Michelle DaCruz
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 29/02) - When the cash prizes top $44,000, it's serious competition.

That is why organizers of the Canadian Championship Dog Derby aren't taking any chances. And they haven't been for about 10 years. Testing dogs for banned drugs is a necessary practice in the sport.

Dr. Tom Pisz, from Great Slave Animal Hospital holds a urine catcher that will be used to collect random samples that will be tested for banned drugs - Michelle DaCruz/NNSL photo

Enter Dr. Tom Pisz, veterinarian extraordinaire. Pisz and his team keep the sport of dog racing clean. Then again that depends on your definition of clean.

Catching dog urine with a specially modified pole, normally used to restrain feral animals but in this case outfitted with a special pee container, can be messy work.

The urine, or sometimes blood, if the dog refuses to break the seal, is collected in a sterile container, sealed, labelled and kept until the end of the race. The samples are then sent to a lab in Vancouver to be analyzed for banned substances, like any form of steroids, antibiotics, or anti-inflammatory drugs.

"You can keep your dog on antibiotics if they are ill, but mushers are obligated to report antibiotics to derby officials before the race begins," said Pisz, of Great Slave Animal Hospital.

The testing is random. Usually Pisz and team test three dogs from three teams each day of the race. The $60 fee per test is absorbed by the dog derby committee.

If the test comes back positive for banned substances, the musher is disqualified. Since the results take three weeks, the winners are initially given only half of the cash prizes, then the balance on verification of sample results.

"We have actually never had to disqualify a competitor, but testing does keep everyone honest," said Pisz.

To compete, dogs need not only a certificate of vaccination, but a microchip embedded under their skin.

The dog's microchip is scanned before and after the races to ensure the dog that started the race also finishes.

"This way there is no dog swapping, especially when the dogs are really tired, like on the last day," he said.

Along with scanning, Pisz is also on-site to tend to injuries. Most are minor, like lacerations and tendon pulls.

In his 15-year tour-of-duty as Dr. Dog Derby, Pisz has seen only two doggie disasters.

"So far two dogs have just dropped dead. They were completely fine before the race and then collapsed," he said. "This sudden death happens in high performance sport and is due to heart failure usually."

Pisz compares derby dogs to race horses, or Olympic athletes. He said racing is a demanding sport for canines, but they are bred for one purpose only.