State probing 11 Saratoga thoroughbred deaths

[hrmjustin]

James M. Odato

An excerpt from mid story because it is a short article.

In a statement the commission said: “Although New York State has made significant progress in reducing injuries and preventing the inappropriate use of medication in racehorses, the job of equine safety is never done. There will be challenges along the way. We are experiencing such a challenge during the 2014 Saratoga meet. A thorough investigation of all of the racing fatalities during the 2014 Saratoga meet is being conducted. Until that investigation is complete, it would be inappropriate to opine or make any final statements about definitive cause of injury.”


http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/219557/state-probing-11-saratoga-thoroughbred-deaths/

[Divernan]

1. Horseracing Industry: Drugs, Deception & Death.

My daughter bought a "retired" thoroughbred owned by the stables where she took lessons. He wasn't compliant enough for the kids taking lessons and was destined for slaughter in Canada. He would run his heart out for you (especially if he sees you across the field with a bag of carrots!), but wasn't fast enough to win any purses. I used to enjoy going to race meets when I much younger, but knowing what I now know about this "sport", I think it should be abolished.

The Horseracing Industry: Drugs, Deception and Death

They weigh at least 1,000 pounds, have legs that are supported by ankles the size of a human’s, and are forced to run around dirt tracks at speeds of more than 30 miles per hour while carrying people on their backs.(1) Racehorses are the victims of a multibillion-dollar industry that is rife with drug abuse, injuries, and race fixing, and many horses’ careers end in slaughterhouses. A New York Daily News reporter remarked, “The thoroughbred race horse is a genetic mistake. It runs too fast, its frame is too large, and its legs are far too small. As long as mankind demands that it run at high speeds under stressful conditions, horses will die at racetracks.”(2)

The Starting Gate
Racehorses can cost millions of dollars and are often purchased by syndicates, which may be composed of thousands of members.(3,4) There are also trainers, handlers, veterinarians, and jockeys involved, so a horse is rarely able to develop any kind of bond with one person or with other horses. Racehorses travel from country to country, state to state, and racetrack to racetrack, so few horses are able to call one place “home.” Most do not end up in the well-publicized races but are instead trucked, shipped, or flown to the thousands of other races that take place all across the country every year.

Racing to the Grave
Horses begin training or are already racing when their skeletal systems are still growing and are unprepared to handle the pressures of running on a hard track at high speeds.(5) Improved medical treatment and technological advancements have done little to remedy the plight of the racehorse. Between 700 and 800 racehorses are injured and die every year, with a national average of about two breakdowns for every 1,000 starts.(6) Strained tendons or hairline fractures can be tough for veterinarians to diagnose, and the damage may go from minor to irreversible at the next race or workout. Horses do not handle surgery well, as they tend to be disoriented when coming out of anesthesia, and they may fight casts or slings, possibly causing further injury. Many are euthanized in order to save the owners further veterinary fees and other expenses for horses who will never race again.

PETA exposed the horse-racing industry’s “breezes” for 2-year-old horses in training—shows in which auction companies show off young horses to potential buyers by pushing them to run a furlong (one-eighth of a mile) at faster speeds than they would ever run in actual races. Video footage shows horses who panic and bolt and suffer fatal breakdowns and career-ending injuries. An equine veterinarian told The Wall Street Journal that the exercises can be “dangerous because they are market driven.” The veterinarian added, “You have a large number of participants in the horse industry … that essentially invest in [racehorses] like stocks.”(7)

Given the huge investment that owning a horse requires, reported one Kentucky newspaper, “simply sending one to pasture, injured or not, is not an option all owners are willing to consider.”(8) Care for a single horse can cost as much as $50,000 per year.(9) When popular racehorse Barbaro suffered a shattered ankle at the beginning of the 2006 Preakness, his owners spared no expense for his medical needs, but as The New York Times reported, “[M]any in the business have noted that had Barbaro not been the winner of the Kentucky Derby, he might have been destroyed after being injured.”(10) Compare Barbaro’s story to that of Magic Man, who stepped into an uneven section of a track and broke both front legs during a race at Saratoga Race Course. His owner had bought him for $900,000, yet the horse hadn’t earned any money yet and—unproven on the track—wasn’t worth much as a stud, so he was euthanized.(11) Eight Belles suffered a similar fate when she broke both her front ankles after crossing the finish line in the 2008 Kentucky Derby.(12)

Read more: http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/animals-used-entertainment-factsheets/horseracing-industry-drugs-deception-death/#ixzz3BodnBhh1