Daily Mail, the slaughtering of racehorses.

i agree with what mike hancock says in the report, BARBARIC WASTE

if there is a god what could he be thinking about mankind? given this wonderful world and these beautiful creatures, if there is any justice in heaven there is a debt to be paid.

recently in a radio programme featuring a livery yard, eventing, the owner said that some of the livery owners had sold their houses to fund keeping their horses and lived in mobile homes, i wonder what the owners of some of the horses slaughtered in the tb world have sacrificed to keep their horses, i have sold my house and moved three times to fund my animals and think 'if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen' and suggest that these racehorse owners should get out and stay out, there is no place for them in the world of horses, they should buy a bike instead
 
but no one notices the thousands of cattle slaughtered evey month !
copied from DEFRA
UK Slaughter Statistics - January 2011
UK - The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on UK slaughterings show that the number of cattle slaughtered in December 2010, remained consistent with 2009 data.


Key points
Cattle: UK prime cattle slaughterings for December 2010 were 189,000 head with beef and veal production at 83,000 tonnes.
Pigs: UK clean pig slaughterings for December 2010 were 896,000 head with pig meat production at 72,000 tonnes.
Note that December 2010 is a five-week statistical month and therefore data are not comparable with December 2009
http://www.thebeefsite.com/news/33318/uk-slaughter-statistics-january-2011
 
Horse racing isn't like pet horse ownership - it's a business to those in it - so no, I think you can bet your bottom dollar that no trainer or owner is going to sell their house, in order to preserve the life of one racehorse. Or ten. Or fifty.

They go off to Potters, they get a humane end. There are only so many homes wanting TBs (I dont think I'd want one, even if one were given to me!) and only so much space in UK rescue - so humane slaughter is the very best option for them.
 
Serena Miller witnessed what happens at Turners: 'I went in pretending to be a racehorse owner and was given a tour of the slaughterhouse by Valerie Turner, the owner's wife,' she says.
'There were some very young thoroughbreds waiting to be killed. They were just babies. Shots were going off all the time, and they were petrified.
'They were shaking, weeing themselves, eating each others' necks. Their eyes were wild, they were wet with sweat and there was a stink of blood. I asked how long they had been there for, and I was told a week.
'A week waiting in terror to be shot. It was a sorry sight. I was told that their trainer had dropped them off on the way to the races.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-food-French-dinner-plates.html#ixzz1IxLhxwmP
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This is really sad!
 
Yes but we eat cows, pigs and sheep. They are bred for that purpose. However horses are, not in this Country, bred for the meat trade even though some end up there. Much better to end at Potters but the question should be asked of the breeders to cut back. If there was not so much surplus of horses then the prices would go up not plummet to where its meat value is worth more than feeding it. I for one have noticed how much the price of food has shot up over the last few weeks so for large studs which normally retain these youngsters for the Autumn/Spring sales it is now cost efective not to keep them
 
I can't bear to read it - everyone who goes near the racehorse industry knows it is a very brutal one.

The problem is that all the breeders, vets and trainers have to encourage a high volume of horses through as their jobs rely on it (the same with the dressage and jumping world).

If there was a cull of breeders, vets and trainers then they could breed more for quality than quantity.
 
It is the darker side of the racing industry.

I'm not against racing, far from it, but I think it is disgraceful how little responsibility is taken for the thousands of unwanted that pass out of racing each year.

A bullet is the least of these horses worries really. Far worse are those who are purchased by ignorant novices who can't care for them and end up in an ever worsening cycle of neglect and abuse being passed from home to home.

The wastage is just horrifying though, and there is no excuse for it.

It costs so many thousands to buy a potential winner, and thousands a year to keep a racehorse in training - how is it that these wealthy owners are not willing to commit to a few hundred extra at the end of a horses' career to retrain it as a riding horse and give it a better chance at a future? Saying they cannot afford it is bull***** really - I bet they can afford to buy their next hopeful.
 
Do you know what? This brings tears to my eyes and makes me choke on air. Mine and my mums ex-racers are the kindest most generous horses. My mums has been placed every time out BD with BD points, mine does a beautiful test also and will jump absolutly anything and both have endless ability. We spend hours every day enjoying them, hacking, taking care of them, doing all the RC teams on them ect. Our boys don't know how lucky they are! They knock socks off most horses. That is what is SO upsetting, the waste of these beautiful creatures.

As sad and horrific I find it unfortunately that's life :(. Heaven and hell exist on earth it's just the way it is. Like chinese baby girls being killed/aborted/put up for adoption because their familys cant afford them. Hell is everywhere if you look. Regarding ex-racers what else are they meant to do with them? They shouldn't breed so many in the first place agreed and it's expensive to breed a racehorse! Tons of money has already been wasted/thrown at these animals just in creating them.

I think the re-homing charities do an amazing job and maybe this article will help make people aware of this problem and support the charities ect. The silly thing is many of these horses could give so much pleasure to someone.
 
This topic really wont go away, will it? Perhaps it shouldn't.

brigantia, I wasn't there when Serena Miller visited Turners, so I'm not in a position to argue with her. What I will tell you, is this. The experienced British slaughtermen, who I've worked with, and this would certainly apply to the equine side of the industry, are decent, caring and skilled tradesmen.

