Three Quarter Horses were vanned off at Sunland Park yesterday afternoon after running stakes trials: Mrs James (race 1), Swiss Fame (race 2), and Cartier N Capris (race 6). All three are but two years old. A reminder from equine vet Kraig Kulikowski:
“A two year old horse is the equivalent to a six year old human. Neither species is mentally or physically mature at this age. Asking a six year old human to be exploited as a professional athlete for economic gain would be considered inhumane. Exploiting juvenile horses for economic gain is equally inhumane. They are subject to permanent mental and physical trauma that, in too many cases, is catastrophic and even fatal.”
It’s called animal abuse.
Thank you, Patrick, for continuing to watch over this daily abuse…this is certainly not an easy thing to do. It’s hard to read, maddening that it isn’t stopped, heartbreaking to think of what they are enduring. Thank you for giving us their names. I shudder to think their names might never be in print again.
Yes there would never be a mention of the horse’s names were it not for this cite. It is a sad situation because the majority of people do not have a clue as to the abuse these unfortunates are subjected to. The industry’s dirty secrets seem “safe”. There is very little publicity so these animals abusers get away with outrageous and illegal activity.
I still think a tally of all the horses killed in the name of sport should be published each year. Are there any good investigative reporters left ? We seem fond of looking back on the events of each year including sports.