In 2006 it was Barbaro fracturing his leg in three places at the Preakness, eventually being put out of his misery in January of 2007. This year it was Eight Belles breaking both front legs at the Kentucky Derby, lying helplessly on the ground after the race, being killed shortly afterwards. I'm certainly no member of PETA or anything, but horse racing disgusts me. These proud, magnificent animals driven beyond the breaking point, just so a bunch of f***ing millionaires can have a couple minutes of fun.
no doubt, I appreciate the sadness of it. my uncle is the manager of cheltenham racecourse which is probably the most famous racecourse in England...they regularly have to put down horses on site, or as they call it, have them "humanely euthanized". personally I don't even agree with horseracing full stop...but seeing as I'm not a vegetarian - meaning I basically eat dead animals every day - I can't really claim to be on any kind of higher ground, morally speaking...
I love horse racing and work as a sports journalist/editor. However it does pain me and my colleagues when a horse is killed or a jockey is injured. Horses do naturally love to run and there would be a lot more cruelty if it was legally banned as there would be a massive problem with valueless horses flooding the country with many probably being abandoned or neglected/sold for meat on the continent etc. The loss of any horse, especially a champion like Barbaro, or England's magnificent Best Mate (whose trainer did absolutely everything to protect) is damn awful. In recent years many steps have been taken in order to minimise animal cruelty:
- New softer crops/whips introduced;
- Restrictions on the number of times a jockey can hit his mount during a race;
- Jumps made softer and easier;
- Ground watering to take the jar out of fast going;
- Lower maximum weights in handicap races;
- Greater scrutiny of all human participants.
Yeah, I'm not suggesting it be banned, I'm just saying that I can't stand to watch it. I'm not a vegetarian either, so I don't have any moral ground to stand on. But at least they don't take cameras down to the slaughterhouse and call it entertainment.
I really just don't like it when it turns out a horse will never run again, that's really their main skill over other animals in any region their in, they're faster. It's almost like taking the teeth off of a shark, after that they have nothing.
Quote from: Jack on May 03, 2008, 09:59:48 PM
In 2006 it was Barbaro fracturing his leg in three places at the Preakness, eventually being put out of his misery in January of 2007. This year it was Eight Belles breaking both front legs at the Kentucky Derby, lying helplessly on the ground after the race, being killed shortly afterwards. I'm certainly no member of PETA or anything, but horse racing disgusts me. These proud, magnificent animals driven beyond the breaking point, just so a bunch of f***ing millionaires can have a couple minutes of fun.
Sad turn of events for sure.
Like you I'm not a PETA member or vegan-but that doesn't mean that there are certain events I find cruel to animals. Bullfighting for one. The other is this festival I heard about on some nature show about reptiles. Apparently, in the South west they gather up rattlesnakes put them in a pit, has a festival and at the end kill most of the snakes. Collectors will often use gasoline to drive the snakes out of there dens-which destroyes the enviroment. Sadly, not to many people seem to want to defend rattle snakes, but I remember think,g that this was a terrible thing.
When a horse breaks a leg, which really isn't that uncommon it weighs to much for the bone to properly set and refuse as the horse has to stand on it. A buddy of mine is a large animal vet and he has to put several horse down a year do to broke legs, the difference here with Eight Belles was the entire world watched. Thoroughbreds are the race cars of horse their fast but not that stout and as horse go their rather frail. They do selective breeding to make lighter, faster horse just like they do selective breeding in dogs, fish and every other domestic animal man keeps. And with selective breeding comes genetic weaknesses. Just like a flat faces dogs like Pugs have trouble breathing, and a bubbled-eyed goldfish would last about 2 seconds in the wild, Thoroughbred have weak bone structure ... think of the name thorough-bred. Kind of why mutts and alley/barn cats are the healthier pets, genetic diversity.
I really don't watch horse racing at all. I love animals but I just find no enjoyment for watching it. If I want to see racing, I'll either watch auto race or watch a track and field event at a local high school or college.