From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2004:

MURPHY, N.C.–A Ford Motor Company spokesperson told
Asheville Citizen-Times staff writer Jon Ostendorff on September 2,
2004 that the company is unaware of any problem with the air
conditioning system of Crown Victoria Interceptor police cruisers
that might pose an inordinate risk to police dogs left temporarily
unattended in the vehicles, but Ostendorff quickly identified three
recent deaths of police dogs in recent-model Crown Victorias, and
ANIMAL PEOPLE identified two more.
Ostendorff was aware of the deaths of overheated police dogs
on July 15 in Muleshoe, Texas; August 4 in New Bern, North
Carolina; and August 19 in Murphy, North Carolina.
Queno, an 8-year-old German shepherd trained to detect
explosives, died on July 30 when senior corporal Alex Garcia, his
handler for seven years, left the dog alone for four hours in a
Crown Victoria cruiser at the end of his shift.
Gino, an 11-year-old German shepherd, died along with
Calgary police constable Darren Leggett’s own pet German shepherd on
September 1. Koko, a six-year-old German shepherd police dog,
survived. A police investigation attributed the incident to a
plugged radiator.
In September 2002 ANIMAL PEOPLE noted five other deaths of
dogs in police cars, but the only vehicle identified by make in file
information about those cases was a Chevrolet Tahoe.

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2004:

TALLAHASSEE–Florida attorney general Charlie Christ does not
have the authority to probe why 117 dogs who raced on Florida tracks
in 2000-2003 tested positive for cocaine, deputy attorney general
George LeMieux told GREY2K USA and the Humane Society of the U.S. in
an early June written opinion.
The 117 positive tests were among moe than 104,000 tests on
dogs for drugging done during the three years in question. During
that time Palm Beach Kennel Club trainers Bernie McClella, Joy
Mayne, and Mark St. Pierre were suspended because their dogs tested
positive, but have continued to claim the tests were in error.
In May, Florida Division of Parimutuel Wagering chief David
Roberts said his office has “found no evidence that anyone has given
cocaine to a dog.”
Greyhound advocates otherwise enjoyed a successful first half of 2004.
New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson in May 2004 vetoed a bill
to require greyhound trainers to track injuries to dogs,
euthanasias, interstate transfers, adoptions, and sales of
dogs–but on June 16 the state legislature overrode the veto, 290-52
in the house and 18-6 in the senate.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell on May 24 signed into law a
pre-emptive statewide ban on greyhound racing.
The New Hampshire and Pennsyl-vania legislative victories
followed the defeat of bills to authorize the use of other forms of
gambling and tax cuts to subsidize greyhound racing in Alabama,
Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, New Hampshire, and Texas.

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2004:

BELMONT PARK, N.Y.–Did Smarty Jones
lose the Belmont Stakes and his chance to win the
horse racing Triple Crown on June 6 because
jockey Stewart Elliott whipped him?
Counterpunch writer Becky Burgwin thinks
so, and said so in her column of June 9 from a
perspective of expertise.
“I am a huge animal lover,” Burg-win
began, “and though I come from a long line of
jockeys, trainers, and breeders, I think
thoroughbred racing is inhumane. Track racing
especially bothers me because it’s so unnatural.
And then there’s the part where the horses get
whipped. There they lose me.
“When I heard that Smarty Jones had won
the Preakness by seven lengths without having a
crop laid on him,” after winning the Kentucky
Derby,” Burgwin continued, “I was intrigued.
I’ve watched that race [on video] and they’re
right. Elliott never touched him. So I was
thinking, maybe this small, mellow,
sweet-as-all-get-out horse can make it look cool
to win with no whippings, thus affecting change
for all horses in future races.”

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