Grey2K and Estrous Supression

By Dennis McKeon

With all the controversy of reproductive rights and other women's issues, once again we might look to our good friends at Grey2k for guidance. They are either a lobbying group working to outlaw greyhound racing, a lobbying group working to outlaw gambling, a charity working to "protect" racing greyhounds, or an advocacy group for greyhound adoption. Shucks, they are, it seems, as it suits them, all things to all people who hate greyhound racing, and by extension, those who participate in it.

Be that as it may, as we look to dim-witted and disconnected bureaucrats to tell us how we may live our lives, Grey2k wishes to tell all greyhound owners how they may care for their greyhounds, and how they should live their lives. This, despite having absolutely ZERO experience in caring for or managing large colonies of greyhounds. Somehow, they always seem to know better than professionals who have, cumulatively, thousands of years experience in doing so.

Cheque Drops = mibolerone* = birth control for dogs

One of the hot button issues that they have percolated on their message boards and via their Internet Infantry of keyboard-friendly droids, is the use of estrus suppressants on female greyhounds. This is done, according to Grey2k, so that racing greyhound owners can maximize their return on investment, without having to spell females once or twice a year while they cycle through their season. The drugs that are used by some in racing are anabolic steroids, and Grey2k seems to think that the small doses females receive of these drugs somehow enhance performance. Were that the case, then females would win a disproportionate number of races, which they don't. At the highest levels of competition, as a matter of fact, in "stakes" level races, males enjoy a significant advantage over females in qualifying for and winning the finals of these important events. That might not be the case, were Grey2k to get its way and have females routinely come into season while in the company of males in the racing kennel. Moreover, it would place the males under undue and irresistible stress, at times incapacitating stress, and undoubtedly cause dangerous fights to break out, no matter what caretakers might to to prevent them. But then, as we have noted, Grey2k knows nothing of managing a large colony of greyhounds, and they continue to amaze those of us who do with their ignorance, arrogance and complete lack of intuition or basic greyhound "smarts".

Nevertheless, Grey2k tells us that we are compromising the reproductive capacities of the females in question, as well as setting them up for serious reproductive dysfunction, as well as infection and disease, by administering estrus suppressants to female greyhounds. This is quite a quandary, inasmuch as they have always and continue to accuse the greyhound breeding fraternity in the US of "overbreeding" the racing greyhound. As if greyhounds raised themselves and did not cost thousands of dollars each to bring to the stage of racing readiness, we now are led to believe that this rampant "overbreeding" has taken place, yearly, within a population of females whose reproductive systems and general reproductive well being have been ravaged by harmful drugs.

So, as the battle rages on the national stage, over who has the right to determine whose reproductive destinies, a similar battle rages within the realm of greyhound racing. Unfortunately, in each case, there is no shortage of fools on faraway hills, who think they know better in their utter disconnection.

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*Notation by Administrator...

Mibolerone is an anabolic steroid that is sold either in tablet or liquid form that is intended for use in dogs to suppress estrus. It is not an illegal substance if used properly.  In one study involving the use of 96 females, which were bred on their first estrus after discontinuation of mibolerone treatment, showed that all 96 had normal pregnancies, normal deliveries and normal puppies.  No increase in reproductive diseases such as pyometra were noted.

Even though some opine that these drugs enhance performance, there are no studies that link improved performance to the proper use of the drugs.

Any such statement is an uninformed opinion.