PETA and Eight Belles' jockey.. has it really gone this far?

Question

PETA is BACK!

Just read what they have to say about Eight Belles and her jockey.

You have got to be kidding me right?

http://msn.foxsports.com/horseracing/story/8102414?MSNHPHCP&GT1=39002

I mean, is PETA serious...

Answer 1

People stopped wearing fur coats in public and PETA needed another "scapegoat" issue for which to anger honest, intelligent Americans.....

PETA is another group that consists of liberal leftist extremists..... They splash "red paint" symbolizing blood on people that wear leather or fur clothing..... They hold "die-ins" and practice civil disobedience when protesting stuff like "dead cockroaches", "circus animal behavior" or "bird habitats" are threatened.....

I feel sorry for the horse, but considering they cannot be easily "repaired" or fitted with prostetics like humans when broken limbs occur, freak accidents such as this and the one that occurred to Barbero are unfortunate, but PETA always has to point fingers and blame others when accidents do happen and the trainers/jockeys don't hurt their animals on purpose.

The world would be a better place if PETA and Greenpeace just concentrates on preserving the wildlife of the world and not wasting their time on issues that don't have to do with animal abuse.

Answer 2

1. Fortunately, Peta has no control over the racing commission.

2.  Isn't it remarkable that one of the major animal rights groups is saying the same ignorant things as people on this website have been saying for the last 24 hours?  I mean honestly...

1st they say that the horse was clearly injured before the race was finished.  I've been around horses long enough that I can really see lamenesses now... I watch horses walking in the paddock before their races and they'll be like the favorites in the race and I'm sitting there saying "how can you be betting on that horse, it can hardly walk!"  The reason the horse is still getting money bet on it is because most people can't see lamenesses.  I can.  And I can tell you that Eight Belles looked absolutely wonderful as she crossed the line... she was moving easily despite just running 10 furlongs (she was moving a lot better than Ekati was moving after the shorter Wood) and her ears were pricked up... she looked really happy.  I haven't seen footage of her from the finish line until where she collapsed... all I saw was the couple of strides where she tripped twice and then fell down completely... so I can't say exactly when she got hurt.  Gabriel said that after the line, she started galloping funny.  Gabriel has ridden in enough races to know.  I trust his opinion.  Having read Gary Stevens' book, I know that the jockeys are very good at feeling whether the horse is healthy or not.  That's the reason that Rags to Riches got pulled up out of her workout last year despite the fact that no one could figure out what was wrong with her... riders can always tell.

2nd Peta backs up its argument by saying "well if she wasn't hurt before the race finished, then it must have been because of the whipping because whipping is evil."  That argument just doesn't even make any sense.  If whipping was the cause, then she would have broken her legs when she was getting whipped, not when the jockey was asking her to slow down to a medium canter.  Maybe Peta needs to protest the fact that jockeys pull up horses after the races... instead, the jocks should just let the horses run around until they want to stop.  It doesn't seem like a good idea to me, but if that's what Peta wants...

3. This is a horrible thing to do to Gabriel.  The kid is upset enough about the horse.  I read that he went back to her barn and stared at her empty stall after the race.  He feels bad enough already.  I guarantee that he's spent hours thinking about what he could have done differently to save her even though there was nothing that he could have done.  And now he has Peta on his back being morons too.  When Charismatic broke down after the finish of the 1999 Belmont, it completely tore up Chris Antley.  Chris was hailed as a hero because by jumping off and supporting the horse's weight, he saved Charismatic's life.  But Chris was heartbroken by Charismatic's injury.  He went into a deep depression and he ended up dead not long after that... possibly by suicide.  We cannot let Peta do this to Gabriel.  I wish there was something I could do to show my support for him... unfortunately I think the only way to do that would be to take an 8 hour road trip to Deleware Park to talk to him personally.

Ya know, it's like Larry Jones said... the horses are like our family and we give them everything we can and they give us everything that they have.  If a family member had died, there's no way Peta would be at the funeral acting like this.  Why can't they just leave us alone and let us grieve for our magnificent lovely girl that we lost yesterday.

