PETA wants Gabriel Saez, the jockey riding Eight Belles in the KY Derby suspended. Agree or disagree?

Question

I strongly disagree with PETA ON THIS ONE! I was at the Derby and Eight Belles showed no indications there was anything wrong with her. She just simply went down at the last minute--the Jockey had nothing to do with any of it! Larry Jones, the trainer of Eight Belles, wouldn't have ran the filly is he had thought anything was wrong with her. Also, keep in mind here that the jockey, Gabriel Saez, could have gotten hurt or worse. How do ya'll feel about this?

Answer 1

Agree.

Answer 2

I don't like PETA.  I don't know of anything they've done that justifies their existence.  

(Well, maybe having naked women picketing the fur industry justifies it, but that's another story.)

Anything constructive they might accidentally do can be done as well or better by the ASPCA, which is a far less political organization.

These clowns get way too much publicity.

Answer 3

PETA wins... all they wanted was publicity, and they're getting it.  They never care if they're right or wrong on any issue.  They're so extreme on all their views it's hard to align with them on anything, even when they do have valid concerns.  (Not on this one, not even close, but again, they got the headlines, so mission accomplished by their standards.)

Answer 4

Thats just DUMB!! I am going to have to look that one up!!!

He did nothing wrong!

Its a shame that an animal had to die, and even worse that it is a common occurance in horse racing. It's kinda like training them for an early death.

But still the jockey did nothing wrong.

Answer 5

Strongly disagree with PETA.

Answer 6

Disagree.  He had nothing to do with her misstep.  What happened was a freak accident, and PETA is just trying to ruin Gabriel's life.

Answer 7

Peta needs to get their heads out of their a--es and butt out of this one. It had nothing to do with the jockey. I remember many years ago there was a race between two horses to see who would win. Ruffian was a Philly,but, for some reason, I can't remember the other horses name. Any way, she was winning and all of a sudden she goes down, hard. She had broken her legs too, She is buried under the flag pole at Belmont. It's so sad what happened to both Ruffian and Eight Belles but, it just happened, it's nobody's fault.

Answer 8

PETA needs to spend more time with the people pitting rabid dogs against each other for money instead of a most unfortunate incident like what happened to Eight Belles...

Answer 9

I think if PETA truly wants to help promote animal welfare, they should fund it.

This is was a very unfortunate event, but they are over-reacting...shocker!

You have to take them for what they are.  they are group that has one goal, and no matter how noble that goal is they take it to an extreme level.  This makes them bias going into any situation, especially ones like this where 1.5-2 horses out of 1000 die during races.  

this is not a crisis nor is it cause for national action.  You'd think more people in our nation would care about a true tragedy like what is occurring in Myanmar.

Answer 10

Need more information

BUT

my initial reaction is that I don't think the jockey did anything wrong.

Answer 11

P.E.T.A., should be shut down, under the RICO act. what an ignorant bunch of Arrogant @$$*$! the jockey wasn't doing anything. it was the slowing down period, after the race. the horse's, take care of that, themselves! this just goes to show everyone, how un-informed P.E.T.A., really is. they just jump in blindly with, absolutely no knowledge of what they are talking about. it's just...oh, look. an animal, is injured. who can We lock up? Please. How dumb do They really want to make themselves look? no wonder, they're not taken very seriously.

Answer 12

I'm with you.  The jockey didn't do anything wrong.  PETA is just looking for their usual moment in the spotlight.  I'm all for keeping the horses safe but PETA obviously doesn't know what they are taling about if they are trying to hold the jockey responsible for this tragic accident.  He just rode her, in the manner instructed by the trainer.  As you said, the trainer would have scratched her if he knew there was anything wrong with her.

Answer 13

Peta is wrong!! I do wish however that they would start breeding stronger horses.

Answer 14

If peta would STFU, and put more effort and passion into saving human lives and the planet the world would be a better place! Feed the starving children! Save the planet! Kill rapists, murderers, and child molesters! After the humans are safe then go back to saving the animals! I love animals but we need to fix us first!

Answer 15

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 16

The jockey did not purposefully break the horse's legs with his own hands, and did absolutely nothing to her but ride her.  It is by no means his fault that she broke his legs, and PETA is just once again showing how little they know about pretty much anything related to animals.  If an animal gets hurt in any way, in any interaction with a human, it is ALWAYS the human's fault, apparently.  Even if someone was riding a horse, and it spooked from some animal on a trail, and it ended up galloping into a dangerous area and tripping, causing the horse to ruin its legs and injure its rider, it would STILL somehow be the person's fault.

I love animals, and I'm all for treating them nicely, and arresting people that abuse them...but this is ridiculous.  Gabriel Saez ran a clean race, and did nothing that could have hurt Eight Belles.

Answer 17

PETA way off base on this one - jockey did nothing wrong.

Answer 18

Definitely disagree!

Mr. Saez did everything right in my opinion, and for PETA to ostracize him is disgusting.  He is a 20 year old boy, leave the kid alone.

Answer 19

Even though I feel the trainer and the jockey did nothing wrong in this instance, I think it would be prudent for both to be suspended pending further investigation anytime there is a catastrophic injury like this.  In most cases there is no blame to be had but we have to be sure.  It would be another way to deter some of the shady dealing that happen at the track.  This is no different than when a pilot is suspended after an iccident in the air or a police officer is suspended after a discharge of their weapon.  This would just create and better series of checks and balances to help keep things on the up and up!

Answer 20

I'm not a fan of Peta. Most of them live in a fairy tale out in left field. These race horses are generally treated top of the line. Peta tries to victimize everything.

Unless it was intended to be the horse's last race, its owners have a lot more riding on it than to blow it all in one race. Most jockeys are compassionate towards their horse, and likely would not push it past the brink if he was aware of a problem. And the trainers future rides on decisions they make every day.

Peta  can stuff it.