Written by PETA
The Queen of England has gone and found herself at the center of a "doping scandal."
More precisely, it is Moonlit Path, her horse, who is at the center of the dispute. Trainer Nicky Henderson has been charged with allowing the 6-year-old horse to be injected with tranexamic acid—a substance that prevents hemorrhaging and is banned on British racetracks. (The drug is allowed to be administered in advance of a race, but it must have cleared the system by race day.)
And why exactly would trainers need to prevent hemorrhaging? Could it be that racing puts such an extreme stress on horses' bodies that heavy internal bleeding and blood clots are common? You bet. Horses used for racing also often develop bleeding lungs and gastric ulcers from being forced to perform far beyond their natural physical limits. Oh, and let's not forget about all the horses who are raced to death.
PETA Europe is writing to the Queen to remind her that—drugs or no drugs—horse racing is a cruel "sport" that should be relegated to the history books.
Written by Shawna Flavell
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