Barbaro...now Eight Bells. PETA is taking Action to ban horse racing. Do you agree?

Question

Even though the thouroghbred horse loves to run...was it made to run with the type of force in these spectator sport races.

You see the Derby with the rich and the woman in their big hats for the big social event and then we have these horrible fractures to the leg bones of horses, often resulting in their death. Is this right?????

Sign the petition below if you disagree and send it to others.

http://www.peta.org/

Answer 1

PETA, as usual, has no idea what they are talking about. This was a tragic, freak accident. Nothing more, and nothing less. Listening to the PETA lady on the Tirico show yesterday proved how ridiculous they are.

Answer 2

I refuse to have anything to do with PETA. Horses are injured on & off the track. Its a fact of life ! PETA kills more animals then they help. Since the death of Eight Bells as been all over the media... they decided to get involved & get $$$$$$$$ of donations. PETA is nothing but a joke, they are againist animal ownership.

Answer 3

peta over exaggerates everything that happens to any animal..  race horses live the high life.  it was a freak accident.  things like that happen to humans everyday.  peta needs to quit waisting time on this and concentrate on homeless people or unemployment issues

Answer 4

I'm sorry but I have no time for PETA and their ridiculous anti-racing agenda.

I've looked at their website in the past and read so much rubbish that it made me furious.  They over-exagerate and always look for the bad things.

Yes it is horrible and sad when things like this happen, but to say people in racing (owners, trainers, jockeys) don't care is ridiculous!

Answer 5

I wish that people would realize that it was an accident. Its not like in every race theres a horse breaking their two front ankles.

Answer 6

This was obviously not a freak accident. How could it be a 1 in 10000 accident when it happened merely 2 years ago to Barbaro? If you a just a racing fan, don't voice your inaccurate opinion. There are many reason as to why this poor filly was injured that are OUTSIDE of the racing world and strictly due to the very young and undeveloped age of Eight Belles.

Answer 7

PETA is made up of a bunch of hypocritical, ignorant people who love to prey on peoples' fears and anxieties. Get real, folks- blaming the jockey for this filly's death is NOT going to solve anything, nor will PETA's nonsensical attempts to try to ban the sport. It JUST WON'T HAPPEN, PEOPLE- there is TOO MUCH MONEY and TOO MUCH AT STAKE for that to EVER HAPPEN without a HUGE LEGAL and political fight which would extend FAR BEYOND racing or the horse world.

Eight Belles' death WAS A TRAGEDY, yes- but it was NOT the fault of her trainer or her jockey. They did nothing wrong. No, the REAL CAUSE OF TRAGEDIES LIKE THIS ONE is the ENTIRE SYSTEM which produced Eight Belles and demanded that she run in such a race in the first place. THAT'S what needs to change, FOLKS. This filly was injured in what the vets at both Churchill Downs and another track, Monmouth Park in New Jersey, have said was a freak, one in a million accident which neither of them had ever seen before in their careers. Then there is this business about how tall the filly was- and the fact that she had a superfine bone structure which was inherently weak and prone to breakage under extreme stress. THAT, FOLKS, IS NOT HER TRAINER'S or JOCKEY'S FAULT- it is the fault of genetics and heredity. It's been known for some 20 years now that there are certain bloodlines and families within the Thoroughbred breed which are notorious for producing horses which have only a limited number of races in them before they break down and die, the way Eight Belles did. I personally believe that this filly probably came from one of those families. That she was both overbred and inbred was obvious- she was WAY TOO TALL for her gender,and I suspect that when she was very young, she probably was overfed and grew much too quickly. In essence, she outgrew her own skeleton before she was 3 years old, the way a lot of horses which have that problem often do. Prior to the Derby, all of Eight Belles other races were on Polytrack- which is a soft, pliable, forgiving surface for a horse to run on. Churchill Downs,on the other hand, is a DIRT track, and always has been. That has not changed in more than a century, and it's unlikely to change in the future. So the filly was running on a much harder, much less forgiving surface than what she was used to, and she was also racing against colts for the first time in her life. Add in the pressure to win which all Derby contenders must face, and you have a recipe for disaster. None of this was the fault of her trainer or jockey, however, and making public scapegoats out of either of them will accomplish absolutely NOTHING. I agree that racing as a whole needs to change- but PETA is going about trying to get that change in the WRONG WAY.

