Dear Friends,

A funny thing happened sometime after GREY2K USA released greyhound injury reports from Arizona racetracks in 2009. The Department of Racing decided it would no longer produce injury records to us.

Officials claimed that injury reports were no longer "maintained" by the agency and could not be produced. Perhaps the ADOR did not care for the negative publicity that dog racing had recently received? Or perhaps the closure of Phoenix Greyhound Park that year prompted it to block the release of information concerning the state's last remaining dog track Tucson Greyhound Park? Here is a link to the 17 information requests made and denied since that time.

In February 2011, GREY2K USA released an otherwise comprehensive Report on Greyhound Racing in Arizona. This report contained the following clairification: "Since November 2009, the Arizona Department of Racing has denied multiple public information requests for additional injury data."

Yesterday, we received proof that Dr. Andrew Carlton, Chief Veterinarian for the Department has in fact been in possession of injury documentation. This suggests that the agency has been playing hide-and-seek with the public record.

Please read my letter sent to the ADOR, along with Dr. Carlton's March e-mails to other members of the staff entitled "Injuries at Tucson Greyhound Park Feb/March."

Your help is needed now to to correct this situation.

Contact Governor Jan Brewer and please e-mail ADOR Director William J. Walsh now. Ask them to order the release of greyhound injury records to the public and remind them that the mission of the Racing Department is to "protect racing participants and the racing public."

Clearly, the greyhounds can only be protected if there is transparency and the open records law is fully enforced.

For the greyhounds,

Christine A. Dorchak, Esq.
President, GREY2K USA

P.S. Moments ago, the ADOR faxed me, again denying our request for injury records! Please help us to learn the truth about dog racing and gain access to these records.