Written by Michelle Kretzer
Just a month after HBO canceled Luck amid protests over the deaths of three horses, a whistleblower has released to PETA startling documents alleging abuse far beyond what anybody had guessed—and much worse than HBO or producers David Milch and Michael Mann ever admitted. See the full story in The Washington Post.
Among the information that the whistleblower released was this heartbreaking photograph, which allegedly shows the body of Marc's Shadow, the 8-year-old arthritic thoroughbred whose leg fractured when he was being filmed in a racing sequence:
The documents, which are e-mails, notes, and complaints from the American Humane Association (AHA) representatives on the set, paint a picture of drugging, deception, and neglect. The following are among the allegations:
The situation was so dangerous for the horses on the Luck set, the documents allege, that AHA-hired humane officers urged AHA executives to recommend the dismissal of trainer Matt Chew. However, there's no evidence that the AHA acted on its officers' advice.
PETA has presented this new evidence of abuse to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office and renewed our request for an independent investigation. We will keep you updated.
Written by PETA
UPDATE:
Horses and people who care about them can rest a little easier tonight. HBO has announced that it is canceling Luck and ceasing all production on the series!
Even before filming on Luck started, PETA contacted David Milch, Michael Mann, and others associated with the production to suggest ways to protect horses, including the use of stock racing footage instead of using live animals. After the first two horses died—and the producers began stonewalling—PETA revealed the deaths publicly and obtained information from whistleblowers as well as necropsy reports from the racing board, which led to the disclosure that older, arthritic horses had been used in dangerous (and deadly) racing sequences and that the horses appeared not to have been provided with adequate protection. Beyond keeping the horses' plight in the public eye, PETA has also pressed law enforcement to investigate the deaths of the horses used on the set and to bring charges as appropriate.
A huge debt of gratitude is owed to the whistleblowers who refused to let these horses' deaths go unnoticed. If Milch, Mann, and HBO ever decide to start the series up again, PETA will again be calling on them to use stock footage, rather than putting horses' lives at risk.
Just one day after PETA sent a complaint to Los Angeles law enforcement urging the agency to investigate the deaths of two horses during the filming of the first season of HBO's Luck, we have learned that another horse has died on the set. Insiders at Santa Anita Race Track, where the racing scenes are filmed, called us early Tuesday and tipped us off. Now HBO has confirmed it.
But don't expect HBO or executive producers David Milch and Michael Mann to come clean about who the horse was and what condition he was in. They refused to tell us anything about the first two horses, so with the help of caring whistleblowers, we unearthed the disturbing evidence ourselves: One horse was drugged, and the other was arthritic and hadn't raced in years. Neither one should have been anywhere near a racetrack.
Photo: tasweertaker | cc by 2.0
Both were retired racehorses who wouldn't understand that when they went through the starting gate on a racetrack, it was just for a TV show and not a real race. Outlaw Yodeler was a 5-year-old thoroughbred who hadn't raced in months and was apparently so sore that he was given a potent cocktail of muscle relaxant and anti-inflammatory and painkilling drugs, including Butorphanol, a painkiller so strong that it's often used as an analgesic for horses undergoing some kinds of surgery. The other horse, whose name we believe is Marc's Shadow, was 8 years old and arthritic and had not raced in nearly four years.
Both horses were "raced" twice in one day—something even fit thoroughbreds would never be subjected to. Healthy racehorses need at least a week to recover from the stress of competition. Indeed, they aren't even exercised twice in one day. Both horses on the set of Luck broke down after the second run. Their leg fractures were so violent that their bones shattered under the pressure. We think—and we hope law enforcement agrees—that the way in which the horses were treated by the production company, the trainer, and the veterinarian warrants a swift and thorough investigation before yet another horse dies.
Human affection for horses unfortunately makes them popular subjects for the film industry. Horses may grab our attention, but these animals are not willing participants in the entertainment industry.
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.
After hearing from thousands of animal advocates, the owners of Atlantic City's Steel Pier have canceled their plans to hold horse-diving shows, in which horses would be marched up a narrow ramp and out onto a platform and then forced to jump, plummeting many feet into a pool below.
We know from past horse-diving events that horses suffer bone fractures, internal organ damage, bruising, and leg, spine, and other injuries.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress: LC-USZ62-24057
PETA wrote to Atlantic City organizers and sent out an action alert, and thousands of supporters urged everyone involved to cancel the events. Other animal protectionists organized protests and set up online petitions that garnered 50,000 signatures.
Horse-diving at the Steel Pier was stopped in 1978, but it was briefly revived in 1993. Steel Pier's then-owner, Donald Trump, canceled it because it was cruel to animals.
