Some harness rulings released yesterday…
Hoosier, Jul 13: “While driving ER Super Shady, Don Eash whipped the horse in an exaggerated and aggressive manner throughout the stretch.” Although his third offense, he was merely fined ($500) – no suspension.
Plainridge, Jul 17: “While driving Storm Bringer, Heath Campbell did use the whip excessively in the stretch.” Fined $250, suspended 1 day.
Plainridge, Jul 18: “While driving Neverdie, Steve Wilson did use his whip excessively through the stretch.” Second offense, fined $500, suspended 5 days – but “accommodations were made due to a stakes engagement.”
And finally…
Hoosier, Jul 12: “While driving Rockin Corona, LeWayne Miller did cause welts.” Fined $200 – no suspension. And as usual with Indiana: “Penalty was mitigated because Mr. Miller was within whipping guidelines.” And (surprise) this is not the first time Miller has “caused welts”: here, and here (multiple incidents). In what universe is this okay?
This is the deplorable and unacceptable cruelty to horses that is allowed because this industry is allowed to “police” itself. I wish these human beings could be whipped until they have welts, because they deserve it!
#EndHorseracingNOW
#HorseracingIsAnimalCruelty
Wanda, I’ve noticed that on occasion, you and several other posters on this site have called for violence against these animal abusers which, IMHO, is both disgraceful and abhorrent.
While I fully understand your passion and empathy for the helpless animals in their ‘care’, and I use that term disparagingly, calling for the savage beatings of a human being -ANY human being – is both unconscionable, and wrong. Do these people deserve to be punished for their despicable behavior? Of course they do!
But given the chance and the opportunity, would you personally administer beatings to them, taking the law into your own hands, opening yourself up to a criminal charge of assault, as punishment for their awful, heinous deeds?
Do they deserve it? Sure, you might say.
But as a fan of the original ‘Star Trek” TV series, there is one episode that is set in 1940’s Nazi Germany, where, one of the protagonists against that terror regime passionately states, “If we adopt the ways of the Nazis, then we’re as bad as the Nazis!”
You, me, and all others on this site are free to post whatever we wish, subject, of course, to Mr. Battuello’s approval. But I personally believe that this type of rhetoric is actually harmful to your cause, the total elimination of horse racing.
Fight the good fight. Racing is dying, you’re winning. Calls for violence will not help.
-Joe
There are “whipping guidelines” in horseracing. This “savage beating” of horses has been going on for years and years. But, the thought of having “whipping guidelines” for punishment to human beings is abhorrent. Well, I remember that there was a case of a young American man who scratched a bunch of parked cars with a nail causing damage; malicious mischief and vandalism. This happened in China and the punishment for committing this type of crime was “caning” to the offender. I don’t necessarily agree with all things China, but I felt the young man deserved to be punished in a way that he would not soon forget.
(I remember from 1960 when my dad bought a 1958 Rambler and someone had scratched the paint with a nail before he brought it home and never had any recourse not knowing who did it.)
I believe when people viciously beat and abuse innocent animals and children they lose the right to be called “human beings”. I don’t promote vengeance but I can’t help but hope these abusers get their just deserts in the end.
One of the things that’s wrong with the horseracing industry is that they’re allowed to police themselves, which I am sure is overstating the obvious. The members of the racing associations, boards, commissions are not going to exact strong punishments or put themselves in jail. A judgement calling for time behind bars must come from an outside source such as the FBI getting involved in the investigation and prosecution. This is so disturbing as well as frustrating that abusing horses can be so palatable to so many people.
A couple of decades ago, I was working with an attorney to address horse abuse on a state-run ranch for troubled youth. The horses were in horrific condition and had evidence of being “bull whipped”. They had open bloody slash marks and their hooves and teeth were severely neglected. I even had an eye witness willing to testify to actual beatings by a staff member. After gathering all the evidence, I was hoping I could have the horses removed and placed in homes or a rescue and the abuser charged. What happened next was the state of Nebraska abruptly discontinued their equine program and euthanized every single horse on the ranch to destroy the evidence before it went through the court system. People are evil, it’s that simple, and animals will continue to be abused and exploited until mankind is obliterated from the earth.
The only solution is to prosecute this abuser for his crimes of animal cruelty! He must no longer be allowed to get away with this!
Thank you for your input, Jan. I agree with you wholeheartedly. The punishments for animal cruelty and abuse in this industry are not strong enough to deter any die-hard horse abuser. The repeat offenders could easily be laughing about it at how easy it is to get away with abusing the horses.
Humans are the most cruel and dangerous species on earth.
When I hear someone call perpetrators of horrendous crimes “animals” I think how ignorant because animals do not come close to possessing the worst human qualities.
P.S. The end of racing will be a win for all decent people.
Rose, several years ago I heard this or read it somewhere: calling someone a pig is an insult to the pig.