action alert: help stop the drugging of racehorses at the triple crown
Each year during Triple Crown, thoroughbreds are made to participate in fiercely competitive races like the Kentucky Derby and the upcoming Belmont Stakes competition. Horse racing has been done for centuries (lame but true), but recently trainers have been exposed for severely drugging horses to help improve their performances. According to this shocking article in The New York Times steroids, Viagra and cobra venom are just some of the performance-enhancing drugs used on the horses to make them stronger and faster, though the dangerous drugs can ultimately cause the animals to perform beyond their ability, resulting in painful injuries, illness and tragic accidents.
This type of abuse for sport is heartbreaking, but there is something you can do. The federal Interstate Horseracing Improvement Act (H.R. 1733/S. 886) addresses this terrifying practice by prohibiting the abusive drugging of racehorses, testing the animals for drugs and imposing tough penalties on those who violate the Act.
This issue is too important to ignore. Contact your representative today and let them know why you support the Interstate Horseracing Improvement Act.
How can we get people to stop supporting the races? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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9 comments
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"I'll have another" to win the Triple Crown 2012!!
Hot rodding horses (using drugs) is not a good thing at all and must be stopped immediately!
Oh and by the way, someone forgot to mention that The Preakness, which is the most exciting of the three races, was on May 19th.........
I'll have another--
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Hello. I just wanted to let you know that not all thoroughbred horse trainers are giving their animals drugs or treating them poorly. My father is a trainer, but an animal lover first and would not do anything to hurt his horses or put them in jeopardy. These animals are bred to run and with a competitive spirit, so racing comes naturally to them. I do not agree with giving them drugs and neither does my father, and he never has. It is sad what happens to some of the horses during races...accidents and injuries which sometimes leads to their death. I know this first hand. That aspect of the sport is something that keeps me from being 100% supportive of it. But to stop horseracing all together would be a tragedy for my hometown, Saratoga Springs..as well as my family, since this business is all they've ever known. I respect and admire you, Alicia, but I think that instead of trying to get people to stop supporting the races, you should ask people to just stop supporting the drugging and the abuse. It can be a wonderful experience for both the horses and the people if those things are eliminated.
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There are tons of Thoroughbred breeding farms around the country. Most horses bred end up as food, shipped in containers abroad with no food and water until the ship arrives at it's destination. If the horse doesn't perform it has a horrific fate waiting. Training often starts at one year with a jockey up before 2 years. Horses bones do not fuse completely until they are 3 years old. So all that is done with weight before then compromises and puts at risk these young animals. I love the triple crown but the way the owners and trainers conduct their business is tragic for the animals. Barbaro, a wonderful horse with a huge heart, was a perfect example of what can, and does happen.
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That's so horrible! I mean it's bad enough that people take steroids for their own sports, but at least it was by their own (bad) decision. But they cant just do that with animals who aren't consenting! :(
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Horseracing has so many negative aspects for the horses; drugging is only one. I was privileged to be given an off-track Thoroughbred 4 years ago, and I could write a book about the healing process he went through to recover from the emotional damage of being trained and raced as a 2 yr. old, as part of a successful racing farm, owned by a wealthy man, one of whose hobbies was horseracing. My horse is very intelligent and very sensitive - and acts tough to try to intimidate people into leaving him alone, since he has such fear of what they will do or make him do next. When I first got him, he developed ulcers from worry that he was going back into training.
Yet, he loves to run - just not in the artificial "set-up" of an official horse race. Each horse is unique, and from my point of view, deserves to be respected for his/her own particular qualities and personality. It is heartbreaking for horse lovers to think about what's going on in the horseracing world. I am glad that some attention is being paid to the problem of drugging, at least. I thank everyone who cares about horses.
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This is heartbreaking. Why humans need to torture animals for sport is beyond me. It is sad that so many still have not learned to respect all creatures even if they cannot stand up for themselves.
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