I love animals and believe it is in our best interest to treat them well, whether they are pets, partners as most of our horses become, or the animals that are used in sports. I believe it is especially our responsibility to treat well the animals we intend to eat or use for other food sources such as dairy and eggs.
Let's remember there are good people in racing, don't forget this horse that bonesmom worked with as a youngster had a career that ended up with a trainer that may have been less then ethical. He was a lucky one and had someone looking out for him, though they might have missed him if they had waited a little longer to look for him.
www.woodbineentertainment.com/Woodbine/RaceTrackNewsPage.aspx?NewsId=b264e346-1a6c-484f-a041-47000899dcccAnyone know how this horse is doing now?
And of course Zenyatta cam, where granted people are going to be more careful about what they say on camera when they know it's rolling, but something tells me more of her training with this barn was like this then less.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv49V2RzgHw&feature=youtu.beThe Standardbred trainer that rented a barn at a stable I boarded at, I couldn't imagine him ever doing any of this stuff or acting in the manner of the people at the Asmussen stable. Then again, it was pretty much him doing everything and not running a multi-million dollar barn with lots of employees and owners with big time expectations. Most were his own horses, but he had some other owner horses. Sure they might dream of having a horse that can hit the big time, but that is different then having owners that expect their horses to win the Kentucky Derby.
Unfortunately humans are impatient and like shortcuts. Especially if they convince themselves it's more 'cost effective.' Unfortunately the steroids, Lasix and other shortcuts benefits tend to be short lived. Meaning, after the initial performance enhancing effect, the horse will go back to running what he/she was running before the use of the drugs and often gets worst over time. Whether it's the drug having a direct negative effect or the horse pushing themselves to levels they wouldn't without the drug causing increased damage to their lungs I couldn't tell you without a proper study. There were very few exceptions, but back when I was handicapping horses as a hobby in high school and keeping track (wish I had kept my notes), I noticed a trend with the use of Lasix. The first about 2 or 3 times a horse raced on Lasix was when you wanted to bet on the horse. After that, any improvement it had on the horses running seemed to lose its effect. I often wonder if the exceptions were the horses that didn't actually need Lasix to run. Another thing I noticed was the horses that didn't run on Lasix ran more consistently and often better. Of course, this was way back when lasix was newly legal and not every trainer had convinced themselves they couldn't win without their horse being on it. Making these observations would be harder now as it seems there are very, very few horses that run Lasix free.
One has to wonder if the steroid use also leads to the increased breakdowns as well. Short term they may be beneficial in some cases, however long term steroid use often starts to have the opposite effect then what is desired. Also, building the muscle structure to extremes can cause broken bones. Remember the infamous Sosa sneeze where he actually fractured his ribs by sneezing when he was in the middle of his steroid fueled home run years?
It seems fewer and fewer understand that healing injuries requires time, patience and a lot of work. There is no drug made that will take the place of that, and most actually slow down the healing process. That there is no drug that can condition as well as time and actual work. Prolonged use of Bute has been found to weaken bones. If I can find the study I'll post it.
As it is, racing isn't the only horse sport that has this issue, however they do get the larger share of bad press for it, even if it is often deserved.
As for PETA, they really are only interested in the money high profile cases brings to their organization, not the animals themselves. Sure, it may occasionally may help some animals, at least short term. As it is and history reflects, PETA really has no interest in helping animals live healthy happy lives. Their kill rate generally runs from 85% to 97% a year of any animals relinquished to their care well reflects that. It certainly has nothing to do with not having enough money as they generally generate upwards and often over 33 million dollars a year in donations. They have had the audacity to abuse animals to get 'good' video and photos to horrify the public about abuse in order to get people to send them money. To keep them out of bad press, they hire fringe organizations that they support to do the dirty work for them. When busted for such things their supporting response has been, "some animals need to suffer in order to help the rest." Even if some of the things they uncover need to be uncovered, it does not change them from being the human and animal hating people the inner circle of that organization are. They do not love animals, they find animals a convenient way to an income. Sure as a 501k, they have to dance around the legal issues, but you will find very little of their money actually goes to helping animals live. The salaries to
www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/FinancialStatementsFY2013.pdfwww.bbb.org/charity-reviews/national/animal-protection/people-for-the-ethical-treatment-of-animals-in-norfolk-va-1160/financialPersonal experience for someone who was at an event PETA showed up to protest, the PETA people's first question was, "Is the press here yet." They did nothing until the news showed up. Put on a good show while the cameras were running and promptly left when the media did. They didn't hang around to protest the whole day or 'educate' the people that came to see the newly acquired beluga whales at the Shedd Aquarium. Nope, they came for the cameras and some free press to make it look like they care about animals and get people to donate to them.
Also note, even if the president of PETA gives herself a modest salary, be sure she is living in a house/condo owned by and all expenses paid for by PETA, drives a vehicle which all expenses and fuel are paid by PETA, etc. No mention of what per diam she pays herself and others from the program expenses which are very high or bonuses not included in salary she may take. She's clever and I'm sure she rides the line of the law, but that does not make her ethical.
P eople
E xecuting
T rusting
A nimals
Hay, thanks for letting me vent a bit. And again, I won't throw the baby out with the bath water. I'll watch the triple crown races and wish quietly they were running as 4 or even 5 year olds and not 3 year olds. I'll hope most of the trainers we see that day are doing right by their horses. I may even go to Balmoral Park to watch the Belmont, then hang around for their Brewhaha and the evening races. I can only hope someday they wake up and stop believing the delusion that is the belief of better living through meds.
