Written by Michelle Sherrow
Through her work on The Biggest Loser, Jillian Michaels is accustomed to saving lives. But for one horse, her help arrived just hours before he would have been sent on a journey to become hamburger.
During a PETA investigation of horse slaughter, in which horses are taken from a meat buyer to a Canadian slaughterhouse, our investigators discovered ex-racehorse Royale With Speed packed into a "kill pen." A grandson of renowned Triple Crown winner Secretariat, Royale With Speed's racing days were over, and our investigators stood witness as he was sold for slaughter for $350. He was dehydrated and running a fever of 103.7 degrees Fahrenheit, and his lymph nodes were so swollen that they later burst and oozed pus through the skin.
We called the wonderful PETA supporter who cares for another of our rescued thoroughbreds, Coming Home, and she agreed immediately to give Royale With Speed a home on her ranch. Jillian stepped up to buy the horse and cover his transportation costs, and together, we were able to save him from enduring a 36-hour journey in subfreezing temperatures aboard a cramped transport truck—with no food or water—that would have ended at a slaughterhouse.
After weeks of intensive care, Royale With Speed, now renamed Gray Man, has fully recovered. He spends his days lolling on the grass and romping with his new friend Coming Home—who also has a new name, Little Winner.
Tens of thousands of horses are shipped to slaughter every year. Jillian has voiced her support for ending horse slaughter to Congress. Please join her.
Actor Ali MacGraw's latest love story isn't being played out on the big screen but rather in the halls of Congress. The longtime PETA member is working to protect U.S. horses from being transported across the border only to be slaughtered for dog food or human consumption. Ali wrote to her friend Sen. Tom Udall from New Mexico on PETA's behalf imploring him to support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011, which she told him "would effectively end the use of U.S. horses for food."
Horse: Adrian Parnham | cc by 2.0 Ali MacGraw: (c) StarmaxInc
Last year, Congress restored funding for U.S. inspectors to oversee horse slaughter, making it legal once again for horses to be shot in the head, be strung up by one leg, and have their throats cut in the U.S. However, nothing has ever made it illegal to transport horses on a harrowing journey to Mexico or Canada—crammed inside low-ceilinged trucks designed for cattle—through all types of weather with no food or even a sip of water and then be slaughtered.
The new bill is terrific and vital because it would end both the slaughter of horses in the U.S. and the export of horses to Mexico and Canada for slaughter.
Please, Tom," Ali wrote, "will you sign on to this bill right away, vigorously support it, and persuade others in positions of power to do the same? Time is of the essence. This extremely important bill cannot be allowed to fall through the cracks.
Join Ali in helping end all slaughter of U.S. horses by asking your senators and representatives to support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011. Because thousands of horses leave the country for the slaughterhouse each year, time is of the essence.
Written by PETA
"Death and Disarray at America's Racetracks"—this New York Times headline says it all.
And the findings of the newspaper's lengthy investigation into thoroughbred and quarter horse racing confirm what racing insiders have been telling us about their industry since Eight Belles died at the 2008 Kentucky Derby: Racing is a chemical-dependent industry in which too many people shrug off the casualties and turn their backs on the deaths of horses.
Now The New York Times has quantified the destruction:
On average, 24 horses die each week at racetracks across America. Many are inexpensive horses racing with little regulatory protection in pursuit of bigger and bigger prizes. These deaths often go unexamined, the bodies shipped to rendering plants and landfills rather than to pathologists who might have discovered why the horses broke down. . . . [A]n investigation by The New York Times has found that industry practices continue to put animal and rider at risk. A computer analysis of data from more than 150,000 races, along with injury reports, drug test results and interviews, shows an industry still mired in a culture of drugs and lax regulation and a fatal breakdown rate that remains far worse than in most of the world.
Our own investigations into thoroughbred export, breeding, slaughter, and auction abuses show that the racing industry in America has put the safety of the horses—who provide the industry with its income—at the bottom of its priority list when the animals' safety should be at the top.
Our suggestion? Stay away from the track, and take action in our efforts to help these horses.
