It’s springtime. The air is filled with the sweet smell of flowers and fresh starts. But because the first weekend in May is marked by the Kentucky Derby, followed by the Preakness Stakes a couple of weeks later, year after year I find myself struggling to get through this season.
I loathe the Kentucky Derby. Correction: I don’t just loathe the Kentucky Derby. I hate the ENTIRE race horse industry.
But I didn’t always.
In college a somewhat dorky albeit really funny boy invited me to a Kentucky Derby party in Camden, Maine. I shocked all my friends and practically the entire campus when I accepted. It was a chance to put on a pretty dress, get out of the tiny town our school was in and drink Mint Juleps for the day – all while laughing my ass off with this boy.
I sipped on minty bourbon alright and watched in awe as these gallant creatures darted around the track. A horse named Real Quiet won the grand prize, a lush blanket of 554 red roses for him and oodles of money for his owner, but it was the horses that didn’t win that I couldn’t get out of my head. “What about them?” I asked aloud. “They get turned into meat,” my date told me.
Buzzkill.
What I had learned made ME “Real Quiet,” and so we made the two-hour trip back to school in near silence.
That was my first Kentucky Derby party and also my last.
It’s not that I love animals, even though I do. It’s that as far back as when I was a toddler in Nigeria, I was acutely aware of the injustices done to them, and it has always haunted me.
The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, Belmont Stakes and all of your local thoroughbred race tracks directly contribute to the horse slaughter industry.
Of the racehorse industry, William C. Rhoden wrote the following in the New York Times:
The most significant source of racehorse deaths is the slaughter industry, one driven by overbreeding and demand from the lucrative global meat market. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, more than 100,000 American horses are slaughtered each year in Canada and Mexico to satisfy horse meat markets in Europe and Asia.
Breeding operations produce thousands of so-called surplus thoroughbreds. What happens to the excess, the often anonymous horses? Some are sold to owners who take them overseas. Some wind up racing in Japan. Some wind up in slaughterhouses.
I’d like to point out that thoroughbred race horse, Real Quiet, the same horse that won the Kentucky Derby in 1998 and forever changed my view of this brutal sport, died this past September at age 15. While he didn’t go off to slaughter, he also didn’t retire at pasture. Tired and broken down, he spent the rest of his life as a breeding stallion.
Real Quiet
This is very interesting!
I don’t know much about horse races, especially not the Kentucky Derby. I know that my grandfather owned a bunch of horse races & raced them in the state of Arkansas. But his horses always won.
That’s so sad about Real Quiet.
This reminded me of “Water for Elephants.” There was a horse put down in the book & at the end of the book it gives a history of circus elephants & one in particular was used as an example of what happened to elephants at the end. It’s so sad. And like you, I’m not a major animal person either, but there is just something cruel about mistreating an animal that is trusting you to take care of them.
Hmmm… I am worried about rocking the boat. But I guess I’ll post my thoughts anyway. My uncle married a woman, and her parents breed race horses in eastern Washington. Now, they are a small operation and will likely never make it to the Kentucky Derby. I do not deny that there are many breeding operations that are very unattached to the animals they are creating, however, my point is that not all operations are that way. These folks that I know in eastern WA take IMMACULATE care of their animals, and love each and every one very dearly. When an animal becomes old and must be euthanized, or when a foal or mare die tragically from birthing complications they are very effected and mourn the loss of the beloved creatures.
Plus, horse slaughterhouses were closed down in America about a year ago. (So the “unusable” horses are no longer sent to slaughter. Many go on to various rescue organizations that retrain them to be regular riding horses) There are pros and cons to the close of those slaughter houses. Of course it has ended the neglect that many horses received at these locations. I absolutely do not agree with animal suffering in any way, shape or form EVER. But with economy in the crapper and more and more people unable to afford their horses, we are seeing other forms of neglect that are not regulated by the government. People abandoning horses in nature preserves… when these animals have no experience of how to survive in the wild. So they starve, dehydrate or freeze to death. Horses are being sold to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico, so that now they must endure long trailer rides, and Mexican slaughter houses make the ones previously in America look like 5-star-hotels.
