PETA Statement re California Horse Racing Board’s New Bush Track Rule

For Immediate Release:
April 20, 2023

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo regarding the California Horse Racing Board’s newly introduced regulation prohibiting racing license holders from participating in unsanctioned races, a ruling that follows a presentation Guillermo gave to the board in December:

The California Horse Racing Board has sent a clear message that the drug-and-death-infested black market bush tracks exposed by PETA’s undercover investigation cannot operate in California. Jockeys, trainers, and owners involved in that high-stakes, crooked world will face consequences, and PETA applauds the board for acting swiftly on our evidence to protect horses.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information about our investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.