Animal Competition?

Question

Do you believe there should be a complete ban of all sports that involve competition between animals, such as horse racing and dog racing?

I think the Eight Bell tragedy highlights the need for serious reform.

Answer 1

I don't think we should ban them, but I definetly think we should be more cautious & careful.

Answer 2

Hi Hala, Yes I think there should be a complete ban, the industries ars so full of cruelty.  I know some are well cared for but it is the minority rather than the majority.  Years ago I used to bet on the Grand National, until I looked into what really happens in racing.

The animals are just looked at as "money pots" so once again animals are suffering because of the greed of humans!

Unfortunately I have family that are involved in these so called sports, so my information is not just from the internet.

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGN... -

Horse Racing



Most people regard horse racing as a harmless sport in which the animals are willing participants who thoroughly enjoy the thrill. The truth is that, behind the scenes, lies a story of immense suffering.

Approximately 18,000 foals are born into the closely-related British and Irish racing industries each year, yet only around 40% go on to become racers. Those horses who do not make the grade may be slaughtered for meat or repeatedly change hands in a downward spiral of neglect. Of those horses who do go on to race, around 400 are raced to death every year.

Beneath its glamorous façade, commercial horse racing is a ruthless industry motivated by financial gain and prestige. Cruelty? You can bet on it!

http://www.horseracingkills.org - 110k -

http://www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/igreyh... -

YOU BET THEY DIE...

All the information below is either based on figures produced by the greyhound racing industry itself or on statements made by individuals who have worked either in the industry or in greyhound rescue.

"Running for their lives"

A short video about the greyhound situation by KAREN CHERRINGTON

Tens of thousands of dogs are disposed of every year by the British greyhound racing industry - because they fail to make the grade as racers or when their racing days are over.

About 25,000 greyhound pups are registered every year in the British Isles. The number bred is actually many thousands more than this,when taking into account pups that never get registered and those killed by breeders at a very young age.

Although most of these dogs are bred in Ireland, the majority are produced to supply the demands of the British greyhound racing industry.

Thousands of greyhound pups and young dogs are put to death because they fail to reach racing standards. We estimate that over 10,000 are killed annually in the British Isles.

Dogs which actually make it to the track are very likely to experience suffering during their racing careers. It has been estimated that greyhounds running on British tracks sustain more than 12,000 injuries every year and that 10% of dogs that race are already suffering from injuries. Injured toes, torn muscles, strained tendons and arthritic joints are commonplace.

At least 10,000 greyhounds “retire” from racing in Britain every year, at an average age of just 2½ years old. This is either because of injury or because they are adjudged to be no longer good enough to race.

Very few of these dogs manage to find good homes. This is hardly surprising, given a situation where many thousands of ordinary dogs are put to sleep every year because no homes are available for them.

The British greyhound racing industry has admitted that 500 - 1,000 retired greyhounds are put to death every year. This alone would be enough to justify a ban on greyhound racing, but the true figure for retired dogs killed is, sadly, far, far higher. Quite possibly as many as 6,000.

Many ex-racing greyhounds are simply abandoned and a large number are killed, sometimes by extremely cruel methods such as drowning or poisoning, because some owners and trainers are not prepared to pay the cost of having them put to sleep by a vet.

We are receiving an increasing number of reports of trainers shooting dogs when their racing days are over.

We don’t wish to suggest that everyone involved in greyhound racing is cruel or insensitive. There are some “owners” and trainers who love their dogs and take good care of them for the whole of their natural lives. But this only applies to a small minority of the thousands of dogs which enter racing, and thousands more are put to death before even reaching that stage.

Every year many hundreds of "unwanted" greyhounds are shipped to Spain (click here for more info on greyhounds in Spain) to be kept for racing in appalling conditions or used for hunting and coursing. Dogs which turn out to be no good for hunting are often brutally disposed of, with hanging being a favourite method.

The only way to prevent the massive suffering and killing of greyhounds caused by the greyhound racing industry is for greyhound racing to be abolished.

It is interesting to note that this has already happened in the USA, where six states have banned greyhound racing since 1993. In the meantime it is important that people avoid attending or betting on greyhound racing, so that it gradually comes to an end through lack of finance and support.

Answer 3

Definitely, it's barbaric.

Animals are not ours for entertainment, food, clothes, or experiments, they are their own entity and are here for their own purpose. I truly believe, not in our lifetime, but one day humankind will evolve to believe these things.

Answer 4

no, they shouldnt be banned, but horse racing does need to be changed. the horses are way to young! they are raced as early as two years of age. their bones have not developed yet. they are fully developed when they are five. the horses in the kentucky derby have to be three years or younger. i do not know much about dog racing, but i have worked with horses for a pretty long time now, and i think that racing three year olds is plane stupid!!!

Answer 5

Yes agree there should be a complete ban of all sports that involve competition between animals. I would go further and state we should ban all sports that involve animals too.

Answer 6

Horses and dogs like to run, and they sometimes run together or even race each other. We should never force them to race so we can watch. That is like pornography.

Answer 7

I think there needs to be a huge fine imposed when an animal is injured or killed in a sport like horse or dog racing. Dogs and horses both like to run, but should never be driven past their capabilities just so someone can win a race.

Answer 8

Yes, as simple as that.