The idea that horses are shot, within sight or sound of their companions is nonsense. A stressed animal is going to be difficult, and probably dangerous, to deal with. All those slaughtermen, who I've worked with, will always prefer a relaxed and stress free environment. OK, so they don't have Brahms' lullabys, piped through their music system, but they all work in an atmosphere which is as calm as is possible.

The question of over producing race horses, is sorting itself out. It isn't viable to breed from the lesser mares, and they are quite rightly, in my view, being sent off for slaughter. Better that, than standing in a fly infested nettle patch, in the summer, or a bog in the winter, and enduring that for the rest of their lives.

Cattle and sheep have a comparatively easy life. When their time has come, then they meet the slaughterman. It's such a shame that we don't treat horses, in the same fashion.

Alec.
 
I didn't get past that first picture, frankly I don't think I want to know the full story. It's absolutely tragic.

I've been a vegetarian my entire life, so I guess I come at the whole slaughter for meat debate from a different angle to some. I was shocked to see that Cash King, a successful Grand National horse, narrowly escaped slaughter!

Something desperately needs to be done about over-breeding if there aren't enough homes for these poor horses.
 
I'm afraid people need to get real and face up to the harsh realities of life. As the article said, there are thousands of TB's bred for racing that either never make it into training, or need to be taken out of racing / training.

Can any of you who are against slaughter please tell me what we are to do with 10,000 TB's a YEAR?
 
I think the issue is that there shouldn't be that many horses bred in the first place if they are not needed. I understand that some horses are not suitable for racing and have to be taken out of it, and there's a problem in trying to find homes for them...but slaughter on this scale seems entirely unnecessary.

Yes life is harsh and that may be the way it is, but this is something I'll never be able to condone.
 
Alec, I hope you are right. But if what the journalist wrote was factual, then it is very sad.

The irony is that this is a multibillion pound industry. If there could be a tax on the winnings and the ticket sales for high profile events like Ascot and even profits from the betting industry that could be channeled into retraining race horses, that might make a difference. As it stands, it seems such a waste of an animal, especially the foals being slaughtered so the breeders don't have to pay the stud fees.

This country really needs it's own Fugly Blog to name and shame the worst offenders. I hear the libel laws are being reformed, so maybe it is a possibility. :cool:
 
A truth as this is, it has been going on for as long as there has been breeding of horses. It is a very sad fact that they have to be bred in the first place if the liklihood is that they will simply end up being euthanised.
I spoke to a local fallen stock collector a couple of weeks ago who said the dumping of dead horses has risen sharply. I personally know of one individual who shot six horses in plain site of a main road and a number of witnesses. They were not licensed or trained in this and needless to say it did not all go quite to plan, I will spare the details.
I would rather people have their horses euthanised properly than left to either be neglected or to end up like the poor horses I previously mentioned.
 
Alec Swan said:
This topic really wont go away, will it? Perhaps it shouldn't.

brigantia, I wasn't there when Serena Miller visited Turners, so I'm not in a position to argue with her. What I will tell you, is this. The experienced British slaughtermen, who I've worked with, and this would certainly apply to the equine side of the industry, are decent, caring and skilled tradesmen.

The idea that horses are shot, within sight or sound of their companions is nonsense. A stressed animal is going to be difficult, and probably dangerous, to deal with. All those slaughtermen, who I've worked with, will always prefer a relaxed and stress free environment. OK, so they don't have Brahms' lullabys, piped through their music system, but they all work in an atmosphere which is as calm as is possible.

The question of over producing race horses, is sorting itself out. It isn't viable to breed from the lesser mares, and they are quite rightly, in my view, being sent off for slaughter. Better that, than standing in a fly infested nettle patch, in the summer, or a bog in the winter, and enduring that for the rest of their lives.

Cattle and sheep have a comparatively easy life. When their time has come, then they meet the slaughterman. It's such a shame that we don't treat horses, in the same fashion.

Alec.
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Here here
 
I found the article typical daily mail sensationlism and as per usual doubtful in its correctness.

Do not get me wrong I am totally against the waistage in the racing industry but I cannot see unfortunatly it ever being stopped or even slowed there is too much money involved but the picture the daily mail paints of the horses that have been there a week, peeing with fear chewing each others necks in their terror listening to gun shot after gun shot is ridiculous!
Off course some of them were peeing they had been stabled for a week! My horses also chew each others necks if in a barn together are they terrified too or is it just horses social bonding?

If the horses had been there a week and were subjected to all that gunfire by now most of them would be rather used to it and ignore it!

I also agree with turners was it that a quick painless sudden death is better than being subjected to years of neglect by someone inapprorpiate buying them as they were cheap!

Threads like this certainly bring out the bunny huggers and yes I do have an ex racehorse in my stables.
There are worse things than death!
 
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having taken numerous horses to Turners over the years, that description is NOTHING like what I have witnessed, and it makes me very frustrated that people perceive slaughterhouses to be cruel barbaric places.

