Don't be blinkered to the cruelty of [horse] racing
This was written in the
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1645191,00.html
At least one racehorse dies each day, and thousands more face lives of suffering, writes Andrew Tyler
Friday November 18, 2005
The Guardian
Neil Clark used the recent death of triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate to express his irritation that my organisation, Animal Aid, won't shut up about the high levels of early equine death and stress-related injury within horse racing (A race to the death, November 10).
He observed, none the less, that one active racehorse is killed every day in
But this information is not available from the Jockey Club or from any other industry body. The industry resolutely refuses to publish data on how many horses die and where.
Such borrowing is to be welcomed. Yet
Thoroughbreds spend most of their time banged up in stables or en route to and from racecourses. It is a life of tedium punctuated by bursts of extreme activity.
The animals themselves are increasingly less robust, as a result of being selectively bred for speed at the expense of bone mass and general health. They suffer more fractures and experience endemic levels of stress-related conditions such as exercise induced pulmonary haemorrhage - ie bleeding lungs. Best Mate himself was a victim. He was pulled out of this year's Cheltenham Cup when blood gushed from his nose during a pre-race training gallop.
He also claimed that Animal Aid wants a horseracing ban, a consequence of which would be a drastic reduction in thoroughbred numbers. A ban would indeed have this effect. But while fewer horses would dismay bloodstock dealers, there would be no tears from the unborn foals. Animal Aid is not, in any case, calling for a ban. We have yet to persuade the majority that horse racing is intrinsically and unacceptably exploitative. Its future lies squarely with the punters. My message to them is: you bet ... they suffer.
Andrew Tyler
Director of Animal Aid
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