Answer 9

Yes.  Ban all that c**p.  There will always be problems as long we continue to "regulate" those types of industries. Regulation seems to always slip through the cracks.  Horses and dogs are not meant to be muzzled, and bridled.  Nor are they meant to be beast of burden.

Edit- I believe in liberation not welfare. That will get me many thumbs down but I do not care.

Answer 10

You can go ahead and ban it, but then there will be underground racing. Then they can do all sorts of things and get away with it. Best that you can do is monitor it, and maybe some more laws to regulate the animal cruelty part of it (make it mandatory that all horses be treated fairly). You will also need to hire more inspectors then to make sure the laws are enforced (which is sadly the case now, with so few inspectors and not enough enforcement).

When people stop going to the horse/dog racing, then you will see a natural stop to the competition between animals. Supply and demand. Demand goes away, supply goes away.

Answer 11

i think it's important to differentiate between thoroughbred racing (like eight belles) and harness racing (standardbred).  in thoroughbred racing horses only train about 1/8 of a mile a day, when harness racing horses train several miles a day to ensure that their legs build up enough muscle to handle the high speeds at which they race.  

thoroughbred racing uses jockeys who sit directly on top of the horse, so if the pressure on the horse is too great the horse can do nothing to relieve this pressure and it is possible for their legs to break under the weight, as seen in the kentucky derby.  

harness racing uses sulkeys that trail behind the horse and are attached to the horse by a harness.  in this type of racing if the horse is under too much strain they will simply slow down and it alleviates the weight and strain (this is called "breaking").  

the biggest problem in horse racing is owners who don't care about the safety of their animals.  many owners and trainers will request various injections into the joints of the horses before the races to alleviate pain so the horse will continue to run even though they are injured.  a good vet will refuse to do this....but some are not above it.  all horses have to be cleared by a veterinarian before racing, but not all vets will hold horses to the same standard and many owners don't even bother to use a vet that specializes in equine sports medicine or lameness.......

standardbred horses are bred to have thicker legs and sturdier builds.....thoroughbred horses are bred to be light and agile.

horses by nature enjoy running at high speeds, and the health of many of the world's top horses is amazing.  not all racing is bad.....but there are some bad instances that make the whole world of racing look like an accident prone freak show.  eight bell is a sad example of thoroughbred racing that is great evidence for the argument that harness racing is the more humane of the two.  

just to dispel another myth:  the horses in harness racing are not hit with a whip like thoroughbreds.....the whip is hit against the sulkey (the car that the driver rides on).

EDIT:  the 1/8 of a mile is referring to the amount of the track they will have them travel daily going at their top speed.  most trainers will keep them only at a moderate speed for the huge majority of training which unfortunately does not represent the real stresses placed on a horse when racing at longer distances.

EDIT: regardless of how little or how much they train, they are bred differently and are less sturdy than harness horses.  the way they are raced also gives them an inability to remove pressure/weight/strain/etc. during their race.  whether they train for 5 miles a day or for 1/8, the comparison between harness racing and thoroughbred racing is a weak one.  my family has been racing horses since the 70's and we have never once had a track accident that was so severe that the horse had to be put down.

EDIT:  I agree with Charlie H......there should definitely be large fines imposed on those who race an animal beyond it's natural capability.  If a horse is seriously injured in a race it is the fault of the owner(s), trainer(s), and possibly the veterinarian depending on the thoroughness of the pre-race exams performed.  It is not the fault of the sport....obviously many horses are raced to no ill effect....when there is an accident in racing it's because someone wasn't doing their job correctly.

btw:  sorry i didn't comment on greyhound racing, i just don't know anything about that.....i've grown up around harness racing but haven't ever seen a dog race.

Answer 12

Animal competition is a cruelty on animals. It is a barbaric act. It should not only be banned, but also be a heavily punishable crime.

Answer 13

No. I think it should be regulated more though. Steroids should definitely be banned from use with race horses. A lot of people in the industry already believe that and those that use it say that if it's made illegal, they will stop using it. But for now, it's still legal.

Along that line of thinking you'd have to ban them from being used in movies and TV or used as police dogs as they are often injured (or even killed) in those industries as well.

EDIT: The race horse is rock solid muscle and the riding crop

is not painful, especially through a horse's thick hide against rock solid muscle.

"Does whipping a horse when riding a race finish hurt?

For the most part a few smacks is not going to hurt (not that I would really know). Horses are generally pretty thick-skinned. That being said over use (and thus abuse) of the whip does neither the horse or the rider / jockey any good. There are rules to how many times a jockey can hit a horse, and how a jockey can hit a horse. A horse that is left a mark on the skin certainly would have felt the whip, but most times the jockey's use won't leave a mark (a mark = slight swelling, no blood)."

http://www.timwoolleyracing.com/news/200...

Thoroughbred horse workouts are more than 1/8th of a mile. Thoroughbreds would not be race conditioned that way. The workout a variety of furlongs.

The horses don't run full speed an entire race either. Workouts are timed and they are run at increments reflecting the various lengths of races and are documented across the internet and in racing forms everywhere.

http://www.drf.com/workouts/20/wAQU20.ht...

http://www.drf.com/workouts/18/wBM18.htm...

http://www.drf.com/workouts/windex.html

Answer 14

i dont like the horses being whipped and then they advertise to stop animal cruelty yet on the same channel, they have the horse racing. I know its to make them go faster but cant they just have a race without them being whipped?!?