Thoroughbreds: From Elite to Meat

There's no question that four-time Super Bowl winner Terry Bradshaw is a champion, but, vested interest aside, why is he talking up an industry in which even winners are losers?: horse racing. Footballers can retire with money in the bank, but ten thousand castoff athletes who are thoroughbred racehorses in the U.S. will meet their end with a bolt to the brain this year alone. But first, they will have to travel in cramped tractor-trailers, all the way to Mexico or Canada, before they get the chop. For horses, who are high-strung and nervous to begin with, the stress of "killer" auctions and the journey to slaughter is a nightmare.

A few weeks ago, a PETA undercover investigator filmed inside the breeding barns at one of the world's most expensive thoroughbred breeding facilities. We documented a factory assembly-line regimen in which stallions "service" more than 100 mares each in a single breeding season. Nearly 25,000 thoroughbred foals will be churned out of those breeding barns this year alone. Given that only about 20 horses will run in the Kentucky Derby, where does that leave the rest?

The dark, dingy barns like those at Sugarcreek Livestock Auction in Ohio, provide a snapshot of what befalls the hapless losers. PETA undercover investigators who were there two weeks ago found lots of discarded horses being sold for slaughter, including a thoroughbred mare named Coming Home. She is the granddaughter of Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled and cousin to Eight Belles, the mare who suffered a catastrophic breakdown during the 2008 Kentucky Derby as the whole world was watching. Despite her pedigree, Coming Home was sold to a meat buyer for just $200. She was only hours away from being trucked to a slaughterhouse when PETA's investigator stepped in and bought her. Coming Home will at last come home to a safe and permanent home, on a PETA member's ranch.

Coming Home is no isolated case, but this mare shows that lineage does not protect a horse from a bad and frightening end. Because horse slaughter is now outlawed in the U.S., thousands of horses will be trucked out of the country, on an often long journey. Some will put out an eye, others will be kicked and bitten, and some will fall and be trampled as they journey to their deaths. Others who are spared that ride may spend the rest of their days neglected, starved and forgotten, as in the case of well-known New York horse breeder Ernie Paragallo, who was convicted of starving nearly 200 horses. Owners who pay exorbitant stud fees turn their backs on horses who are too old or injured to run or who are just not fast enough. There are too many horses and too few retirement options.

While the best bet for the horses would be to stop betting on the Derby and other horse races, and to stop breeding, racing and killing thoroughbreds altogether, who could disagree that at the very least, the racing world, which makes millions upon millions from horses, should provide a decent retirement for the animals it no longer has any use for. It's not enough, but it's a start, and it's not asking much.

PETA has made a proposal to the Jockey Club. The Thoroughbred 360 Life Cycle Retirement Fund would require a mandatory $360 retirement fee for each registration of a foaland for each transfer of ownership.

This modest fee amounts to pocket change for breeders and owners but would generate more than $20 million toward horses' retirement. It wouldn't solve all the problems and would require proper planning and administration. But without it, tens of thousands of thoroughbreds will continue to be shipped to slaughterhouses in Canada, Mexico and even Japan, where Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand ended up on a meat hook.

For the horses, implementing this plan is a matter of life or death. Terry Bradshaw, will you please stand up for them and be counted?

Ingrid E. Newkirk is the president and founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 1536 16th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20036; PETA.org. Her latest book is The PETA Practical Guide to Animal Rights.

 

Comments

[Marli Farm]

08:43 AM on 05/12/2011

And while the Kentucky Derby was happening
registered thoroughbreds- including moms w/little babies, pregnant mares and youngstock were DUMPED at a sale in Pa.

Additional reports confirm that there were THREE KILLBUYERS
there BUYING TO SUPPLY THE SLAUGHTERPLANTS.
Read an account from Omega Horse Rescue and Rehabilitation and it's supporters that helped to facilitate saving what they could here-

https://www.facebook.com/notes/omega-horse-rescue-and-rehabilitation-center/registered-thoroughbreds-saved-on-kentucky-derby-day/172403272814740

[Fever911]

08:27 PM on 06/01/2011

Pictures of horses, ponies, burros at auction in this place will haunt your dreams.

[farafield]

07:19 PM on 05/09/2011

Once an animal, any animal, has monetary worth, his (good) days are numbered.

