99D.25 - DRUGGING OR NUMBING -- EXCEPTION -- TESTS -- REPORTS -- PENALTIES.
99D.25 DRUGGING OR NUMBING -- EXCEPTION -- TESTS --
REPORTS -- PENALTIES.
1. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise
requires:
a. "Drugging" means administering to a horse or dog any
substance foreign to the natural horse or dog prior to the start of a
race. However, in counties with a population of two hundred fifty
thousand or more, "drugging" does not include administering to a
horse the drugs furosemide and phenylbutazone in accordance with
section 99D.25A and rules adopted by the commission.
b. "Numbing" means the applying of ice or a freezing device
or substance to the limbs of a horse or dog within two hours before
the start of a race, or a surgical or other procedure which was, at
any time, performed in which the nerves of a horse or dog were
severed, destroyed, injected, or removed.
c. "Entered" means that a horse or dog has been registered as
a participant in a specified race, and not withdrawn prior to
presentation of the horse or dog for inspection and testing.
2. The general assembly finds that the practice of drugging or
numbing a horse or dog prior to a race:
a. Corrupts the integrity of the sport of racing and promotes
criminal fraud in the sport;
b. Misleads the wagering public and those desiring to
purchase a horse or dog as to the condition and ability of the horse
or dog;
c. Poses an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death to
the rider of a horse and to the riders of other horses competing in
the same race; and
d. Is cruel and inhumane to the horse or dog so drugged or
numbed.
3. The following conduct is prohibited:
a. The entering of a horse or dog in a race by the trainer or
owner of the horse or dog if the trainer or owner knows or if by the
exercise of reasonable care the trainer or owner should know that the
horse or dog is drugged or numbed;
b. The drugging or numbing of a horse or dog with knowledge
or with reason to believe that the horse or dog will compete in a
race while so drugged or numbed. However, the commission may by rule
establish permissible trace levels of substances foreign to the
natural horse or dog that the commission determines to be innocuous;
c. The willful failure by the operator of a racing facility
to disqualify a horse or dog from competing in a race if the operator
has been notified that the horse or dog is drugged or numbed, or was
not properly made available for tests or inspections as required by
the commission; and
d. The willful failure by the operator of a racing facility
to prohibit a horse or dog from racing if the operator has been
notified that the horse or dog has been suspended from racing.
4. The owners of a horse or dog and their agents and employees
shall permit a member of the commission or a person employed or
appointed by the commission to make tests as the commission deems
proper in order to determine whether a horse or dog has been
improperly drugged. The fact that purse money has been distributed
prior to the issuance of a test report shall not be deemed a finding
that no chemical substance has been administered unlawfully to the
horse or dog earning the purse money. The findings of the commission
that a horse or dog has been improperly drugged by a narcotic or
other drug are prima facie evidence of the fact. The results of the
tests shall be kept on file by the commission for at least one year
following the tests.
5. Every horse which suffers a breakdown on the racetrack, in
training, or in competition, and is destroyed, and every other horse
which expires while stabled on the racetrack under the jurisdiction
of the commission, shall undergo a postmortem examination by a
veterinarian or a veterinary pathologist at a time and place
acceptable to the commission veterinarian to determine the injury or
sickness which resulted in euthanasia or natural death. Test samples
may be obtained from the carcass upon which the postmortem
examination is conducted and shall be sent to a laboratory approved
by the commission for testing for foreign substances and natural
substances at abnormal levels. When practical, blood and urine test
samples should be procured prior to euthanasia. The owner of the
deceased horse is responsible for payment of any charges due to
conduct the postmortem examination. A record of every postmortem
shall be filed with the commission by the veterinarian or veterinary
pathologist who performed the postmortem within seventy-two hours of
the death. Each owner and trainer accepts the responsibility for the
postmortem examination provided herein as a requisite for maintaining
the occupational license issued by the commission.
6. Any horse which in the opinion of the commission veterinarian
has suffered a traumatic injury or disability such that a controlled
program of phenylbutazone administration would not aid in restoring
the racing soundness of the horse shall not be allowed to race while
medicated with phenylbutazone or with phenylbutazone present in the
horse's bodily systems.
7. A person found within or in the immediate vicinity of a
security stall who is in possession of unauthorized drugs or
hypodermic needles or who is not authorized to possess drugs or
hypodermic needles shall, in addition to any other penalties, be
barred from entry into any racetrack in Iowa and any occupational
license the person holds shall be revoked.
8. Before a horse is allowed to race using phenylbutazone, the
veterinarian attending the horse shall certify to the commission the
course of treatment followed in administering the phenylbutazone.
9. The commission shall conduct random tests of bodily substances
of horses entered to race each day of a race meeting to aid in the
detection of any unlawful drugging. The tests may be conducted both
prior to and after a race. The commission may also test any horse
that breaks down during a race and shall perform an autopsy on any
horse that is killed or subsequently destroyed as a result of an
accident during a race. When practical, blood and urine test samples
should be procured prior to euthanasia.
10. Veterinarians must submit daily to the commission
veterinarian on a prescribed form a report of all medications and
other substances which the veterinarian prescribed, administered, or
dispensed for horses registered at a current race meeting. A logbook
detailing other professional services performed while on the grounds
of a racetrack shall be kept by veterinarians and shall be made
immediately available to the commission veterinarian or the stewards
upon request.
11. A person who violates this section is guilty of a class "D"
felony. Section History: Recent Form
83 Acts, ch 187, § 25; 88 Acts, ch 1137, § 5--12; 94 Acts, ch
1100, §3, 4; 2004 Acts, ch 1136, §20--22, 65; 2007 Acts, ch 48, §1,
7; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §189
Referred to in § 99D.9