Answer 3

Wow, it was the most horrible story , for an ending to the Derby, this year. I do hope PETA takes a good hard look at  racing in America today?

Answer 4

I guess that they are serious,but I am sure that he will be found innocent. This is absolutely crazy.It was a tragic freak accident and it is nobody's fault.

Answer 5

Yes PETA has gone to far.  Jockeys want to win the Kentucky Derby, but not at the expense of their horse.  If he had felt anything was wrong, he would have pulled her up. Race horses don't always want to give up, but she would have felt different immediately.   PETA needs to go fight for poor conditions in puppy mills and those who don't take care of any of their animals.

Answer 6

They are making press releases that will get people to make donations.

That is ALL that Peta is about..

Look at their website's annual report:

http://www.peta.org/feat/annualreview/nu...

Can you see ANYTHING that they actually DID this year, other than raise money?

They spayed/neutered 300 pit bulls, and 440 feral cats at a discount.

That is out of $31.4 million in revenues..Pretty expensive spay..huh?

Answer 7

omg, she did not brake anything until after the finish. he could not MAKE her do anything. lets look at it: 1000 lb. horse vs. 100 lb. jocky. i mean, get real. she would not have kept running and she deffinatly would not have finished second. it is not always someone fault, and no one wanted her to brake her ankles. : (

Answer 8

I thought Eight Belle's jockey did all he could. It was an accident, not his fault at all. I think he loved Eight Belle's just as much as the rest of us, and was just as crushed too.

If PETA really wanted to help, they should try changing the age limit for racehorses.

Answer 9

It won't happen; the people have the footage and she obviously was running fine before the finish (how else could she have put in such a great effort?).

I personally lost all respect for PETA a long time ago and I can't say that this reinforces my confidence in them. I seriously hope that they disband before they hurt any more people. They are a sick and ruthless agency (yes, this term applies to non-government associations) who consider that any kind of manipulation of animals is some sort of crime against humanity. Gabriel Saez does NOT deserve this kind of treatment.

I think they probably care more about getting him suspended than they ever did about Eight Belles.

Answer 10

PETAs a joke. They're just fishing for something and low and behold an animal gets hurt and the news releases shoot out. These jockeys and trainers love their horses and for PETA to claim the horse was “doubtlessly injured before the finish” is negligent an borderline libelous. Then to add to that they say "What we really want to know, did he (the jockey) feel anything along the way? If he didn’t then we can probably blame the fact that they’re allowed to whip the horses mercilessly.” From PETA spokespuke Kathy Guillermo. Sure idiot, and horse is going to run to 2nd in the Kentucky Derby, on two broken ankles, because the jockeys using a whip. What a load........

Answer 11

these horses live amazing lives and they get care and treatment as if they were royalty.  much like huskies and greyhouds, race horses WANT to run!   PETA is crazy, they say whips are inhumane but  i doubt that the horses really feel the whips when they are running.   they also want them to run on artificial surfaces?  when was the last time you saw a horse run on synthetic materials in nature?  peta has good intentions but they are extremely misguided.

Answer 12

Why does it offend you that people want the horses to not be abused. Is it offensive because you know it is true? There is not reason this poor girl should have been racing so young.

Answer 13

If there is ANY evidence that he did something wrong there will be no reason to suspend him. His career would be over. PETA is a bunch of loonies who believe that domesticated animals should become extinct. This is from their own statements. The president of PETA has said that domesticated animals are an "aberration" created by man and should become extinct.

Answer 14

Eight Belles jockey must be feeling so horrible about the accident and now they're starting this nonsense.  PETA is pathetic.

Answer 15

I'm not really sure why it's offensive to you that PETA wants to ensure that racing is safer for the horses.

And...if he did something that caused her death (which they are investigating, and from what I saw, I don't believe he did), would you want him racing your horse?

Btw, even the commentators were questioning the jockey's actions after it happened.  Not only PETA.

Answer 16

Why can't we euthanize PETA?

You have to remember this is the same group of people who sued the movie "Shawshank Redemption" over improper treatment of a meal worm in one of the scenes.

Answer 17

PETA is just a bunch of hypocrites looking to get attention.  These are the same people who rescue dogs from shelters and then kill them.