Why are race horses euthanized immediately when their ankles are broken ?Why did the race horse get killed?

Question

Why are race horses euthanized immediately when their ankles are broken ?Why did the race horse get killed?

Answer 1

They aren't Euthanized immediately everytime. The only reason they immediately euthanized that horse that broke both of her ankles in the Kentucky Derby is because he broke both of them and couldn't even stand. They figured it was more humane to just put her out of her misery.

Answer 2

A horse with two broken ankles could not possibly recover.  It would involve forcing the horse not to put weight on it's two front legs for months and months.  If you have ever been around a horse, this is nearly impossible.  Unfortunately a terrible accident happened, the veterinarians and owners made the right decision to put their filly down.

As for those who compare a broken horse ankle to a human, as a human we have the ability to be off our feet for an ankle to heal, or use crutches.  A 1200 pound horse doesn't have that luxury.

Answer 3

Because the cost of bringing it back to full health is too high.

The horse would never have been able to race again and the scumbags that raise them see them only as moneymakers.

What a load of c**p that "It would be in pain..its more humane to kill them".

If that were true then any person with a broken leg should be put down too...they are in pain right?

Sad but true.

Answer 4

I think its really stupid that people say that the horse is "brave", and "valiant" in its effort to win. Why anthropomorphize the horse's behavior? The horse could care less about the"win" .These poor animals are just machines to the people who use them for this cruel sport. Idiots.

What would really be humane would be to just abolish the whole practice of horse racing.

Answer 5

if u loved something that much u wouldn't want to see it in much pain

Answer 6

Because a horse cant live with a broken leg because they are constantly on there feet and they cant let their legs heal for that long because they need to be moving. Eight Bells was put down because of her broken ankle, and with her especially being a race horse, she could never let her legs heal

Answer 7

Looking at her picture her eyes she was in shock, the pain is what you can not imagine. my fear is if they try to save her, and they do for a while, next stop will be the kill auctions.  then on to horse slaughter.  many TBs go to slaughter every year, for humans abroad to eat horsemeat.  derby winners do go to horse slaughter.  research Ferdinand, watch is win on youtube.

Answer 8

Re: emta's answer -

That is absolutely untrue. Most of the other posts hit the truth of the matter - generally speaking, horses CANNOT RECOVER from those types of injuries.

Take Ruffian, a case in point. Veterinarians went through 12 hours worth of surgery to try and save the horse, and all was well. But during recovery, Ruffian thrashed around from pain, the confusion of a cast, and panic so badly that the horse not only RE-injured its leg, but injured it far worse than the first time.

A horse does not understand the concept of "sit still darlin' - for about six weeks, ok?"

Barbaro is another case in point - he had surgery on his injury and great care was taken to heal him. He was revived via a "water bath," in which he was submered in a pool of water as the anasthesia wore off so that when he kicked and thrashed, the water would buffer the damage. Unfortunately, that injury as well would lead to his death.

It's very unfortunate that you think it "costs too much" for the owners to try and save them. Please do your research before making a snap judgment like that. Because even if the owners were "too s****. to care," you can bet your bluegrass they'd try and keep the horse alive if only to try and breed the bloodline.

Answer 9

I dunno, but is so mean!

Answer 10

A horse's ankle is much more intricate than a human's.  She would have never walked again, and she would have been in great pain the whole time.  There was nothing else to be done.  Lessor injury might have been treated, as with Barbaro, but obviously she was beyond that point.  A tragedy for sure, but it was for the best.

Answer 11

Because the fools see the horse as no longer a money maker since they cannot race anymore. They don't care about these innocent animals. What is a young horse like this doing in a horse race? This is animal cruelty. They should be charged with this. Ridiculous.

Yea..looks like the jockey was  sad..walking away while she is suffering http://youtube.com/watch?v=mOOzoh1UD2k&f...

Answer 12

because getting them to walk and even RACE again is very unlikely, and they will not be as strong. Therefore, people think there is no point in even trying

Answer 13

Because they don't recover and its very cruel to let animals suffer pain.