A Stop Horseracing Article from All-Creatures.org

Major Horse Race Owner Admits That Slaughter Remains a 'Big Problem'

FROM HorseracingWrongs.org
July 2024

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.

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.

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Posted on All-Creatures.org: July 20, 2024
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