NEW ZEALAND DOG TRAINER SUSPENDED AFTER WINNING GREYHOUND TESTS POSITIVE FOR METH

A New Zealand dog trainer was disciplined and fined after one of her race-winning greyhounds tested positive for methamphetamine following a November competition.

Angela Helen Turnwald was on the receiving end of the punishment, the New Zealand Herald reported Thursday. Her dog Zipping Sarah won a race at the Addington Raceway in Christchurch. However, the dog’s urine was flagged in a post-race test for positive amphetamine and methamphetamine samples.

The Judicial Control Authority for Racing (JCA) determined in its investigation that Turnwald didn’t deliberately give the dog meth, but the trainer was made an example of the ruling.

“Methamphetamine is a potent central nervous system stimulant which poses significant animal welfare issues and the level of Amphetamine (as it metabolized from methamphetamine) in the sample was particularly large,” JCA panel chairman Warwick Gendall QC said in a statement.

According to the New Zealand Herald, the dog was brought from a kennel in Foxton to Christchurch on the day of the race but there was a stop in between. It was unclear when the drug was administered, racing officials said.

Turnwald was suspended for four months and was handed a $3,500 fine. Gendall said Turnwald had a spotless record and had people vouch for her during the authority’s investigation.