Pine Island Killed at Breeders’ Cup

My first post on this blog, Barbaro Made Me Do It (followed by Barbara, Part Deux and Barbaro, Part Trois), echoes today as I sadly address the misstep, fall, and subsequent killing (ahem, "euthanasia") of one of the favorites in the Breeders’ Cup, 3-year-old filly, Pine Island. The other favorite (Fleet Indian) was also injured, but hers was determined to be treatable, and according to Joe Drape in this morning’s New York Times, "she would be able to have a career as a brood mare."

Career as a brood mare? Do the horse people think that’s a fun, desirable career to have?

The 952-word Times article devotes about 167 words to Pine Island and Fleet Indian, but has a stunning photo of Pine Island on her back on the track. The article is merely a report of what occurred at the race. So allow me the opportunity for some often-neglected facts about horse racing.

Let’s deconstruct:

• About 800 racehorses die each year from fatal injuries suffered on US racetracks.
• About 3,566 more sustain injuries so severe they cannot finish their races.
• Breeders often race horses as young as two, and usually at three, when they do not have fully-developed bone structures and are likely to suffer injuries.
• Due to selective genetic pairing and breeding, many racehorses are born with fragile bones.
• To keep horses racing through the inevitable pain they experience, handlers give them Lasix and Bute, drugs that numb pain temporarily. (They are also given phenylbutazone, which is an anti-inflammatory, and corticosteroids for pain and inflamation.) Eventually, though the untreated injuries will cause too many problems in performance to make the horse a worthwhile investment, and he or she will be sold to a slaughterhouse for a couple bucks.
• Lasix can also be used to mask the presence of illegal substances such as steroids.
• Horses travel for hours in cramped trailers, often with untreated injuries.

Thanks to the folks at In Defense of Animals for the above info.

What can you do?

• Do NOT patronize existing tracks, and don’t watch the races on television. Write to whichever network broadcasts races and tell them that you disapprove and won’t be watching.
• Lobby against the construction of new tracks.
• Educate your circle of influence about the suffering of racehorses.

If there will be any good news as a result of Pine Island’s death, so it isn’t in vain, I hope it will be that over the next couple of weeks we will see demand from the public to investigate training and handling practices, to step up our progress on the long road to the banning of horse racing.