VIDEO: Rescued Racehorse Runs Into His New Guardian’s Heart

For Immediate Release:
December 15, 2016

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

Like so many Thoroughbred racehorses before him, Charlie’s Quest was on the brink of a fatal breakdown: He’d been drugged and forced to run for years despite multiple injuries, including fractures. But as a new PETA video reveals, PETA was able to rescue him and find him the perfect home—and his new guardian, Alysoun Mahoney, needed him as much as he needed her.

As the video explains, Alysoun had recently lost her husband when she heard about Charlie’s Quest, who now goes by Charlie. “My husband and I rescued almost 20 animals … during our life together,” she says in the video. “And Charlie is the first animal I’ve adopted on my own. So this means a lot to me. I like to think that I’m adopting him in memory of my own late husband, Greg.”

During PETA’s investigation of Thoroughbred trainer Steve Asmussen, Charlie was called a “rat” because he was lame and wasn’t winning enough money. But now, he has a bright future at Alysoun’s side—not to mention the freedom to graze on grass and run out in the big pasture with his new friends, fellow rescued horses Henry and Caroline. And unlike his days on the track, Charlie now runs only when he wants to.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” and more information about Charlie’s rescue is available on PETA’s blog.