Horse racing as a whole is and has always been about money, and who can win or make the most of it. PETA's efforts are going to prove to be futile. They can't ban a business which generates MILLIONS of dollars annually across the country and around the world, and which employs THOUSANDS of people. Trying to do that is going to be like trying to stop the sun from rising- it just won't happen. I also have to wonder where PETA was last year during the Breeder's Cup, when George Washington broke down and was euthanized during the Classic, or the year before, when Pine Island broke down in the Distaff and was destroyed. Or what about this past Friday, when another horse trained by Barbaro's trainer, Michael Matz, broke down during the Alysheba Stakes and was scheduled to undergo career ending surgery to fuse his ankle yesterday morning? Where was PETA then? No, the only reason PETA is doing this now is because they see this as an opportunity to grab headlines and prey on the ignorance, fear, and prejudice of the non-riding and non horse public. I'm a horse owner myself, and I have been so for most of my life. I also worked in the horse business for over 20 years- that's why I am familiar with so many of the issues surrounding the deaths of both Barbaro and Eight Belles. I know we need change- and I welcome it- but we don't need to get it this way.  Enough said.

Answer 8

Peta needs to educate itself before judgement and get the h**l out of my city.

It's one thing to mess with KFC and the chickens but you are talking about Kentucky and it's beloved horses.

Peta is sorely mistaken if they think they can handle the Good Ole Boys around here!

Answer 9

I will not associate my name with any group like peta

they realy take things too far,and as for the jockey of eight bells - he was doing  what he was trained to do as well,

yes thoroughbreds are bred to run, and they love it !!  but horses are not meant to be put under such harsh conditions as the track,and that is one reason why we are seeing so many of these injuries..

the vet that took care of Barbaro,made a comment to this as well...

I feel they should wait for the horses to mature another year or two....

you will not stop the sport and neither will Peta,ok, so its time for a reality check.....

I own,ride,and show horses,and yes if i could be a jockey for the thrill of the ride, I would...

i just aquired a mustang and a thoroughbred.ok i am bringing the mustang home ,and she will remain just what she is,she will not be trained or ridden..i will adore her for just what she is,a wild horse..the thoroughbred i aquired is 2,and she was heading for the track - she will never see the track - she will be loved,adored and ridden by my son,and taught that she doesnt need to have the speed to be appreciated.

I also have 3 appaloosa's,and have owned a horse that cam from the track before - we purchaced her direct from the owner/breeder, she had a broken cannon bone,and after  ensdless months of therapyand healing,and a couple years of retraining, i had a big beautiful thoroughbred, who lived her life out with me knowing that she didnt need the speed,and that she was loved..

but as far as the sport,,,these were two wo nderful horses and there lives came to a tragic end,,,there will be many more injuries in the future as well, but you will never get the sport banned

Answer 10

Peta thinks that guide dogs are cruel...

Do I need to say more?

Answer 11

i personaly hated what happend, i think that there should be a certain age to race, there still way too young at 2 and 3, there bones arent stronge enough for the srtenuouse labor.

Answer 12

I don't agree with anything PETA stands for, and i would never associate my name with anything they do.

Answer 13

What isn't right are owners who have systematically bred out durability in these animals.

Today's racing horses are lighter than those of 30-40 years ago.  Not one of todays horses would be able to carry handicap weight of 130 pounds.

Maybe PETA will scare some of these people enough to do something before  legal  eagles are put into the mix.

By the way, the Go For Wand accident at the 1990 Breeders Cup was even worse.  Belmont Park was in unfit racing condition and horses were breaking down even before the

Cup.

