Thursday, April 4, 2013

 
 
RACE FROG!
Phyllomedusa sauvagei, a native frog to South American is the culprit. Well, that’s what they’re saying in the Denver area. What did this little frog do you ask? He did what nature intended him to do, but don’t worry. The only ones getting in trouble are the trainers who are training these horses. Yes, you read correctly, horses. Not just any old horse but stallions, racing stallions! This waxy monkey leaf frog as it is commonly known produce a substance on their backs called dermorphin. Dermorphin has been known to be a very powerful pain killer stronger than even morphin! Trainers and horse owners have been harvesting this substance and injecting it into their horses to enhance their performance during races by simply numbing them from the aches and pains that are common in racehorses after and during extreme physical excretion. In Denver doctors and lab techs have tweaked there tests after suspecting drug abuse but coming up empty handed. After some tweaks the results were in and over 30 horses across for states have tested positive for this frog juice! The racing history has had a pervasive drug culture for many years and this is a first according to Dr. Steve for Louisiana State University. Surprisingly, this isn’t the only herp that has been in the business. It’s widely known that cobra venom has been used to suppress pain so that injured horses could continue to race. Dermorphin has been known to be 40 times more powerful than the numbing sensation that comes from cobra venom. It seems the drug problems don’t lie just in the streets of Memphis or the boarders but on the race track too!

1 comment:

Allison Welch said...

C-r-A-Z-y! The racing industry is known for cruelty to horses. But now frogs, too?