What do you guys think of the on-track euthanization of Eight Belles (name sp??)?

Question

I think it's horrible. Sure, it woulda been painful, but to kill it? Come on. I think that just shows that the owner didn't care about the animal, just the game and the money.

What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

It's not that the owners didn't care.  When a horse breaks a leg, it's not like when people break their leg.  Yes, it's painful for both.  However, you can put a person in bed to recover for 6 weeks.  But a horse, has to stand.  If it lies down for too long, it cuts off blood circulation and stops the organs from functioning properly.  You can sling a horse up, but it creates the same problems if you do it for too long.  A horse must stand under their own power.  And when they stand, they must evenly distribute their weight.  a horse puts 70% of its weight on its front legs.  If a horse breaks one of their front legs, they can stand more on their other front leg and their back legs.  But for Eight Belles, she broke both of her front legs.  she needs to put 70% of her weight on those legs... that's at least 700 pounds.  that's just enormously painful.  And if they did try to fix her front legs, it's almost certain that she'd end up getting laminitis in her back legs... that's the disease Barbaro died of.  When a horse unevenly distributes their weight, it affects the bones in their legs and there's a bone in the hoof that can actually move and if it gets bad enough, it will poke all the way through the bottom of the hoof.  Also, the vet reports that she had ripped open the skin in one of the legs and the bones were poking out.  That makes the injury even more serious because it lets in infection.  Barbaro was kept alive because there were 2 good things about his injury: it was a hind leg (they only hold 30% of their weight on their hind legs) and he didn't break any skin so there was no infection.  With 2 front broken legs, if they tried to keep Eight Belles alive, it's almost certain she'd be dead within the month anyway... and to keep her alive for a month standing on broken legs... it would torturing her... she deserves better than that.  She had to be euthanized... there was no choice.

Answer 2

The horse would never have recovered.  They're constantly standing.  You can't put them on bed rest (unless they're highly sedated).  Plus, they usually suffer from infections that end up in euthanization anyway (which is why we shouldn't be racing a type of horse that has such weak ankles, especially at 2 years old!).  I'm glad they did it as quickly as possible, considering the injury.

Answer 3

I think you should have a clue about what you're talking about.  The owner cared greatly and that's why Eight Belles was euthanized.  Can you tell me what would've happened had they not?  

You obviously don't know ANYTHING about horses therefore your opinions are null and void.

Answer 4

barbaro had one broken ankle

they tried to save her but she died

two bad ankles is so much worse

its sad

but they didnt want to suffer

Answer 5

A horse can't survive two broken legs. Period. Most horses can't survive on 3 broken legs - see: Barbaro. And you want to talk money? It likely cost Barbaro's owners upwards of a million to TRY to save him.

What the owners did was the only option, and was a humane thing to do. This was not about money at all, because NO amount of money would have fixed that horse.

Answer 6

Broken bones in horses can be fixed.  I have a horse that broke a cannon bone 22 years ago and is doing just fine at 25.

However, many breaks are not fixable.  In this case, it was compound fractures of BOTH ankles, with bone actually shredding through the skin on at least one ankle.  This, because of the dirt in the wound, guarantees an infection along with the immensely difficult, and painful injury itself, and the chance of any meaningful life for the horse is about zero.  And the pain would be incredible for her.

Horses can even survive the amputation of ONE leg, sometimes.  There are  a number of horses walking around fine on artificlal legs.  Two massive ankle injuries, however, can rarely, if ever, be dealt with.

Horses don't have to recover "on their side," like some say, but are often "slung" and exercised in water in the meantime.  Some horses will put up with this, some will not.  However, that wasn't an option in this case anyhow, any more than two artificial legs were.

They did just the right thing, for the horse, and they did it quickly.  My hat is off to them.  A less caring owner would have diddled around, called in other vet consultants, and tried to save his unbelievably valuable horse (after 2nd in the derby) ... all at the expense of the horse.

