Regarding PETA and Horseracing

Caveat: PETA’s rabid activism approach to animal rights really pisses me off.

Thoroughbreds: Drugged, Whipped, and Run to Death–Join Our Call for Congressional Hearings
from http://getactive.peta.org, direct link here

Eight Belles’ breakdown and euthanasia at the Kentucky Derby on May 3 has put the spotlight back on an industry that puts speed and profit first and leaves the horses in last place. In pursuit of cash prizes and hefty stud fees, some trainers and owners run horses too young, dose them with large quantities of drugs, order jockeys to whip them mercilessly, race horses when they’re exhausted and lame, and sell them for slaughter when they can no longer turn a profit. Click here for more information.

Please ask your member of Congress to take action to investigate the horse racing industry’s dark side by calling for hearings right now.

I may be naive to the “truth” behind the barn doors in the racing world, but I do believe that a huge majority of racehorse owners and trainers love their animals and would not push them to the point of exhaustion or, like in Eight Belles’ case, severe injury. Moreover, no trainer would run a lame horse. It doesn’t make sense to further injure a horse can’t run, either give him rest until he can. If he can’t run ever, well it would be a waste of time and resources. All horses race young. Racehorses might start as yearlings and usually reach their peak at three or four years old; the Kentucky Derby is a race for three year old horses. If you think this is cruel, consider how light a racing saddle is and how tiny a jockey is. These horses are not hauling full-size people, they’re flying with a slight difference in aerodynamics.

I think PETA needs to reevaluate its approach to animal rights and focus on one issue that will actually make a difference. Someone had the right idea to respond to a post on PETA’s “Take Action” blog here saying:

The suffering of these horses is a relatively unimportant problem.
Every year, over nine billion (with a B) equally sentient animals spend their entire lives in unbearable misery, which every concerned person should have courage to inform themselves of at PETA’s other website, Meat.org.

The level of public concern for these horses is a truly wonderful sign, and I sincerely hope that it can increasingly be extended to all the rest.
Meat.org