I don’t follow the Kentucky Derby or other such racing events. I have owned horses, and am an advocate for the welfare of all animals. Whenever we seek to change something we have to consider all the angles and ensure that the way we are going will really and truly increase quality of life.
Really and truly hope that I have not offended anyone, just trying to pass on what I know of the industry from my personal experiences and education.
Hi Kira… I have been wanting to write you back for a while — to thank you for taking the time to share what you wrote here on my blog but also to tell you that some of your understanding of the horse slaughter industry is wrong.
Below are just some of the facts (mostly borrowed from the HSUS via data from the USDA.)
Fact: Horse slaughter plants in the U.S. are not a better alternative to the foreign-owned plants over the border. (Healthcare, education, at times even the economy – are all stronger in the U.S. But when it comes to slaughterhouses, ours are equally as dirty and cruel as those in poor countries.)
The plants in the U.S. have all been prohibited from slaughtering horses for good reason. Undercover footage from inside these horse slaughter facilities in the U.S. demonstrated how horrific these plants were—many horses were conscious when they were shackled and hoisted by a rear leg to have their throats cut. There was a history of abuse and cruelty at the U.S. plants, including employees whipping horses in the face and horses giving birth on the killing floors. USDA recently released photos of horses with broken bones protruding from their bodies, eyeballs hanging by a thread of skin, and open wounds all taken at former U.S. horse slaughterhouses. Slaughter is not euthanasia—it is a brutal and terrifying end for horses. We should not allow our horses to be subjected to this tremendous cruelty inside—or outside—of our borders.
Fact: A ban on horse slaughter will not lead to an increase in unwanted horses or abuse and neglect.
USDA statistics show that more than 92 percent of horses slaughtered are in good condition and able to live productive lives. In California, where horse slaughter was banned in 1998, there has been no corresponding rise in cruelty and neglect cases, while horse theft dropped by 34 percent after the ban. In Illinois, when the plant was shut down for two years, horse neglect and abuse decreased in the state. Allowing one’s horse to starve is not an option in any state—state anti-cruelty laws prohibit such neglect. Most horses who go to slaughter are not unwanted, but rather wind up in the hands of killer buyers because they are in good health and will bring a better price per pound for their meat. Providing for a horse, including humane euthanasia when necessary, is just part of responsible ownership and this bill will not limit owners’ rights to sell, donate, or euthanize their horses.
One of the Times’ oldest sports writers, William Rhoden, covered horse racing three years ago in a brilliant piece. I even quote him from it in this post. Ironically enough, he just wrote about the sport/hobby this past Friday, which made me think of you. Give it a read here.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I think that we can definitely agree that we both are opposed to abuse and neglect of any kind, and we do our best to be as educated on that as we individually can. There is such a plethora of information out there, and it is too easy to stumble onto misinformation (even reputable websites can make mistakes) so I appreciate that you didn’t get angry or “flaming” and clearly stated the facts with your resources. I’m not too big-headed to acknowledge when I was wrong, and I clearly misspoke (or miss-wrote) when I talked about the state of the slaughter houses.
I cannot speak to nation-wide, but I do stand that within the state of Colorado we have seen a rise in abandoned horses. And the rescues are full. About once a year the news catches wind of one rescue or another getting shut down because they try to take in more horses and other animals than they can take care of. It is a sad situation. I wish that there was a better option for people when they can no longer afford their pets and for whatever reason cannot re-home and refuse to euthanize in a humane way. Our local human societies are not equipped to handle farm animals so we don’t have any resources through the state. I really wish we did, but the funding is spent on all sorts of other things… some of which is important …and some of which is less important. :/
“Providing for a horse, including humane euthanasia when necessary, is just part of responsible ownership and this bill will not limit owners’ rights to sell, donate, or euthanize their horses.” – I absolutely agree with this and I wish that there was a way to track down every person that has not followed the law and have them charged to the fullest extent.
Hear hear sister. Well said. I could not agree more! xo, Ree