[saveusashorses]

04:19 PM on 05/09/2011

HORSE RACING AND OVERBREEDING IS THE CAUSE OF HOMELESS AND SLAUGHTERED HORSES. 100k horses a year end up on a plate out of country because of overbreeders of amercia, HEADS UP PEOPLE IN 2012 USA WILL REOPEN HORSE SLAUGHTER BEHIND YOUR BACKS AND IT WILL BE SERVED ON YOUR DINNER PLATE AND TO SCHOOL KIDS , IS THIS OK . stop NEVEDA FROM FENCING OUT YOURS AND MY WILD HORSES AND BURROS FROM DRINKING WATER, BUT ALLOWING COWS SHEEP, REINACT THE ANNIE ACT 1971 SUPPORT THE LATE VELMA JOHNSTON IN PROTECTING WILD HORSES AND BURROS TODAY HORSE PARKS OF AMERICA NOW FOR OUR WILD AND DOMESTIC HORSES, HORSE HEAL PEOPLE AND PEOPLE HEAL HORSE, WATCH BUCK THE NEW MOVIE ON THE HORSE WHISPER NOW AND TAKE A HORSE ABUSER/HATER WITH YOU TO SET THEM STRAIGHT, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR HORSE THAT YOU F__ED UP

[janny09]

04:09 PM on 05/08/2011

At least animal lovers have a voice in P.E.T.A. I know most of you will make sarcastic remarks about PETA and other animal rescues but, this story is true. Very few Thoroughbreds foaled are ever put on a track and yesterday they said on NBC that there are 35,000 foals born every year. This story is so tragic. Some owners even turn them loose to fend for themselves and are usually shot for fun or killed by packs of dogs. I cannot watch these races anymore; I see rich people preening and the ugly side of horse racing hidden from the public. With the money from the gambling, yes, this can be a way to assure them a home for the rest of their lives. Out here in the west, we follow the mustang and burro roundups by helicopter and gathered into holding pens. There are less and less adopting and more and more shipping the animals to Canada or Mexico. If we go to protest the roundups, we are met by police with rifles and told to leave or be arrested. The helicopters like to hover over the running horses and see if they can touch them. Pure torture, as the horses fall and break legs and are left to suffer a slow death. We were put on earth to care for our animal friends, no matter what measures we have to take. People who torture are evil to the bone. Barbaro & Eight Belles, we will never forget

[etbmfa]

01:57 PM on 05/08/2011

PETA president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk has described her group’s overall goal as “total animal liberation.” This means the complete abolition of meat, milk, cheese, eggs, honey, zoos, aquariums, circuses, wool, leather, fur, silk, hunting, fishing, and pet ownership. In a 2003 profile of Newkirk in The New Yorker, author Michael Specter wrote that Newkirk has had at least one seeing-eye dog taken away from its blind owner. PETA is also against all medical research that requires the use of animals, including research aimed at curing AIDS and cancer. PETA has given tens of thousands of dollars to convicted arsonists and other violent criminals. This includes a 2001 donation of $1,500 to the North American Earth Liberation Front (ELF), an FBI-certified “domestic terrorist” group responsible for dozens of firebombs and death threats. During the 1990s, PETA paid $70,200 to Rodney Coronado, an Animal Liberation Front (ALF) serial arsonist convicted of burning down a Michigan State University research laboratory. In his sentencing memorandum, a federal prosecutor implicated PETA president Ingrid Newkirk in that crime. PETA vegetarian campaign coordinator Bruce Friedrich has also told an animal rights convention that “blowing stuff up and smashing windows” is “a great way to bring about animal liberation,” adding, “Hallelujah to the people who are willing to do it.”

www.animalscam.com
www.naiaonline.org
www.humanewatch.com

[Alpha Mare]

04:41 PM on 05/11/2011

Thank you, Humanewatch. Here are the facts: HumaneWatch is a project of the Center for Consumer Freedom:

CCF fights against the public interest groups that expose inhumane practices. They have opposed Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), etc.

CCF refuses to disclose who is funding these attacks on legitimate charities. It's a heinous abuse of nonprofit tax laws: Berman shields his "donors" by concealing their identity, yet in 2008 (the most recent year tax filings were available), CCF paid 92% of its revenue to Berman and Company, Berman's wholly-owned, for-profit PR firm. Berman reaps the benefits of tax exempt status, but bypasses the restrictions on nonprofits by funneling those tax exempt dollars into his for-profit company.