No, it was unavoidable, and the owners did the right thing for Eight Belles -- and bless them for that.

Answer 7

It was impossible to even attempt to get the horse off the track let alone heal it. What do you think they should of done? Roll it on it's back for 3 months with its legs in casts?

Answer 8

Well, I think that it was the most humane thing to do at the time. As for how she got to that point is a whole 'nother issue.

It could have been done to prevent suffering, or the owners did not have enough money or care to go through what it takes to heal a horse with this type of injury.

Trying to help her may have made her suffer more, especially since she had a compound fracture (bone broken through skin) so that the risk of infection was too great.

Either way she was a beauty and I will never forget her, nor will I watch another horse race.

I do hope she gets the "press" she deserves and I hope it makes a difference in the lives of noble creatures who do not get a say in these matters, or get to live the natural lives they were meant to have.

I do not, also see the day when humans will rise to the nobility of animals and live without malice.

Answer 9

I think you are ignorant.  What happened today surely broke the heart of the owner of that horse.  How can you be so stupid?  These people love their horses.  The vet said there was no other way....she could not have gotten up, both her ankles were broken.  I can't imagine the pain of that poor animal.  Instead of being so heartless, say a prayer of comfort for those that just lost the beautiful Eight Belles.

Answer 10

First of all SHE, was a HORSE, not an IT! That said, she was better off dead, and that may have been the one and only nice thing that her owners did for her. Her injuries were horrendous. Horses are an animal which spends 90% of their lives on their feet, keeping her alive would have been of no benefit to her, it would have only served her owners to harvest a few foals from her. Don't believe me? Look up the 2006 Derby winner and read HIS story. I warn you, it wasn't pretty, and didn't end well. You are correct, horse racing is all about the money, very few of the owners are in it because they care about the horses. I am certain that there are many wonderful people who spend their days in the company of these beautiful creatures who do truly care about horses, sadly, not enough of them are willing to say "STOP IT!" Are you aware that racing a two year old horse is the equivilant of taking a two year old human on a top speed 3 mile forced road march with a five pound weight on their back? Horses are not fully developed until they are 4 or 5. Race horses are dead or useless by then. It is horrible, please, if you really care, look into how horrible it really is, and see what you can do to stop it!

Answer 11

The owner cared about the filly enough to do right by her and put her out of her pain instead of subjecting her to months of horrifically painful recovery which, in her case, was impossible to even attempt due to the catastrophic nature of her injuries. It's not like this great horse had a scratch and the owners were too cheap to buy her a bandage...there is simply no way to repair injuries such as this. Sad but true...these owners could have easily afforded to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into attempting to save her life, but in this case the money was not the issue and the kindest thing to do was put her down. It is a shame, as she certainly proved she had the heart to beat the boys today!

Answer 12

Her injuries were too severe to move her off the track.  Euthanasia was the proper decision.  Eight Belles would have never recovered from her injuries.  Breaking one ankle would have been bad enough, but breaking two is, according to veterinarians, "practically unheard of."

Answer 13

It has been shown for years that a horse cannot be cared for after a break in it's leg, let alone two.  A horse is 1,200 lbs, must eat standing up, and requires standing up for it's proper digestion and circulatory system.

It has been a fact for centuries that a horse cannot survive with a broken limb.  It is really sad for such a beautiful and majestic animal to have such a genetic 'fault'.

Answer 14

I think people have pretty much said it all.  It's not that they didn't want to do anything, it's that it would've been so much worse for her if they even attempted it.  The bone was protruding out her ankle, any good owner, even one with all the money in the world wouldn't let her suffer like that.

Answer 15

The owner had more to lose by allowing the animal to be euthanized. The horse could have won future races bringing in lots more money. Breaking both front legs leaves the horse unable to stand making it impossible to heal itself. Very sad ending for a majestic filly...

Answer 16

She wouldn't have recovered. The bones were protrudiong out of her legs.