Video on ESPN.com about horse slaughter

There is a compelling video on ESPN.com that was posted 6-9-09. It is about the ongoing problem of horse slaughter of American thoroughbreds in Japan. (It is tough to watch, but I feel it should be more widely distributed.) Just Google ESPN.com and put "horse slaughter" in the search box. Trainer Nick Zito's wife is very active in trying to get trainers and owners to contact rescue groups for help in taking unwanted horses, instead of just discarding them to a kill pen.

Please don't stop posting on the Memorial Wall. I'm merely a private citizen who LOVES horses. It is upsetting to see these magnificient creatures used as game pieces in the human quest for the easy buck. I kind of give a silent cheer when I hear of a race track closing down. But when a place like Hollywood Park gets the wrecking ball, 3 more sub-standard tracks with casinos pop up. At least at places like Hollywood Park or Santa Anita or even Belmont, these horses stand a better chance of adequate care.

Of course, the solution to the problem is to stop breeding so many thoroughbreds. I wish the Jockey Club would institute more stringent rules surrounding the actual birth and raising of foals. (We think slaughter of older horses is bad; how about all the foals that are killed so a nurse mare can take over for a thoroughbred mare who has just had her own foal ripped away from her...all so she can be sent away to be immediately re-bred.) Not many folks know about this dirty little secret of the thoroughbred industry. They envision gleaming mares running across Kentucky blue grass with their young foals by their sides. The more valuable a mare is, the less likey that she gets to keep her foal. I feel there should be a ruling that a mare can only be bred every other year. Yeah, it would cut into profits, but it would also help to stabilize the glut of unwanted race horses. Something is wrong when 75% of all thoroughbreds eventually go to slaughter!

I'm not saying that thoroughbred racing should go away all together. But I feel that it should be better regulated.

Pam