Our pets
are not just pets, they are our best friends, our family, our companions. How
would you feel if your best friend had a life before he had you, where he was
raised in an unnatural environment, forced to push himself to limits his body
wasn't mature enough to handle, put into solitude- not knowing how to
communicate the way he is suppose to, and then to top it all off was going to
be sold to the slaughter house after he got arthritis and was no longer
profitable. Just imagine the feeling. You would want to stop it, and to ensure
that no one else's best friend was also being treated that way, right? When I
found out my own best friend, Conrad Black, lived the grim reality of horse
racing, I wanted to do whatever I could to ensure no other horses will have the
same or worse fate then he has had.
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~ The
Race Horses Fate ~
From
the young age of 2, race horses, like my own, are bred and trained to be the
next 'it' horse in horse racing, whether this is for normal flat track racing,
the highly frowned upon jump racing, or like Conrad, a trotter. These horses are
forced to reach extreme standards that will potentially get their owners and
trainers the most money. The Australian racing industry each year makes 12-20
billion dollars. From the moment they are bred these horses are destined to be
auctioned off and trained to breaking point for money.
Yearlings
are trained at the age of two, when their bones and muscles are still growing
and maturing, but in horse racing's eyes they are faster at this age, even if
their bodies aren't fully developed. 15,000 Thoroughbreds and an additional
15,000 Standardbreds are bred to live the demanding life style of a race horse
every year in Australia. These 1000 pound (453.6 kg) animals who are supported
by ankles the size of a humans are whipped and forced to run on tracks made by
hand packed dirt, at speeds of more than 48 km an hour carrying people on their
backs.
Many
places around the world sell their yearlings in different ways, though the most
confronting and dangerous way for a horse to be sold is when people force race
horses to sprint at excessive speeds to impress buyers. (Watch video on the
link below)
The video shows a young horse sprinting so hard that the cannon bone shatters when impacting the ground. The sound of the bone shattering sounded like a gun shot. After the horrific injury, the horse continued to run, with its foot now limp and flopping about.
Sadly
this is just one of the many horses that are going to be injured while forced
to race.
Injuries
are the sad reality, of broken and dis-formed bones from not growing properly
and blood in the windpipe and lungs from over exertion. As many as 50% of
horses are found with blood in their windpipe, and 90% have been found with
blood deep in their lungs.
Race
horses are forced to have highly concentrated diets to maximise their
performance, but this is unnatural since horses are grazing animals. They are
forced to be in a stall for most their life - many live in a stall up to 22
hours a day. This causes both physical and mental issues with the horse, with
up to 89% of race horses ending up with deep bleeding gastric ulcers from their
diet, and bad social skills from being locked up.
When
Conrad was saved from going to the slaughter house, we introduced him into a
herd. Being with other horses was a totally new experience for him, since he
had never spent time with any in the whole of his 8 years. I was shocked. Horses
are social animals like us, and rely on their friendship with other horses to
survive, so to see Conrad standing in a corner by himself while the others eat,
was heart breaking. He was so out of his comfort zone he wouldn’t even eat. This
was clear evidence to me that horse racing is a cruel and unnatural industry.
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~After
The Racing~
Horses
in racing are just objects that bring financial profit from the moment they are
born. If horses are injured they are either put down, or pumped full of drugs
to mask pain, and forced to keep running long after their stressed injured
bodies would tell them to stop, this reminds us of More Joyous that according
to the media was forced to run despite not being 100%. Horses that are no
longer profitable are called 'wastage'. 300 out of every 1000 foals will never
start in a race, that means 18000 Thoroughbred foals race each year in
Australia alone, while 12,600 will be ruthlessly discarded and sent to the
slaughterhouse. Of the horses that do race 40% earn no money, 13% earn enough
to cover their keep, and just 2% earn their keep. The horses that don't earn
their keep are destined to be meat. You can count on one hand how many
Melbourne cup winners that now graze on beautiful paddocks in their
retirement... sad isn't it?
The
horses that finish their career are either are forced to breed, go to get
slaughter or if they are extremely lucky can be saved by the right owner, which
sadly isn't common enough. Since the 2000's the number of horse breeding mares
and stallions has declined , mares by 12% and stallions by 30%, which means for
every horse that has been sent to the stud at least one leaves, nearly all end
up killed for meat.
2'600
tones of horse meat is exploited for human consumption in Japan and Europe.
Annually, 25'000 horses a year are killed this way in Australia. These horses
are forced to go on long distance travels that are not monitored. They are
stressful and the six hour long drive causes many horses immune systems to shut
down.
~Sad
Reality ~
20
miles from Flemington race track Melbourne, a Thoroughbred mare is ushered into
the killing box. Her name is Natures Child. Though the media said she was 'spelling'
since her last race in 2003, racing 10 races and winning $22'000 in prize
money. Nine years later she is used as a breeding machine to produce more
horses for the racing industry. After being excessively impregnated, the
industry abandoned her and she was shot in the head in front of her best
friend, who had fearfully rushed into the killing box behind her . After being
shot, she was still alive, then dragged into the slaughter house where her
throat was slit and tail chopped off... bleeding to death.
Another
case - a brown stallion was shot in the head, which by law should leave the
animal dead or unconscious. It doesn't. He is then hooked to a tractor by his
leg and dragged 60 metres across gravel and concrete to the slaughter room,
where he is finally shot in the head a second time. All this happened in front
of his herd, his best friends.
Australia
is known for its humane treatment of animals in many cases, for our progressive
treatment of animals in zoos, having remodelled enclosures to ensure a better
quality of life for the animals with in it, and helping with conservation of
endangered species , plus stopping the use of exotic animals in circuses in
many local governments of Australia. But the one thing Australia hasn't stopped
was the grim reality behind the glitz and glamour of horse racing. There is
something wrong with an industry that values animals on their financial
'return'. When the gamble is with flesh and blood, there will inevitably be
very few 'winners' and many losers.
So help
me stop any more horses being used just for financial profit. no animal should
be defined about how much money they can make, like your pet dog or cat, a
horse has a personality of its own, they are capable to give you unconditional
love, they don't deserve to be treated like money making machines. Not all
horses are as lucky as Conrad to get a good home, so don't support the false glitz
and glamour, and don't gamble on horses lives.
If you want more information go to these sites for exclusive inside videos on the industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfUPC_Bho5M
feel free to comment :)
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