Through a FOIA request to the California Horse Racing Board, I have obtained the following details on 2021 kills. (I will be posting in installments of five.)
Nomadess, Mar 30, Los Alamitos T
“Pulled up galloping, dropped dead.” Nomadess was just two years old.
Call Sign Lucky, Apr 3, Los Alamitos T
“A 3-year-old Thoroughbred euthanized following a history of hitting the outside rail – open, highly comminuted, complete, displaced fracture.” Also: “metacarpal and osteochondral disease, [both] forelimbs.” Call Sign Lucky was just two years old.
Steamy, Apr 30, Los Alamitos R (euthanized May 4)
“Quarterhorse euthanized following history of being unable to rise – catastrophic lumbar fracture with significant compression of the spinal cord.” Also: “Focal abscessation and regionally extensive suppurative bronchopneumonia in the left lung.” Steamy was just three years old.
Agamemnon, May 31, Santa Anita R
“Biaxial comminuted fractures of right proximal sesamoid bones, complete rupture of suspensory ligament’s medial branch, bilateral rupture of collateral ligament of fetlock joint, and complete rupture of superficial and deep digital flexor tendons.” Then this: “Bilateral degenerative changes in radiocarpal joints. Described changes in both fetlocks are consistent with bilateral repetitive overuse injury.” And: “chronic gastric erosions/ulcers.” Agamemnon was just four years old.
Meet At Dudley’s, Jun 9, Santa Anita T
“Left forelimb: comminuted, complete, displaced humeral fracture; massive hemorrhage affecting soft tissues extending from the shoulder to the proximal antebrachium. Right forelimb: complete fracture of the accessory carpal bone; moderate to severe hemorrhage of the radiocarpal ligament.” That’s both front limbs. And, of course: “stomach: multiple ulcers.” Meet At Dudley’s was just three years old.
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Lt. Governor Kounalakis: phone/contact; twitter; facebook
Legislative Leaders
How many times can a horse not be able to get up due to having a broken back for anyone to say that the horse has a “history” of not being able to rise? I’d say one time. As if the excruciating pain wasn’t bad enough, these psychopathic, sociopathic sadists let this horse suffer from April 30 to May 4. This is beyond disgusting! These people at Los Alamitos should be charged with Felony Animal Cruelty and locked up! Let’s start with the demonic Ed Allred!!!!
All of the veterinarians who enable this atrocious torture of horses should be defrocked. They are contributing to this evil torture of innocent young horses!!!! These horses are too young to be used for anything let alone racing!!!!!
It’s beyond comprehension how many horses break their spines in this industry, to say nothing of their legs, necks, and pelvis. Those big 17-hand Warmblood hurtling over jumps in show jumping and the variety of breeds clambering up and down mountainsides in endurance riding don’t have even a tiny fraction of these types of injuries, and these inflicted in a stall or a soft dirt track. I’m still waiting for an explanation beyond “that’s just horse racing”. That’s just bullshit.
Rebecca, as you know, one of the major differences in jumping and endurance riding (from racing) is the fact that the people in jumping and endurance riding events do not start babies out at 18 to 24 months of age doing heavy work. They are NOT OUT TO ABUSE and TORTURE their horses for gambling bets and purse money. An individual person in jumping or endurance riding usually has only one horse in competitive riding for several years. They are more known to take care of their horses for longevity as well as performance. Whereas in HORSERACING, the horses are used and abused as disposable gambling chips. They know it and we know it. The time to end this unthinkable horror is now!!!!!
What in the hell is it going to take to stop this evil torture…
Interesting how the CHRB’s Equine Fatalities List never even gives the first hint about any of these horrific injuries until they’re pressed to do so by law. The most detailed description they can manage is a tiny, vague blurb — usually they offer no notation at all. As we’ve all seen, their main priority is HIDING the carnage from the public. They’re supposed to be REGULATING the whole smarmy, corrupt business of running young animals to their deaths for the amusement of sick, addicted old gamblers, then covering up their disposal (the horses’, not the old dudes’;), should they happen to survive the death tracks. But they can’t. They are powerless, and they won’t even exercise the explicit power they WERE given, because to do so, they’d upset their masters — even though they might inadvertently save racehorses’ lives.
In short, the CHRB really only serves the purposes of the horse-killing bottom-feeders who populate the entire industry in California. Pretty unlikely they’ll ever be held to any standards of transparency whatsoever. To voluntarily reveal more of the horrors will only hasten the inevitable will of the voters to legislate their blood sport away for good.