May 16, 2008

Puerto Rican Track Kills Losing Thoroughbreds : In Puerto Rico, many thoroughbreds never make it off the track alive. "More than 400 horses, many in perfect health, are killed each year by lethal injection at a clinic tucked behind the Hipodromo Camarero racetrack, chief veterinarian Jose Garcia told The Associated Press after checking clinic log books going back seven years." Hipodromo Camarero, the territory's only thoroughbred racetrack, races a stable of 1,300 horses five days a week.

read story | posted by rcade to Other at 12:01 PM CDT (16 comments total)

Wow. And PETA wanted to crucify a jockey and owner for a single horse that had to be euthanized. Can't wait to see their reaction to this.

posted by irunfromclones at 12:36 PM CDT on May 16

Just this morning I watched a recently tivo'd Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel that addressed this type of thing in America. According to that story, also-rans are often sold (for roughly $200) to someone who in turn auctions them off, many ending up in slaughterhouses and sold for human consumption in Asia and Europe. If I remember correctly, the slaughtering of horses was banned in the US fairly recently so now horses are trucked to either Mexico or Canada where the practice remains legal. There is now a bill working its way through congress that, if passed, will outlaw the transportation of horses across the border for the purpose of slaughter. One of the horse rescuers interviewed in the story claims that it would cost the owners of these horses about $60 to humanely euthanize them but many take the $200 instead.

posted by captaincavegirl at 4:13 PM CDT on May 16

posted by BoKnows at 9:01 PM CDT on May 16

Are these horses so high maintenance that the owners couldn't just "leave the gate open"?

Unlike domesticated pigs that become feral. Horses raised in captivity have little or no chance to survive in the real world. What happens in most cases are badly emaciated specimens that will break your heart.

posted by giveuptheghost at 9:16 PM CDT on May 16

The problem in Puerto Rico is one of space. When you consider that the horses are only going to be racing for a few years, but can live 30 more years, what are you going to do with them all?

Even if they did learn to survive in the wild, it would not take long until there were too many of them. Even in the US the wild horse populations have to be thinned out to avoid over population and thus starvation.

posted by dviking at 10:16 PM CDT on May 16

What happens in most cases are badly emaciated specimens that will break your heart.

Even in the US the wild horse populations have to be thinned out to avoid over population and thus starvation.

Alright, so then the humane thing to do is what?

posted by BoKnows at 10:34 PM CDT on May 16

Are these horses so high maintenance that the owners couldn't just "leave the gate open"? Once tame, could the horse adapt to the wild again? If so, why not take them to a wildlife preserve? Maybe the county/state could offer up some park acreage. There's plenty of solutions, the problem is that they are not all profitable. Greedy bastards.

The following is from the article in the FPP:

Unlike on the U.S. mainland, where many former racehorses are retrained for riding or sent to special refuges.....

Although I've never seen or heard of it either Bo, it appears that there are some type of preserves for the horses here in the US. I would imagine PR could also do the same if they wanted to.

posted by jojomfd1 at 12:46 AM CDT on May 17

An owner said if the horse doesn't "produce", eventually he will give it away or kill it. He said it bothered him a lot, but it had to be done due to no money to pay for them...and he was not going to keep losing. However, the article also says the vets have an informal system of contacting farmers and breeders when healthy horses are brought in to die, but some are not suitable for adoption due to injuries and bad tempers. One big problem is the vets only charge $20.00 for the chemicals to put the horses down!

That 20 bucks the vets charge the owners for the chemicals for the injection sure make this choice easier on the owners I'll bet. This reminds me of Chris Rock talking about gun control, when he said that the bullets need to cost $5000.00. If the lethal injection chemicals cost a lot more I bet there would be less of a problem there.

posted by jojomfd1 at 1:10 AM CDT on May 17

Alright, so then the humane thing to do is what?

Well, for starters, the humane thing to do is to not just let them go free. That just causes a new set of problems.
If they can find a new home for them great, if not putting the animal down may be the best route.

I wonder if we'd have this same conversation if we were talking about the animals that are used in rodeos. The calves used have a very short "career", then once we're done with them I suspect they end up in the food chain. I'm sure many of the steers trained as bucking bronco's don't really pan out, and thus end up in the pan. (sorry).

Is it just because we here in the US tend to eat cows and not horses?

posted by dviking at 11:12 AM CDT on May 17

That thought occured to me as well, dviking (although steers aren't used for bucking broncos, those are horses!). I think there is an ethical grey area there that should be explored. If these Puerto Ricans just throw away the carcass or burn it, then, hell yeah, what they are doing is barbaric. If, however, the horse is sold or better yet, donated to those in need of meat, then the situation becomes a bit less tragic. Just because the American pallette and sensibilities are offended by horse meat, it doesn't mean that the rest of the world's should be. And a horse that is trained for racing probably lives a much better life than the calves that give us yummy, yummy veal.

I hoped the article would address what becomes of these slaughtered horses. To bring up one aspect without following through with the consequences has a bit of an odor of sensationalism to it.

posted by tahoemoj at 1:52 PM CDT on May 17

Just because the American pallette and sensibilities are offended by horse meat, it doesn't mean that the rest of the world's should be.

I agree, but it's not just about the yuck factor. To refer again to the Real Sports piece, at least part of the problem with the slaughter of horses in the US is that that slaughterhouses use the same equipment to kill horses that they use on cows. Needless to say, the anatomy of cows and horses is quite different and the cow-killin' equipment is not as effective on horses, thereby resulting in more suffering for the horse.

posted by captaincavegirl at 3:34 PM CDT on May 17

I watched that Real Sports, too, and we agree on that point completely. The Real Sports piece was disturbing in a lot of ways and showed a real dark side to American horse racing. I was referring more to the situation on this FPP involving Hipodromo Camarero. And I should reiterate that I have no idea what they do with the carcasses, I'm simply saying that if they are being put down humanely and put to good use, this isn't such a shocking story. It's just an alternative way of providing meat.

posted by tahoemoj at 4:07 PM CDT on May 17

I'd like to make additional comment about horse meat. It's quite tasty. Not trying to gross anybody out, but if Americans and Puerto Ricans tried the meat, perhaps a market could be formed and all this conservation would be a moot point.

Don't dismiss the idea, however being a hunter I've eaten beaver, muskrat, possum, mink and raccoon. Fixed properly all are excellant table fare, including horse meat (which has a sweet taste).

By the way, butchering horses can be done humanely

posted by giveuptheghost at 4:39 PM CDT on May 17

By the way, butchering horses can be done humanely
Hopefully the horse is dead before butchered.

posted by gfinsf at 10:16 PM CDT on May 17

I'd like to laugh at myself for thinking that bucking bronco's were steers... I was thinking of the bad ass bulls that the cowboys try to ride...whatever the hell they're called.

I'd also like to point out that slaughter houses can be run in a humane manner, regardless of what animal is being slaughtered. I think the real push should be for all slaughter houses to be regulated to ensure that the animal is treated properly.

posted by dviking at 11:31 PM CDT on May 17

A lot of the problems with rehoming racehorses is that they need a lot of work to turn them from animals who only need to run into animals that are safe to handle and can listen to what their rider wants. It isn't the fault of the horses, they aren't trained to obey aids that a general all-rounder needs to learn.

To be totally honest, if the killings are done humanely then I don't have a huge problem with it. It is sad, and in a perfect world it wouldn't be done, but this isn't a perfect world.

posted by Fence at 6:56 AM CDT on May 18

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