not go to Shonka's adoption, but went
directly to the research facility,'' Scepaniak said.
Furthermore,
Scepaniak said, interviews with owners indicate that Shonka didn't have the
owners' permission to sell the dogs for research. The owners thought the dogs
either were still racing or being adopted into homes at the end of their racing
careers, he said.
Scepaniak
said he believed Shonka was paid $300 to $400 per dog by Guidant. That would
amount to about $300,000 over the last four years, Scepaniak said.
Carol
Lindahl, a spokeswoman for Guidant, said the Indianapolis-based company is
working with dog owners, the Wisconsin Division of Gaming and the USDA.
Lindahl
said Guidant bought dogs from Shonka because he was licensed by the USDA. The
dogs are used in research to satisfy U.S. Food and Drug Administration
requirements that cardiac devices be tested in animals before humans, she said.
``We do
the minimum amount of testing that we have to do in order to comply with the
regulatory side of the equation,'' said Lindahl, who emphasized that such research
helps saves the lives of many humans.
After
the experiments, which may last for months, the dogs are killed, Lindahl said.
The
experiments help develop pacemakers, defibrillators and a new device, awaiting
FDA approval, for regulating the heart rhythms of patients with heart failure,
Lindahl said.
Scepaniak
said that although Guidant's research may comply with all government standards,
Wisconsin's greyhound-racing industry didn't intend for retired dogs to die in
research.
``I
think it's difficult to say an animal is treated humanely when it's shipped off
to a research facility, undergoes surgical procedures and ultimately is
euthanized,'' Scepaniak said. ``We don't want the dogs to go to research.''
Instead,
he said, retired greyhounds should be adopted, as have more than 5,000 in the
past decade, sent to a breeding farm or returned to their owners.
Scepaniak
said that he's considering asking the Legislature to approve changes in state
racing rules that would prohibit greyhounds from being sent to research labs.
He also intends to discuss reforms of the industry with such groups as the
National Greyhound Association and the American Greyhound Council.
An
independent investigation by another group, the Greyhound Protection League,
was instrumental in getting investigators to look at Shonka. In a statement
last week, the group's director, Susan Netboy, criticized state regulators for
failing to detect the problem earlier.
Wednesday,
April 19, 2000
Section:
Front
Edition:
All
Page:
1A
Andy
Hall Wisconsin State Journal
TEXT: A
cardiac-research facility in St. Paul, Minn., has agreed to release some
Wisconsin racing greyhounds from scientific experiments, two dog owners said
Tuesday.
The dog
owners, Gerald Edison of New Hampshire and John Taylor of Kansas, said that
Guidant Corp. will remove surgically implanted wires and release at least three
greyhounds it bought from Daniel Shonka, a kennel owner targeted by federal and
state investigations.
It's
expected to take 10 days for the dogs to heal after the wires are removed. The
dogs will then be available for adoption into homes.
Negotiations
for release of additional dogs to other owners are continuing.
The
Wisconsin Division of Gaming, state Department of Justice and U.S. Department
of Agriculture are probing allegations that Shonka illegally diverted Wisconsin
greyhounds from race tracks or retirement-adoption programs to research
facilities.
Shonka,
a scout for the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles, hasn't been
formally charged with wrongdoing. He operates a racing kennel at St. Croix
Meadows Greyhound Racing Track in Hudson and an adoption program at his Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, home, and holds a USDA license to sell animals to research
facilities.
Joseph
Bertroche, Shonka's attorney in Cedar Rapids, declined to respond to
allegations in this story, saying, ``There'll be a time and a place for a
comment.''
In
interviews Tuesday, Edison and Taylor said they never granted Shonka permission
to send their dogs to Guidant's Cardiac Rhythm Management Group in St. Paul,
which manufactures implantable pacemakers and defibrillators to help patients
cope with irregular or rapid heart rhythms.
Edison,
who owns a motel in Claremont, N.H., said his attorney notified him that one of
his dogs, DD's Slippy Nipi, will be released.
``My
dog is at Guidant pacemaker research lab in St. Paul, Minn., without my
knowledge or consent,'' Edison said.
Edison
said DD's Slippy Nipi arrived at Shonka's Hudson kennel in February, where she
was supposed to race. ``The only thing I did was sign a lease to let him
(Shonka) run my dog in his kennel,'' Edison said.
In
early March, Edison said, Shonka ``sent me a letter stating that the dog wasn't
going to make it at the track and he sent me a form authorizing him to put her
up for adoption. I never returned it. I've still got it.''
Edison
said that on Sunday night, he learned from a greyhound-advocacy group that his
dog was at the Guidant facility. Outraged, he hired an attorney and pressed for
DD's release.
Edison,
who has raced dogs for 12 years and owns six other dogs, said it's wrong to
subject former racing dogs to experiments. ``He's an athlete and he deserves to
retire just like anybody else does.''
John
Taylor, who owns more than 100 racing greyhounds and runs a bowling alley in
Abilene, Kan., said that about a month ago, he sent two female dogs born in the
same litter, Stat US Biscuit and Stat US Saucy, to Shonka's Hudson kennel.
``The reason
we even sent him the dogs is he was under the pretense of running an adoption
center,'' Taylor said. ``That makes it so much easier. He can take them when
they get done running and find them a good couch to lie on.''
The
Hudson track features the state's slowest racing greyhounds, including many
that started at the top track at Kenosha or the No. 2 track at Delavan.
``We do
this all the time,'' said Taylor, who has raced dogs for 12 years. ``If they
don't make it at one track we send them to another one.''
Taylor
said he became concerned about the two dogs because, while checking race
results on the Internet, he noticed that they weren't competing. But he figured
they might be in a morning practice to polish their skills.
Shonka
had ``zero'' permission to ship the dogs to Guidant, Taylor said.
He's
disturbed that retired greyhounds were being used in experiments. ``I wouldn't
do that to a kitty cat, let alone a greyhound.''
While
he's grateful that his two dogs are spared, Taylor said he feels sorrowful.
``You've got to think about all the dogs that went before.''
Scott
Scepaniak, administrator of the Wisconsin Division of Gaming, said
investigators suspect Shonka illegally sold more than 200 Wisconsin racing
greyhounds to research facilities, without obtaining owners' permission.
Scepaniak
said Guidant officials didn't return calls Tuesday, but he, too, was told by
the dog owners' attorney that the company agreed to release some animals.
``It
appears that our letters and our requests that they cease such testing and
return them to the rightful owners have been successful,'' Scepaniak said.
Guidant
spokeswoman Carol Lindahl said Tuesday night that she didn't know whether the
company agreed to return dogs.
``What
I could confirm is we're cooperating with all parts of the investigation,''
Lindahl said. ``Obviously, Guidant wants to do the right thing here.''
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
content © 2000 Wisconsin State Journal and may not be republished without
permission.
Wisconsin
State Journal
HEADLINE:
RESEARCHERS RELEASING SOME GREYHOUNDS
OWNERS
OF THE DOGS SAY THEY NEVER GAVE PERMISSION FOR THE DOGS TO BE SENT TO A
RESEARCH CENTER.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
content © 2000 Wisconsin State Journal and may not be republished without
permission.