CCF is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) charity, yet engages in no charitable activity, has no employees, is run out of Berman and Company's offices, and has earned millions of dollars in profit for Richard Berman.

Source(s):
HumaneWatch Info
http://www.humanewatch.info (see Document Library for Form 990 for Berman's many "nonprofits")

Berman Exposed
http://www.bermanexposed.org

NY Times: Nonprofit Advocate Carves Out Unusual For-Profit Niche
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/us/pol…

PR Watch: Rich Berman Attacks the Humane Society
http://www.prwatch.org/node/8894

ABC News: Lobbyists Hide Behind Non-Profit Fronts
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section…

[AlexandraIrene]

10:36 PM on 05/06/2011

I think Ms. Newkirk's plan would be a wonderful reward for a beautiful animal so used and misused.
Any animal which makes money for people is a commodity to be exploited. Let's do something so easy and important to help them instead.

[Judy Levy]

02:28 PM on 05/06/2011

STOP the OVERBREEDING. Read THIS and Send EMAIL for Starters.
http://thepersianhorse.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/american-thoroughbred-horses-slaughtered-in-japan-please-send-email-to-national-thoroughbred-racing-association/

[ChristyLee]

11:00 AM on 05/06/2011

Thank you so much for rescuing "Coming Home." Sadly she is not alone in the category of “giving everything you have and getting nothing in return.” Kentucky Derby (1986) winner Ferdinand was slaughtered for meat in Japan when he held no further value. Give me a break...he won the Breeders' Cup, & was voted the 1987 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. Over $5,000,000 in lifetime earnings, and with no notice to the previous owners as I understand it, he met an end in terror. Some thoroughbred owners are watchful, but most do not care. We should be ashamed as a people for letting that happen. It literally makes me cry.
Your idea of the 360 Life Cycle Retirement Fund which would require a mandatory $360 retirement fee for each registration of a foal and for each transfer of ownership is a great one. Your video of the thoroughbred factory breeding farm is mentally stunning, and hopefully will wake up a lot of people to what goes on. These people need to step up and take care of what they create...This is absolutely unconscionable in my book.

[stkittchick]

08:12 AM on 05/06/2011

Why, with all the gambling options now available almost everywhere, would anyone support the cruel and merciless racing industry -- horses or greyhounds. Animals live and die in misery. Is it really worth your two-dollar bet?

[Alpha Mare]

08:10 PM on 05/05/2011

As a former assistant in the Thoroughbred breeding shed, I'd like to add information. I heartily agree that retirement funds for retirement should be mandatory. My experience was that some mares violently objected to being bred, either due to extreme pain, or simple dislike of a certain stallion. We restrained these reluctant females with hobbles and lip chains. It felt like shackling women for rape. Why extreme pain? Another dirty secret of this industry is that fillies are subjected to the Caslick procedure. Their vulval lips are sewn together due to an old bachelors tale that females "suck wind" when they run. The sensitive tissue is then razored open for breeding, sometimes without anesthetic. The fillies are immediately stitched up again. The ostensible reason is to prevent miscarriage. However, females so deformed that manure constantly drops into their vaginas should not be bred, anyway. Their vulvas are again ripped open to facilitate birth. Imagine what giving birth is like for mares who foal early. They push a foal out through a tiny hole, of course grossly tearing themselves in the process. They are bred AGAIN when the foal is only a week old, on their "foal heat." Yep, on an open wound further traumatized by foaling. The wound is then trimmed of dead tissue, and restitched. This cycle repeats for the 15-18 years of a mare's breeding years. When there is insufficient tissue to close the vagina and/or the mare becomes infertile, she is shipped to slaughter.

[FaunaAndFlora]

11:06 PM on 05/05/2011

According to this link, there are valid medical reasons for the Caslick procedure.
http://www.equine-reproduction.com/articles/VulvalConformation.shtml

This link discusses "wind sucking". Apparently it isn't an "old bachelor's tale".
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/horse-health/2001/january/06/caslicks-repair-in-mares.aspx

[Alpha Mare]

01:31 AM on 05/06/2011

FaunaAndFlora, please reread my post. You are simply reiterating the party line: That mares with deformed hindquarters should be bred, and that they should be tortured for their deformity. Repeated genital mutilation is unspeakable cruelty. And it is not only these mares that are Caslicked. It's most fillies. Torturing animals for profit has no place in a civilized society. I have seen first hand this torture, its effects on animal wellbeing, and its end: a brutal butchering alive in a slaughter plant after giving years of service and profits. Thoroughbred breeding and racing needs serious reform.

