Tampa Greyhound shuts down; Derby Lane's card room closes.
By BOB PUTNAM
Published June 29, 2004
Tampa Greyhound shut down for medical reasons for the first time in the track's 71-year history after an outbreak of flulike kennel cough.
With kennel owners worried about the welfare of their animals, the track canceled races Monday and will remain closed until the illness subsides, said David Roberts, director of the state's division of parimutuel racing.
"Officials at the track were concerned about the number of scratches," Roberts said. "They decided it was in their best interest to close down and let the flu run its course."
A decision on whether to resume racing this week will be made within the next two days.
The suspension of live racing also impacts Derby Lane's card room, which is open year-round after Tampa Greyhound transferred its poker rights to the St. Petersburg facility in a unique agreement this month.
Under state law, Derby Lane cannot operate the card room without live racing.
"We know the rules, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens," Derby Lane spokeswoman Vera Filipelli said.
Tampa Greyhound is the only dog track in the state to suspend live racing. The track also imposed a quarantine at Derby Lane, which means no new dogs can come to their tracks and none can leave. The quarantine was initiated because the tracks share many kennels and dogs.
Roberts said tracks in Daytona Beach, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Naples and Sanford implemented quarantines because of kennel cough.
"It seems like there are some isolated cases of kennel cough around the state," Roberts said. "We don't have the power to make quarantines mandatory but many of the tracks are seeing the benefit of putting one in place."
The outbreak at Tampa Greyhound is not related to a deadly virus that struck Derby Lane twice in the past six years.
In 1999, Derby Lane was closed two weeks after six dogs died from streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, a pneumonialike illness that spread to tracks across the country.
In March 2003, Derby Lane closed two weeks after kennel cough spread to more than 300 greyhounds and an upper respiratory illness killed two others.
"This is nothing like what we've had before," Filipelli said. "This seems to be fast moving."
The malady first was detected at Tampa Greyhound last week. Roberts said there have been 66 scratches since Wednesday.
"Tampa was having enough scratches to cancel some races the past few days," Roberts said. "The field was not strong enough to keep going."
It takes about three days for the dogs to recover. The greyhounds who have the virus are on antibiotics and are not allowed to race, according to state regulations.
Once healthy, most greyhounds go through schooling races before returning.