Answer 14

PETA is a joke.

i love animals but PETA is a dangerous organization

Answer 15

I do not agree that Horse Racing should be banned however I DO agree that horses should not be able ot race until their 3rd birthday and legs are fully developed.  I also think that all tracks should be changed to synthetic as opposed to dirt to help minimize injury.  

I watched the derby and I cried when the news broke about Eight Belles.  Poor baby, died too young.  I am for helping to keep them safe.  As humans we should be doing everything in our power to keep these injuries to a minimum.  

There is no way Horse Racing will come to an end however, PETA should be doing what they can to make the necessary changes to keep the horses as safe as possible.

Answer 16

those horses are treated like their doo doo smells like blueberry pie. that was a once in 10000 race freak accident. just as many probably more suffer similar or worse accidents daily. everyone crapping their pants about this needs to kick back

Answer 17

Dear NEW PETA RECRUITS,

LETS BE FAIR!!!

You are right they do hide the fractured legs by dressing up the sport with large hats, mint juleps and string bands.

Horse racing should not get a free pass. I am in disbelief when I hear patrons and gamblers complain about seeing replays involving horses that has broken down.

"Do we really need to show tragic occurrences from happening?" I remember that being published on DRF.COM some time ago and I read the opinion again somewhere on a blog.

It's a popular opinion of race fans...

but yes, in fact, they should be forced to see it!

It does not matter if it puts a bad feeling in the stomach of race fans.

Your not allowed to sweep this under the rug. Face the facts! This is something that occurs. Own up to it!

When Eight Bells was lying on the track they quickly blocked off all view of her from the public, and they put her down.

At least I did not hear the track vet say "We had to HUMANLEY euthanize the horse."

I've heard it said during big horse races in the past and the term humanely puts such a spin on the whole thing.

I give credit to the track vet for only saying euthanized this time, being intentionally said that way or not.



Now for the being fair part…

The one thing that upsets me about PETA is how sometimes they force-feed a hypocritical opinion without revealing the true nature of themslves.

The Eight Belles tragedy went beyond them force feeding bad opinions. They actually made a false accusation that this was the jockeys fault.

They know little of horse racing. The Jockey hit the horse left handed to keep her from lugging to the inside when she was too close to the rail. He is not at Fault at all...

A LIBERAL NY TIMES COLUMNIST ACUTALLY SAID "Horse racing is actually BULL FIGHTING!!!"

I believe the columnists last name was Rhoden but I'm not sure.  

The idea is not to kill the horse during the race.

so... so it's not bull fighting.

For all of the offended individuals involved in this disscussion, I ask that before you rally the troops to help topple the brutal regime of horse racing...

just make sure you tell your new recruits the difference between horse racing and eating meat...

because there is absolutely NO DIFFERENCE!!!

They put these horses through the rigors of racing so that they can enjoy a heart pounding moment and be entertained at the track, wearing big hats, enjoying the social event.

But... It's no better that we force the horrors of a slaughter house on cows and pigs so we can enjoy a good ham or steak... Right PETA???

Don't scientists test on animals to develope treatments like chemotheropy thats actually saved a friend of mines life???

We can survive quite well as vegetarians... Those test rats did nothing wrong to be injected with cancer... Face it...  We all kill and displace animals because it pleases our tongues, excites the senses, gives a house with a window with a view... it even makes us live longer.  

So go ahead help PETA preach to your new recruits about banning the $2 win ticket...

but tell them they have to give up the hamburger also...

The Housing  that displaces so much wildlife...

and the CURE that was so cruel it to obtain...

Reveal the true nature of horse racing but make sure you reveal your true nature of PETA as well...  

before you ask your new troops to fight the good battle make sure they understand PETA's entire war strategy...

I'm sure you’ll find a lack of popular support...

I ask that you DON'T sign this petiton unless you agree with everything PETA stands for!

If you do aggree then I wish you the best of luck in your fight...

Sincerely

A fair oppenent of PETA