In the May 27 Stewards Minutes from Golden Gate, this:
“A formal hearing was convened for Gustavo G. Medina who was charged in a complaint filed by California Horse Racing Board Investigator Mike Alford with alleged violation of [several] CHRB rules [including] ‘Animal Welfare.’
Medina is alleged to have assumed responsibility for a thoroughbred horse, Tiz Willow, who was shipped off the grounds of Golden Gate fields on December 3, 2018. The horse was turned out near Vallejo, California and returned to Golden Gate Fields on January 23. Two days later the horse died in his stall. A subsequent necropsy indicated the horse succumbed due to malnutrition. Time constraints prevented the hearing from concluding and the matter was continued until June 6.”
Basically, this scumbag starved the two-year-old Tiz Willow to death. The fact that this is being adjudicated within the industry and not a criminal court should tell you all you need to know about “protections” for racehorses. As I’ve written:
The fundamental relationship itself – that of owner-owned – guarantees bad things will happen. Guarantees. By definition, a piece of property, a commodity, a resource, a means – all of which undeniably describe the racehorse – can have no meaningful protection under the law. In fact, it’s absurd to argue otherwise. Truth is, a horseman, if he so chooses, can run his horse into the ground – yes, even to death – with virtual impunity. There is no real accountability because this core relationship precludes real accountability. Neither the industry nor our society will ever, could ever, seriously punish a property owner for crimes against his property. To say differently is pure folly.
Moreover, as it is with all animal-exploitation businesses, the law, as represented by anti-cruelty statutes, invariably defers to “common industry practice”; for 150 years of American horseracing, broken and dead bodies have been seen and treated as an unfortunate cost of doing business. In short, no one is watching; no one cares. In truth, to the racing industry, to government, to our society at large, a racehorse’s life does not matter. Alive or dead, it just doesn’t matter.
Race horses lives DO MATTER & those who think other wise need to be held accountable. Not caring properly for an animal is wrong & Mr. Medina should be given the same treatment. Animals were placed here for man to care for not kill them. This bad practice has to be addressed now instead of letting other innocent horses fall prey to the same practice.
This all amounts to the glam and glory that “people” seem to get from beating and training these horses to give their all and when that isn’t good enough they are shipped off overseas for dog food or human consumption! What sort of people can these that work these horses to death almost so that they can win a few races and maybe even trophies and the minute they are not able to provide them with the glory of this they are left to starve, die while trying to do their best or shipped away for slaughter only for these very same people to go grab another young colt and start it all again!! How do these people eat and sleep knowing this goes on?? God knows – – – –
Of course they eat and sleep they just don’t care one iota.
Other “common industry practice[s]”: the use of the bullhook on elephants, chaining elephants, confining elephants in crushes, pens, trailers; castrating sheep, goats, piglets, bulls, calves without anesthetic and proper care; gestation crates and constant pregnancy and forced immobility of sows; beak cutting on chickens and turkeys; cage confinement of ducks and geese; forced-overfeeding of ducks and geese; life on and in wire cages for ducks, geese, foxes, mink, rodents, rabbits, puppies and dogs; life on and in concrete pits and cages for roadside “attraction” bears and big cats; overbreeding of big cats and abuse of tiger and lion cubs for photo op companies; painful artificial insemination of dairy cows, constant pregnancy for dairy cows, forced separation of cows and calves; confinement, chaining, and forced immobility of calves; breeding and development of chickens and turkeys to overgrow while still babies; forced extraction of semen from toms and forced fertilization of hen turkeys; fishing, the bycatch, the skinning, finning, maiming and killing while still alive; slaughter–any kind, and often in boiling tanks or while being skinned; confinement and shortened lives of marine mammals at aquatic parks… The list goes on. “Common industry practice” is an indictment of humans’ continued practice of greedy, cruel, and self-serving dominion over other animals.
Excellent, Susan. Thank you.
You described my head to a tee—! The amount of abuse so-called human beings inflict on animals– ALL of them–has gotten worse –not better. Makes me sick. Do any of you remember Cleveland Amory-? Check him out— AND we won’t give up. God be with the Sentients.
If this happened in California, it’s a Felony! This bastard needs to do some serious time! Karma is right around the corner him.
There is NO excuse for starving a horse – NONE !!!!
This is a multi. billion dollar business and a 2yr old dies of starvation ?! – something is terribly wrong. And the the wrong extends to holding perpetrators accountable……it never happens!
Therefore, the racing business itself is absolutely COMPLICIT in ALL the cruelty and suffering of these horses.
PS Is there an update on, Medina, Tiz Willows tormentor ?
Every day I learn of a new, sadistic, cruel, unconscionable horror to these innocent, vulnerable Horses — again, I reach out to you — SHUT DOWN THIS BRUTAL INDUSTRY — how can you NOT feed your Horse? — day in, day out, think of the suffering undergone by Tiz Willow — how does a grown human adult defend NOT feeding his horse on a regular basis? — this depraved indifference, theses unconscionable, heinous crimes MUST come to an end — there is no other recourse but to SHUT DOWN THE BUSINESS OF HORSE-RACING.
How could this happen? There are many horses and grooms in these stalls and they just walked by as this animal Was being starved?
? Good Lord what is wrong with all these people?? And Medina – needs to be incarcerated – fines- never to have animals
Of any kind, ever!. Rest assured he has done this before. Unfortunately he’ll get fed in prison. These horses are sensitive and caring – God did not create animals for these sub human scum to abuse, use for their own gain or sadistic pleasures! I pray God has mercy on these lower than pond scum humans because they will
Pay in the end. Meanwhile in this earth – punish them to the extent of the law. What these abusers don’t know is they are being watched and we as animal protectors are watching and doing something about this …..