Just envisioning horses crammed inside two shallow levels of a double-decker trailer intended for cattle, it's easy to see how these tall animals would be cramped, uncomfortable, and terrified. But forcing horses to squeeze into these confined spaces is more than uncomfortable—it can cause falls, injuries, trampling, and even death.
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill that would ban transporting horses in double-deckers, but one congressmember has proposed a last-minute amendment that would strike that provision from the bill. Rep. Cory Gardner of Colorado is asking Congress to approve his amendment to the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act because he feels the ban on double-decker trailers targets Western states and rodeos.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has already acknowledged that these trailers are unsafe and inhumane for horses and has banned transporters from taking horses to slaughter in them.
Inexplicably, it is not illegal to transport horses in double-deckers for any other purpose—but it should be. Ask your representative to support the humane treatment of horses and oppose Gardner's amendment that strips away their protection.
Remember those stomach-churning scenes from PETA's undercover investigation at a horse slaughterhouse? Horses, discarded by the racing industry, were slaughtered and hacked into pieces. On the heels of that horrific case, we went to the one organization that deals with every thoroughbred breeder in this country—The Jockey Club, which handles all foal registrations—and asked why the run for the roses had turned into a race for horses' lives. We gave Jockey Club officials a detailed proposal for implementing and funding a real thoroughbred retirement program, the Thoroughbred 360 Lifecycle Fund. More than 32,000 PETA members and supporters wrote in support of it.
The Jockey Club paid attention. Today, less than a year after receiving our recommendations, The Jockey Club, the Keeneland Association, and the Breeders' Cup, Ltd., have announced the launch of an organization—the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA)—composed of owners, trainers, breeders, racetracks, jockeys, horse-rescue experts, and others in the racing industry. The TAA will begin by laying the groundwork for the program. As we suggested, it will inspect every stable and sanctuary that wants to provide a home for a thoroughbred. The facilities that make the grade will be accredited. And then the TAA will raise funds to get the horses into those homes.
There's much more work to be done, and it won't end all the cruelty in racing, but making a lifetime commitment to the horses these groups depend on for their income is a good start.
Written by Kathy Guillermo
Television news pieces airing today are advertised in such a way as to again misrepresent our stance on horse slaughter—just as some legislators also seem to have been misusing and misstating our position. Let's set the record straight once more, shall we? Please cut and paste this to your computer so you can forward it to anyone who gets it wrong. Thank you.
To be crystal clear: While PETA is appalled at the transport of horses to foreign destinations, which increases their stress and susceptibility to sickness and injury, and believes that the previous congressional action that ended the slaughter of horses in the U.S. was inadequate to address the problem of unwanted and abandoned horses, PETA does not support a reopening of horse-slaughtering operations. Because of the lack of sufficient good homes for unwanted horses, PETA does support euthanasia by injection or gunshot carried out locally. PETA also strongly supports the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011 (S. 1176/H.R. 2966), a vital bill that would ban horse slaughter in the U.S. and, crucially, prevent the export of horses from the U.S. for the purpose of slaughter, and we urge everyone who cares to reduce the suffering of horses to contact their congressional representatives to support it too.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
Sparks flew recently after Congress restored funding for U.S. inspectors to oversee horse slaughter, opening the door for horses to be killed and butchered in the United States for the first time since 2006. But there is hope for a better bill: The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011 (S. 1176/H.R. 2966), which would outlaw horse slaughter in the U.S. as well as close the loophole that previously allowed horses to be sent on grueling journeys to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada, something that added approximately 230 extra miserable miles to their already miserable lot. Horses urgently need anyone and everyone you can enlist—your neighbors, friends, coworkers, and family—to actively support this act. Please click here to register your support now.
Each year, more than 130,000 frightened horses are trucked from the U.S. and killed in slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico. After enduring hundreds of miles jostled about in cramped trucks—often in extreme temperatures without food or water, on slippery floors, their heads bent over from the low ceilings, being kicked and bitten by other horses—they are shot in the head, are strung up by one leg, and have their throats cut.
