By VICKI SMITH
Associated Press Writer

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) A national group determined to outlaw greyhound racing says 62 dogs died or had to be euthanized at a West Virginia racetrack between January 2008 and September 2009, while more than 700 were injured.
GREY2K USA, a Massachusetts group that helped outlaw racing last year in that state, said Friday the injury rate at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack is the highest of any track its studied so far.
Executive Director Carey Theil said his organization has conducted similar studies of greyhound injuries at tracks in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Arizona, Texas, Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin.
Dogs are suffering broken legs and other serious injuries on a daily basis, he said, adding the problems included skull fractures and spinal injuries. This is the West Virginia dog racing industrys dirty little secret.
But a state veterinarian who developed a database to track greyhound injuries six years ago said late Friday the group misconstrued her data. Dr. Lori Bohenko said its simply wrong to suggest dogs are seriously injured on a daily basis.
There are some days I just sit here and watch races and do not touch a dog, she said.
The track also issued a statement calling GREY2Ks numbers a skewed version of the facts and said more than 98 percent of its races are run without serious injury.
As for the numbers cited by this group, it said, the overwhelming majority of the injuries were minor and were caused by such factors as muscle cramps, scrapes or cracked cuticle nails.
Wheeling Island has a long standing history as being a top-quality racing operation, it said. … The health and safety of all racing greyhounds is of paramount importance to us.
GREY2Ks numbers for Wheeling Island are based on Bohenkos internal reports and were obtained from the West Virginia Racing Commission after seven Freedom of Information Act requests, Theil said.
His staff spent two months studying data he called dense and complicated but said he was confident the groups numbers were accurate.
Greyhound racing is cruel and inhumane and should end, Theil said.
The West Virginia Racing Commission declined comment, referring questions to Bohenko, who said she was offended by the suggestion she does not properly care for the dogs.
These dogs probably get quicker attention than you would if you were in a car wreck, she said. I am by their sides within a minute or two of their injuries.
GREY2K said it was unable to obtain injury data from West Virginias other greyhound track, Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center in Nitro. A copy of a Sept. 17, 2009, letter from Vice President Daniel Adkins says the track does not maintain any public records on injuries.
West Virginia racing regulations do not require racetracks to report dog injuries to the Racing Commission.
Tri-State reviews accidents to ensure they are not related to the surface of the track and makes repairs as necessary, Adkins said Friday. Though injuries do happen, he calls them extremely rare.
We have 360 performances, 15 races in each performance and eight dogs in each race. Thats 43,200 dogs in a years time that are on our track, he said.
Last year, 549 dogs were injured, or only 1.27 percent of the total, Adkins said. Thirty dogs were euthanized.
Of the total injuries, 456 were track- or race-related, Adkins said. The other 100 included everything from illness and tendon injuries to broken toenails.
The safe handling of these dogs is very, very important, he said, adding injuries arent taken lightly.
Adkins said the dogs are housed well, fed well, trained, and theres an enormous effort … at the end of their careers to make sure these dogs are placed in good homes.
Theil could not say why the injury rate at Wheeling Island appears to be higher than at other, comparably sized tracks. GREY2Ks analysis shows:
707 injuries total, 325 of which involved broken bones or dislocations, and 28 of which were skull fractures or spinal injuries;
62 deaths or euthanizations, including one dog that suffered head trauma and seizures when it was hit by a mechanical lure in July 2009;
576 greyhounds were unable to race because they were too ill.
Bohenko said the 707 injuries include things as small as a muscle cramp, and that catastrophic injuries are rare. That hundreds of dogs were prevented from running is a good thing, she said, indicating sick or weak animals are protected rather than forced to compete.
In the 21-month period GREY2K studied, she said, the track raced 86,000 dogs. Only 55 died.
So 99.9 percent of these dogs compete and survive … and 99 percent compete without suffering an injury, period, she said. And of those dogs that do incur an injury, 50 to 60 percent come right back and continue to race.