How many horses are euthanized as a result of horse racing?

Question

I was watching ESPN and I thought I heard something like 700 that can't be right does anyone know?

Answer 1

I'm not sure of the exact number, but I have had race horses my whole life and there has been race days where no horses have been put down the whole day or even for 2 to 3 weeks, then there has been times where there were 2 in one day. It is part of the risk in the racing industry. At least they are tended to immediately, so there is as least pain felt as possible. It is very sad, but every athlete takes injury risks every day.

Answer 2

Too many. Its really sad. I hope espn is wrong.

People just sit with their money and their stupid fluffy hats with bouncing sh*t coming out of the top and dont realize what the horses are being put through! I didnt make it to the television in time but when i found out this morning i was heartbroken. Its so sad how people put young horses in like that for MONEY. Its really depressing. I would be so mordified if my favorite horse on this planet was put into a big shindig like that and had to be put down for breaking to ankles.

I'll pray for Eight Bells.

Answer 3

I think its really stupid that people say that the horse is "brave", and "valiant" in its effort to win. Why anthropomorphize the horse's behavior? The horse could care less about the"win" .These poor animals are just machines to the people who use them for this cruel sport. Idiots.

What would really be humane would be to just abolish the whole practice of horse racing.

Answer 4

"At the state's five licensed tracks, Marsh and other veterinarians with the Texas Racing Commission have euthanized or documented the deaths of 300 horses in the past five years, usually after the animals broke ankles, legs or even spinal cords during races, according to the agency's database of horse injuries obtained by the San Antonio Express-News."

"Five years ago, about 15 horses per 1,000 were killed or seriously injured in Texas. Last year, that rate had dropped by nearly half."

"Besides the deaths, vets documented 2,000 scrapes and bruises, and 550 pulled tendons, broken bones and other serious injuries that weren't immediately life-threatening."

"The 300 deaths documented by racing commission vets could be the tip of the iceberg, since those are only the animals killed on race days."

This is only in Texas.

This article has a LOT of stats:  http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/s...

Answer 5

this happens every day world wide!

the sad truth is you only here about it when a champion dies!

Answer 6

As a whole, we live in a privaleged country.  When race horses are put down on the track, it is because of a "catastrophic" injury.  In other words, if the horse were kept alive, it would suffer, rot, and eventually die.  Many race horses and show horses are sent for slaughter.  This is a far more unscrupulous financially motivated attrocity.  To perform in competitions like the Kentucky Derby, horses are loved and live with "horse people" (horse whisperers).  Horse people understand the horse is not a person, and in many ways is more fearless and noble for precisely the reason that Eight Belles, Big Brown, and their jockeys said their goodbyes.

A-

Answer 7

Around 700 race horses die or are euthanized every year in the US. Statistics are hard to find as there is no one source that keeps track of horse deaths and injuries. This number, 700, may also  include horses that die of old age or colic, and not only those who die of horrific injuries like Eight Belles or Barbaro, but I am not certain of that. Also, we forget about steeplechase, in which horses running 30 - 35 mph jump over obstacles. It is seen most often in Europe but is still legal in the U.S. If you hear about a horse dying of a broken neck or dying (not being euthanized) on the track, it was almost certainly steeplechase.