The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011 would prohibit shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating horses and other equines for human consumption. In other words, it would effectively end the use of U.S. horses for food—both here and abroad!
This lifeline for horses is currently sitting in Congress and requires that we act fast. Please click here now to urge your members of Congress to vote in favor of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011. Ask everyone you know, and set up tables to enlist those you don't, to do the same.
Written by Jennifer OConnor
After a 5-year hiatus, Congress has restored funding for U.S. inspectors to oversee horse slaughter, opening the door for horses to be killed and butchered in the United States for the first time since 2006.
No one wants to see any horse killed for meat or to turn a fast buck, and PETA has always had concerns about the suspension of US slaughter, since it meant more suffering for these sensitive animals, not less. What we feared would happen did: Rather than have a change of heart and stop killing horses, greedy ranchers who deal in horse flesh simply jammed their “commodities” into tractor trailers and hauled the frightened animals hundreds of miles to Canada and Mexico – a journey most did not have to face before - to terrifying deaths in slaughterhouses there.
As PETA documented years ago, that ride means horses crammed together with strangers who bite and kick, slippery floors that mean foals and pregnant mares fall and are trampled, and horses who, being taller than cows but often shipped in cattle trucks, must ride the whole way with their heads bent to their chests. That export loophole still needs to be slammed shut.
To reduce horses’ suffering, there must be a ban on exports of live horses together with a ban on slaughter in the U.S., or it doesn’t work, never did, never will.
Remember, industries that breed horses for profit—horseracing, rodeo and the carriage trade—are largely to blame for this crisis since they have created the tragic overpopulation of horses.
Help force breeders to take some responsibility for the horses they use up and then discard by signing PETA's petition to the Jockey Club calling for the club to establish a retirement fund for registered thoroughbreds.
PETA Files readers already know that few "retired" racehorses live out the remainder of their days frolicking in rolling green pastures. Now, Washington Post readers know it, too, thanks to a great article that was published over Memorial Day weekend.
The article describes one of the many ugly sides of the horse-racing industry—the fact that with approximately 35,000 thoroughbreds born in the U.S. every year, there are thousands of horses who don't have quite enough speed and stamina to be champions. What becomes of these also-rans? Most are eventually sold at auction, where many are bought by "killer buyers."
While no horse slaughterhouses are currently operating in the U.S., horses are still being shipped to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico. Some retired racehorses—even Derby champs like Ferdinand and Charismatic—also wind up in Japan, where they may initially be used for breeding. But when they stop being moneymakers, they, too, may be slaughtered, as a PETA investigation at a Japanese slaughterhouse last year revealed.
You can help by contacting your U.S. representatives and asking them to sponsor the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, which would make it illegal to slaughter horses for consumption in the U.S. or to export them for slaughter.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Sure, some men joke about how to score with women, but the horse-racing industry's use of stallions to impregnate tens of thousands of mares—in the quest for one big winner—is no laughing matter.
The good news is that thoroughbred breeding stats for 2009 show a decline in the number of horses who were bred. The number of stallions bred dropped almost 9 percent, and the number of mares bred fell 13.5 percent, according to The Jockey Club. Don't misunderstand—there's still a whole lotta suffering in the making. This year alone, more than 45,000 mares were "covered" (bred), which means that tens of thousands of foals will be born into the racing industry and face the risk of suffering broken bones, being drugged, and being abandoned, neglected, or shipped overseas for slaughter when they are no longer considered "useful." Most of the slaughtering of U.S. horses takes place in Mexico and Canada: More than 100,000 U.S. horses per year are trucked to Mexico and Canada to be slaughtered (and more than 10,000 of those horses are thoroughbreds formerly used for racing).
The Kentucky Derby and other high-stakes races represent the suffering of thousands of horses—day in and day out, year in and year out. While the drop in breeding means that fewer horses will be born to suffer a lifetime of abuse, there's still much more work to be done. Take a minute to check out our investigation into a Japanese horse slaughterhouse and write to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and demand breeding limits.
Written by Karin Bennett
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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