And as for the racing industry, yes, it has high wastage levels, but a lot of trainers are doing a lot more to make sure horses coming out of training have good homes, & IMO the problem does not lie with them, instead it lies with the nature of breeding racehorses.... we breed them on a small scale, & have been very lucky to breed a winning one, but for every winning racehorse there are plenty that just don't gallop fast enough, unfortunately you can't tell if a horse is going to be any good until it gets onto a racecourse, you can have a good idea, but you don't know for certain, and what do you do with those who aren't fast enough? IMO it's far more responsible to destroy them than sell them to the wrong person.... as much as i love TB's & think they are the ultimate sports horse, they will never be everyone's cup of tea. it is a cruel world, but it's far crueller to allow a horse to be neglected & mistreated because it's too much for the owner.

FYI.... the 3yo we have, who showed no interest in racing at 2 has come home & will be evented or P2Ped once he gets to 4/5.... but not every breeder can take their own 'waste' & turn it out as something else....

Articles in the Daily Mail will never portray the real story
 
Thank the Gods someone has the balls to do to horses what, if only a few more would accept is part of horse ownership and get on with, would stop THOUSANDS of horses from suffering!

Normal horse owners would rather bute up and pretend there is nothing wrong with their animals who are in pain, whilst thousands of healthy animals are shot.

The real criminals are the bunny huggers allergic to putting down unhealthy horses. Racehorses suffer for THEM, and THEIR flooding of the horse industry with sickly, lame and often poorly bred animals.

Racehorse owners are the good guys as far as I'm concerned!!
 
Lynette said:
Yes but we eat cows, pigs and sheep. They are bred for that purpose. However horses are, not in this Country, bred for the meat trade even though some end up there. Much better to end at Potters but the question should be asked of the breeders to cut back. If there was not so much surplus of horses then the prices would go up not plummet to where its meat value is worth more than feeding it. I for one have noticed how much the price of food has shot up over the last few weeks so for large studs which normally retain these youngsters for the Autumn/Spring sales it is now cost efective not to keep them
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Unless you're eating a load of veal there's a lot of male dairy calves being slaughtered for no purpose...
 
if racehorses were broken older and learned such simple things like cantering on a given leading leg on demand and some basic schooling it would not only enhance their performance on the racetrack but go a long way to open up possibilites of a career after racing, also may reduced accidents and certain injuries due to the stress of performing whilst totally unbalanced and unsufficiently gymnastically fit for purpose, but then that would call for trainers who actually know something about training horses and would involve such time wasting activities as lunging proper, i fervently believe that no horse should be expected to compete in any competive sphere without a decent education, and in the case of the horse that involves taking the horse as far as physical straightness, the most basic necessity to deliver athletic responses.
the people breeding inferior racehorses must face the fact that they are simply out of their league and do not have talent required.
what a pity that these healthy horses who are being killed never have the chance to show their true potential, while people flock to the continent to buy horses when quite probably some outstanding tb horses are being killed for meat if only they had been given a chance.
i've met tbs that could'nt even lead at three years, another sent to a racing yard for breaking was backed after 5 days, what do these folk really know?
 
Absolutely dreadful, this is one of the (many) things i HATE about the racing industry, if you can' afford it then why breed the flaming foal in the first place.

What really brings it home, is that could so easily of been my Major, and that really makes you think.
 
nothing wrong with putting an animal down in humane circumstances. sadly i have been to potters and turners. all professional and as stress free as possible. i would rather a horse is put down than end up underfed, feet neglected, owned by an idiot who doesnt feed the horse etc etc etc etc. or shipped live to the continent, or trawl round the auctions. but my choice if i have to make the choice is to have put down at home whilst eating a bowl of nuts! many racehorses could be put down at home/yard. the choices are for the owner and the trainer to make.
 
Not saying that its not still happening, but that article is from 2009!
There are worse thing that can happens to ex racers than being slaughtered. Like the one given to a teenage girl locally by its owner virtually straight out of training. Chucked in the field by someone who had no idea how to care for it, ended up being reported to the RSPCA last month and is now being monitored by them, apparently poor lad was so poor RSPCA had stated that the only reason they didn't seize him was that a vet had seem him within the last month, allegedly.
 
racehorses backed at 2 are taught to canter on the correct leg, at least ours (& plenty of others are), yes they might not do a dressage test, but they are taught basic walk/trot/canter, they hack out & they aren't ragged about.

backing racehorses at 2 is not a shockingly horrendous thing, plenty of research has shown that controlled exercise at a young age strengthens bone development, & there are figures out there that showed that horses racing at 2 & 3 had a lower incidence of break down (can't remember what type of Injury though) compared to 4yo making their racing debut in a national hunt flat race.

while i fully support ROR & all the other racehorse retraining organisations, one small criticism is that while lots of people are now far more aware of the wonders of the modern TB, there is a perception that racehorses are crooked, unschooled & wayward, which is very different from the reality. its like taking a grade A SJer and then assuming it knows all the aids for GP dressage.... different buttons mean different things, but both are very well schooled horses.

it narks me that the racing industry gets given a bad name because some people buy racehorses to re-school, without knowing about how racehorses actually ride.
 
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