Is PETA being a little heavy handed with the Kentucky Derby?

Question

Is PETA being a little heavy handed with the Kentucky Derby?

Answer 1

Yes, they get a bit carried away sometimes.

And don't trust vegans.

Answer 2

PETA is always heavy handed around the Kentucky Derby. It's what they do. You can see, from the fact that the Derby just had it's 134th running, that PETA isn't having a great deal of impact.

FYI, a horse who is injured or uncomfortable will pin her ears back. Coming into the final stretch and crossing the wire, Eight Belles' ears were fully up. The horse didn't know what was coming. It is possible that the she was "cross firing:" hitting more forcefully on one front leg and the opposite hindleg, and that threw her off. No one will ever know for sure.

It put a pall over the entire weekend and broke a lot of hearts.

PETA just makes it worse by all their whining to blame the jockey.

Answer 3

They are doing what they always do.  Take anything that will get them press and make a big stink about it without doing any research at all into it.  That jockey didn't do anything different than any other would have done.

Answer 4

Heavy handed isn't the word for it.  Those attention craving azzwipes care more about headless chickens and overbred rodents than they do about then daily slaughter of the innocents at abortion mills.

Answer 5

You should really see the South Park episode that deals with PETA.  It explains EVERYTHING.

Answer 6

In  Jones again defended jockey Gabriel Saez’s ride of the Derby runner-up.“People have been on him. It’s uncalled for. It’s unjust,” Jones said.

Jones also took a swipe at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has said Saez should have known the horse was in trouble and that he went to the whip too often.

“I think that it is really and truly the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard of,” Jones said.

Jones said PETA is capitalizing on a sad situation.

“When this started I feel like maybe their heart was in the right place,” Jones said. “I think maybe they were generally concerned.”

Jones has changed his thinking and said PETA is using the incident to raise money.

“I hate the fact they are using this to be a fundraiser for them. They’re doing this for monetary purpose … They’re not in it for the good of anything. It’s strictly something to rally around, hoping they are raising funds from this, and I hate it.”

Jones said he was looking to get past the death of Eight Belles, for himself and the sport of racing.

“I’m sorry that people have to feel that they have to point fingers and they have to look for the negative of this game,” Jones said. “I would like to bring closure to it. I don’t want people to think of racing as it being abusive.”

Answer 7

when aren't they heavy handed when it comes to other peoples animals or livestock.

Answer 8

PETA is ridiculous and loves animals more than humans, what do you expect?

Answer 9

PETA is always heavy handed: It's the nature of the beast.

Answer 10

people who support PETA are crazy.

i love animals but i hate PETA and anyone involved with them. PETA is just another multi-million dollar origination with its own hidden agenda. it funds terrorists like the Animal Liberation Front. they are hippocrates. PETA euthanizes thousands of animals each year.

Answer 11

i think peta is being rediculous with it.  the jockey would definitely want to ride the horse again.  he's not gonna let the thing get hurt on purpose.

Answer 12

Like always.  They are speaking out on something they know nothing about..

Answer 13

I haven't heard a peep from PETA throughout this, but they probably have a good point that should be listened to as well.

Answer 14

I have nothing against PETA. I agree with them when they expose animal abuse like dog fighting and factory farming. However, I don't think you can lump the Sport of Kings with puppy farming. Unfortunately injury to the horse (and jockey) is a risk of the sport. Otherwise these horses are lavishly cared for. You don't "whip" a champion horse into winning a race. They are trained to respond to the whip as a que to speed up in the stretch. I think the YUM brand sponsorship is what got the derby on their radar. (remember the KFC scandal).

Answer 15

PETA brings up some good points about the ethical treatment of animals but often times when they try to make their point they come off as looking dumb. This is another example of that. Why should the jockey be suspended? It makes no sense. He was just doing his job as a jockey and the horse did not show signs that it was hurt until the end of the race. The horse did not get hurt earlier in the race or else it would not have finished second (horses can't run on broken legs). To say that the jockey should have known something was wrong is absurd. They just don't want horse racing to exist so they are making a mountain out of a molehill to attract attention to their cause.

Answer 16

Yes! The only Kentucky they ought to go to is the Kentucky Fried Chicken company. Millions of chickens are euthanised everyday by KFC. Millions of chickens are much worse than one freaking horse.

Answer 17

PETA makes themselves look bad every time they choose an issue to harp on.  Did you happen to hear the spokeswoman from PETA on the Mike Terico show on ESPN Radio yesterday?  Terico asked her three times for a reason that they felt the jockey should be suspended.  Each time, she basically just started reading notes from a cue card about the other issues they feel are unjust in horse racing and basically dodged the question.  He finally said to her,"It's OK, you can say you don't know".  She was just dead silent.  PETA is bunch of morons who have no idea how to intelligently raise a discussion about anything.

Answer 18

I am truly in favor of PETA's cause but their methods are attrocious.  Using this horrible tragedy to spout their mantra was a miserable exploitation of the situation and only did harm.

That poor jockey was most assuredly not at fault.  He knows his job is to keep his horse safe while still running the best race possible - which he did superbly.  Bad jockeys don't get a derby horse.  They'd never get another ride if they hurt their mounts.

Relative to the comment PETA made about "whipping" the horses "mercilessly".  You'll never see a mark on a thoroughbred race horse.  The whip is a signal to the horse that it is time to turn on the speed.  The jockey controls the horse's speed throughout the race.  They don't just turn them loose out of the gate with no control.  When the jockey uses the whip, the horse knows its time to stretch out its neck and turn on the speed.

PETA gives the rest of us animal lovers a bad name.  There's no doubt there are horrible abuses out in the world, but this wasn't one of them and they made a bad situation worse.