[Barbara Griffith]

09:06 PM on 05/06/2011

As more and more of the cruelty that is part of the racing industry comes to light, more of the fans will not support the sport any longer. It's like dog racing the more information that fans found out about the horrendous cruelty that has went on they refused to attend any races. And now there are only a few dog tracks that still exist.

[Barbara Griffith]

05:56 PM on 05/05/2011

Horse slaughter has been the underpinning of the horse breeding industry for decades. And this includes all breeds. It's is common knowledge that the breeders are of course looking for that magic horse that will make them millions of dollars. Be it a racing quarter horse, or a thoroughbred it makes no difference. Slaughter is the foundation that many breeders depend on to cull the foals or young horses that don't make it on the track, rodeo or the show ring and have no buyers, or if they get hurt performing and can't be used again they are either taken to a auction or to a separate auction just for killer buyers. These KB's have orders from whichever slaughter plant they service for the number of horses needed, this is what they buy. They prefer the heavy animals such as draft horses, quarter horses, thoroughbreds but ponies, burros and even mini horses as small as they are, are sent on the trucks. Many of them are trampled in route. In one of the slaughter plants in Canada two small ponies were crammed into the same kill box and shot in the face until they both died. This is documented cruelty. Horse slaughter needs to be stopped, over breeding needs to be controlled and laws passed in every state to stop horses being sold for human consumption and trucked outside the country to meet a savage cruel death they don't deserve.

[Sayno2fur]

05:29 PM on 05/05/2011

The racing industry owes it to these beautiful animals to establish a proper retirement plan. Shipping them off to the slaughterhouse like garbage is inhumane. PETA's idea sounds like an excellent plan and a good first step. The racing industry needs to step up and take responsibity for the suffering and overpopulation of horses they've created. And folks, if you like visiting the track to make a little money for yourself, you are responsible for this cruelty too. C'mon Terry Bradshaw, get behind this.

[E Rush]

04:49 PM on 05/05/2011

Congratulations PETA, and thank you for saving Coming Home and bringing light onto this shameful issue.

There's absolutely no excuse for failing to provide retirement provisions for thoroughbreds, and it's about time the Jockey Club included a mandatory retirement fee for all horses. This is a vital step towards stopping horse slaughter.

[heidiparker]

04:17 PM on 05/05/2011

This is a sensible, workable plan that protects horses from horrible suffering. If people are going to continue to race horses (and I wish they wouldn't), planning for the horses' post-racing lives is the least that the industry can do.

[fb0252]

03:05 PM on 05/05/2011

unfortunately the ignorance of the issues expressed in this post is unhelpful to the horses. e.g. what does TB racing have to do with a retired TB that has been transferred to non-racing owners who then transfer to slaughter. I love PETA, but the in your face know nothingism only hurts the animals. what is needed is for PETA to approach the National TB Racing Association for a cooperative approach on the welfare of animals. Horses love to run and they love to race. There are practical financial problems with horse ownership that does not apply to dogs and cats. What Ms. NEWkirk proposes is both a drop in the bucket and absolutely useless. as noted--cluelessness does not help the animals.

[E Rush]

05:07 PM on 05/05/2011

How can you say that this will not help animals? This fund will generate millions every year for retirement operations. No, it will not end horse slaughter, but it is a significant step in the right direction.

[fb0252]

04:33 PM on 05/06/2011

so u say. might want to put a calculator to it before engaging in unsupported suppositions. millions will fail to support the racing population for much more than a one month--drop in bucket and other than a solution to keeping every horse alive.

[CanAmFam]

08:56 AM on 05/06/2011

It sounds like it is you who is not educated. First of all, it's the Jockey Club that manages registration of thoroughbred foals, not the TB Racing Assoc, so they would be the ones to be talking with. There is already an optional contribution upon registration to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. The easiest thing would be to make that contribution mandatory, as Ms. Newkirk is suggesting. Hopefully it would also help some of these breeders think twice about breeding so many foals as well! However, I think it would be tough to collect money upon transfer of ownership. Registry is the right place for this fee.

Next the AQHA needs to be targeted. They produce three times as many foals every year and the registry actively lobbies for horse slaughter so their irresponsible members have an outlet to send their used up/unsellable horses.