More madness from the Minnesota Racing Commission. Monday, the following ruling was issued for an incident at Running Aces (harness): “James Jungquist was the driver of Shes A Live Wire in the 4th race on 8/29/21. Welts were seen by Dr. Taylor when Shes A live Wire was in the test barn. This is Mr. Jungquist’s second welt violation; the penalty is $200 and a 2-day driving suspension.”
The first “welt violation,” by the way, just happened – August 10 (here’s my post). That one involved multiple welts. 19 days later, this animal-abusing scumbag does it again. And all he gets is a tap on the wrist. He should be in jail; he should never be allowed near a horse (or any other animal, for that matter) for the rest of his days.
Minnesota Racing Commission: 651-925-3951.
In Texas: “Raul Ramirez, Jr. misused the whip on his mount ‘Ethics and Favor’ by striking the horse twice while warming up for race 5 at Sam Houston on 8/7/21. Ramirez…failed to appear at a formal hearing and is hereby fined $250 for misuse of the whip [italics added].” Incidentally, Ethics “won” that race, so apparently Ramirez’s method – beat the horse before the start to truly ensure proper focus – works.
This is horseracing.
Made the call to the MRC; recording said to leave a msg. Instead, someone answered who seemed receptive to comments about the welts and recommendation for citation (should be a felony animal abuse offense and fully prosecuted, etc.). He also said the MRC is now taking comments for consideration on new regulations. They may have more info on their website (?). Maddening!
Thank you, Marilyn!!
These chronic horse abusing sadists know damn well nothing is going to happen to them. Look at jockeys flailing away with overhead swings of their whips for everyone to see and not a single animal welfare organization calls them out on it. Even other equine venues who have strict whip policies stay silent. Any form of horse racing is nothing but an archaic display of barbaric cruelty that continues to survive on the blood of its victims.
There should be no need to whip a horse who is running his heart out. The only instance where it might be acceptable would be to correct the direction of a horse and frankly, that task should be left to the reins. Neither the jockeys nor the horses are ever schooled in the art of riding. The jockeys just perch on their backs and the horses run crazily around a circle. Pathetic. Anyone who creates welts on a horse should be whipped themselves–preferably 20 lashes on a bare a$$! Not being able to sit for about a week might help to change attitudes, don’t you think?
Sure do.
You are also absolutely right about neither having any training.
A $200 fine, no wonder the man keeps leaving welts on the horse. My suggestion is to punish this man with a stiffer fine and give him a year of suspension on any racetrack, maybe that would make him think before he leaves welts on a horse again!
Part of their punishment should be that they are struck the number of times as the number of welts with the same whip that they used on these innocent sentient beings.
Because of the HORSES, the PSYCHO-ABUSERS make such a SWEET living — and this is the HORSES’ payback — God, how I LOATHE the Jungquists and Ramirez’ of the world — it’s bad enough they’re exploiting Horses, but to beat them on top of that …. give me a moment to hurl.