We're glad that Steel Pier Associates has followed in Trump's compassionate footsteps and are sending them flowers and a letter of thanks for canceling the horse-diving before it started. And we want to thank the many, many kind people who spoke out in the horses' behalf. Together, we made a big difference!
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
Written by Jennifer OConnor
At PETA's urging, a major thoroughbred auction company has made a crucial change at this month's sales event that could reduce the risk of injury to horses forced to participate in "under tack shows"—dangerous sprints that thoroughbreds are forced to run just to impress potential buyers.
A PETA undercover investigation documented that 2-year-old horses—whose bones and muscles are still not fully developed—suffered catastrophic injuries and fatal breakdowns during these one-eighth or quarter-mile sprints.
Now, Ocala Breeders' Sales Company (OBS) has implemented PETA's most significant recommendation for its January under tack show: eliminating deadly timed sprints for juvenile horses, some of whom are just yearlings.
PETA has asked all four major thoroughbred auction companies—Ocala Breeders' Sales Company, Fasig-Tipton Company, Keeneland Association, and Barretts Equine Limited—to adopt a series of reforms to make these races safer for horses.
PETA will continue to push all the auction companies to protect horses by implementing all our crucial reforms. You can help by urging the auction companies to act now.
The landlord didn't know how long they had been suffering there. He just knew that when he arrived at the central Utah house from which he had evicted the tenants, he discovered six dogs, 12 cats, and a group of horses who had been left behind. He called the sheriff's department for help, but when the city humane society informed police that they were not allowed to accept animals from outside city limits, officers didn't know what to do.
For four days, the landlord waited for help while making sure the animals at least had food and water. The horses were able to graze and were OK. But the 12 feral cats inside the home had been left with no suitable place to relieve themselves. Two of the dogs were left sitting in crates amid their own waste and were too aggressive for the landlord to let them out or even give them food and water. The other four short-haired dogs were left outside in a barren pen without protection from the weather. On the fourth day, fearing that the dogs would freeze to death as the temperature dipped into single digits, the landlord called PETA.
Caseworkers arranged boarding for the dogs at a veterinarian's office, and the police agreed to transport the dogs and pay the bill. The landlord worked on trapping the feral cats and taking them to a shelter that could accept them. After everything the dogs had been through, they were either too aggressive to be placed for adoption or were very, very sick, so they were given a humane, peaceful release. The horses, however, were healthy and even-tempered and were placed in new homes. The sheriff's department is searching for the runaway owners and hopes to file cruelty charges.
The adage "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," is especially true when trying to protect animals. You may encounter roadblocks, but with perseverance, you can save animals from suffering
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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.
Domestication certainly hasn't benefited horses, as they've long been abused as beasts of burden and in other ways—as shown by our current battle to stop their export and slaughter for meat. But the new movie War Horse makes a strong case that the bond between humans and horses transcends exploitation. Based on the book of the same name by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse follows the journey of a horse named Joey from birth to a World War I battlefield.
Unlike those involved in the making of We Bought a Zoo, the producers of War Horse took PETA's concerns about the use of animals on the set seriously and were responsive, open, and proactive. Director Steven Spielberg and producer Kathleen Kennedy—both horse lovers—took care to ensure that the horses used in the production of the film were not harmed.
(Spoiler alert: If you don't want to know how it was done, stop reading here.)
Computer-generated imagery was used in the most dangerous-looking scenes, a special track was built to help with the horses' footing, and breakaway ropes prevented tripping. In addition, the dramatic barbed wire scene was created using an elaborate system involving a harness, rubber "barbed wire," an animatronic horse, and a healthy dose of Hollywood magic. As one producer told PETA, "Great credit goes to the art department for making it look dangerous when it wasn't; everything was built to accommodate the horses."
War Horse's strong and moving anti-cruelty message is also sure to resonate with moviegoers and help them empathize with horses' plight. Hopefully, many will think long and hard before they patronize the modern-day horse "battlegrounds" created by the racing, rodeo, and carriage industries. The movie may also prompt people to call their representatives to support the bill to ban American horses from being slaughtered in the U.S. and abroad.
Why a rickshaw was on Bourbon Street in New Orleans is anyone's guess, but for the horse pulling it, it was far from the Big Easy: He fell to the ground and was dead before humane authorities arrived at the scene. A witness reported that the horse appeared to be thin and not well cared for.
Mules have been used to provide carriage rides in the city's French Quarter for many years, and they often suffer when forced to haul oversized loads in Louisiana's notoriously muggy heat. It's time to get mules and horses off New Orleans' streets.
Please ask the City Council to ban carriage rides and any other conveyance pulled by animals in New Orleans. Click here to find contact information for the councilmembers.
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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