Everyone in racing and everyone who follows it closely from the outside knows that slaughter is still a massive issue, despite all PR – “no-slaughter policies,” “aftercare programs” – to the contrary. This week, the Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN), one of the most conspicuous pro-racing publications, actually confirmed it, though of course that wasn’t its primary intention.
The piece, written by Sue Finley, details the rescue of two horses – My Lil Dude and Drive for Fun – who, after “competing in Louisiana,” landed in a kill pen this May. In fact, one, Drive, was raced at Evangeline on May 1 and found in that pen just 13 days later (Lil was also shipped from Evangeline, though he hadn’t been raced since Dec).
For starters, Finley reminds that “slaughter is not euthanasia”; rather, she rightly writes, “it is a brutal blugeoning [sic] to death.” She also concedes an “unknowable number” of American racehorses meeting this horrific end. But then she gets into her real purpose – highlighting the pair’s salvation and lauding their savior, prominent owner John Stewart. Mr. Stewart apparently sprung into action after seeing the horses’ plight on social media.
While I detest Stewart’s profession and am not overly impressed by his “heroism,” I do appreciate his candor and, more to the point, his censure of his industry. For example:
“Someone ran these horses in claiming races and they didn’t get claimed. So they just took them and dumped them. When they got here, it was really sad. Horses are smart animals. And they know exactly what’s going on. They’re not in training any more. They’re being moved around. These horses went straight from the track to a kill pen. And they’re not being fed, they’re around all these other horses that are in not good condition. It just wears on the psyche of the horse. And so when they got here, they would barely look at you, and when they stood in the field, they wouldn’t come to you.”
Then this:
“I’ve not been in the sport for a year. But there are some things that just flabbergasted me that are allowed to happen. I was talking about this situation to some people in the industry, and he said, ‘oh, our horses are chipped, and we’ve put in measures to make sure they don’t end up in kill pens.’ He was a really credible person in the industry and he thought this wasn’t actually happening. But that’s a lie. It’s a real thing. And it’s not a small problem. It’s a big problem.”
There it is: Slaughter is not a small problem, says a racing VIP. It’s a big problem. He added: “Most of the people in the industry recognize the problems. Very few people are willing to contribute out of their pocket to solve the problems….”
For Stewart, the onus rests with the breeders. “My view…is that I think whoever breeds the horse is ultimately responsible for the horse, period. We bring it into this world, just like children. You should be responsible for them. And so that means tracking those horses. If you’re in a situation where you’re selling your horses to other people, your responsibility doesn’t end with you just giving that horse to somebody else, and saying, ‘well, I sold it. It’s not my responsibility any more.’ You brought the horse into the world.”
Interesting that he uses the “like children” line, but then goes on to talk about selling. Well, never mind.
As for Evangeline and whether Derrick Ward, Drive for Fun’s owner/trainer for that May 1 race, is being investigated, here is what the track wrote to TDN: “Evangeline Downs has a strict anti-slaughter policy in place, and we have zero tolerance for this abhorrent practice. When an allegation is brought to our attention, we will provide that information to state officials and the HBPA for further investigation. However, for legal reasons we cannot comment on specific allegations or actions taken.” Blah. Blah. Blah.
I agree that these horses are put through hell for the sake of the Almighty dollar. If they won’t put a stop to it make it so they can’t race them till their 5 years of age ,make the ones found abusing them pay for their actions instead of ignoring them or giving them a slap on the wrist. I hate to see these beautiful animals put through hell they give their whole heart into running for these money hungry people. If that’s not bad enough if their not good enough for these people their just thrown away like garbage to the kill pens. I follow the sites where people are trying to rescue as many as possible from these places some of these horses are in horrific shape others are absolutely beautiful but their going to be killed . It’s horrible.
I actually saw the replay last night, chief engineer got up and was hopping, so I am guessing a leg fracture. The other horse never actually fell, just tripped over chief engineer. The article I read on the jockey didn’t even mention the status of the horses.
One of the sleaziest groups of people involved in the racing industry operate in Louisiana from what I have read so far. That includes the racing commissioners and stewards. There is nothing to indicate that they care about anything related to treating horses as sentient beings.
I’ve read information that definitely indicates that the folks in Louisiana treat Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses strictly as a commodity for racing and wagering and eventually slaughter in Mexico or Canada.
If/when the racing industry press can dig up a story about someone who appears to be alarmed that a racehorse was sold into the slaughter pipeline, it doesn’t surprise me that they would attempt to paint him as a hero.
This is so typical of the industry.
Monmouth Park race 9 last night. Spill involving two jockeys..one went to hospital. The #2 horse ran over the finish line without a rider. Chief Engineer the fallen one..not one word and the replays from Monmouth are not showing race 9. That is never a good sign.
Well, LA tracks are well-known for race to kill pen in a matter of days, and nothing ever changes. They are, as Patrick said, just blah blah blahing their way through the rote memorization of explanations.
And, while I commend Mr. Stewart for the rescue of these 2 horses, which aren’t the first 2 he’s rescued, he’s also part of the problem. He is no spring chicken, and though he’s vowed to take back any horse he has created and sold off, the life expectancy of these horses that he is creating now is 20+ years. In 20 years, will he still be in the position he is now to take them back??
I find a strange disconnect in these people’s thinking: how do you claim that you find slaughter abhorrent and yet continue to participate in the very industry that you openly acknowledge sends thousands of horses to slaughter every year? The behavior that Mr. Stewart sees in his rescue horses is Post Traumatic Stress, something nearly all race horses suffer from (and many show horses as well). It takes a very long time to rehabilitate a traumatized horse. Hey, I have an idea, how about we stop traumatizing them?