WHIPPET OWNERS SPLIT BY DRUG ROW SUSPENSION

THE world of whippet racing has been divided by a doping scandal
thought to have been prompted by chocolate drops. Trainers are
incensed at a year-long ban imposed on a dog owner. The British
Whippet Racing Association acted after a racing dog was found to have
traces of theobromine and caffeine in its urine. But senior figures in
the sport have protested that the substances, derived from the cocoa
bean, could be found in a dog that snatched a chocolate off the
Christmas tree.

The dispute raging among 600 members of the ruling organisation
threatens to end in court action. Accusations of bullying and
victimisation have been hurled at the sports organisers by one owner
heading the campaign to have the ban overturned.

Mark Pettitt, a whippet owner from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, is running
the campaign on behalf of Jane Poole, a friend facing the ban. He
claims that the sport's rulers have made Mrs Poole a scapegoat.
"Innocent people with pets who are just in this for fun are being
branded drug cheats and I will not stand by and see people bullied,"
he is reported as saying.

After unsuccessfully appealing against the ban, and disqualification
of champion dog Xstasy, he now needs support from 50 members to try to
overturn the decision. Friends say that the substances traced are
likely to be from chocolate fed to the dog by children.

Malcolm Clarke, former chairman of the British Whippet Racing
Association, said: "A whippet can grab a chocolate off a Christmas
tree without you even knowing. It might be that a first offence should
just bring a warning rather than a suspension."

In contrast to other sports that have been beset by drug scandals,
whippet racing offers little financial incentive to cheat. Prizes are
seldom greater than 4 UK Pound trophies, gambling is banned and cashing in on
a dog's success by breeding is frowned upon.