tristar
Well-Known Member
i`ve seen that, one of images that stuck in my mind
Panorama tonight - racing industry and slaughterhouses
- Thread starter Marigold4
- Start date
i`ve seen that, one of images that stuck in my mind
tristar
Well-Known Member
governing body
Crazy_cat_lady
Well-Known Member
Racehorse owners, trainers and the betting industry need to be held to greater account for when the products of their entertainment are too old or not good enough to keep provided their entertainment
More funding should go into creating/ helping retraining centres/ sanctuaries for them. Those who are too mental/unable to be physical repaired should be quietly pts at home.
I know there are decent trainers and owners out there, and I love the retired racehorses fb group, but more should be done to punish those who just discard them when they aren't good enough....
I also think they race too young, and while I watch racing, despite the safety improvements there are still too many fatalities, the number of broken back legs on the flat this jumps season was shocking
Also, I think there are too many horse in the industry. Look at Aiden O'Briens yard for example - multiple beautifully bred horses are "sacrificed" as pacemakers, leaving them no chance of winning a race, what happens to them then given they have no future at stud? Thrown away? Or is time taken to try and find them new homes? What about the big owners like Gigginstown who have so many horses what happens to them?
Is Godolphin the only big owner who have set up a retraining programme? More big owners should have to do this.
More funding should go into creating/ helping retraining centres/ sanctuaries for them. Those who are too mental/unable to be physical repaired should be quietly pts at home.
I know there are decent trainers and owners out there, and I love the retired racehorses fb group, but more should be done to punish those who just discard them when they aren't good enough....
I also think they race too young, and while I watch racing, despite the safety improvements there are still too many fatalities, the number of broken back legs on the flat this jumps season was shocking
Also, I think there are too many horse in the industry. Look at Aiden O'Briens yard for example - multiple beautifully bred horses are "sacrificed" as pacemakers, leaving them no chance of winning a race, what happens to them then given they have no future at stud? Thrown away? Or is time taken to try and find them new homes? What about the big owners like Gigginstown who have so many horses what happens to them?
Is Godolphin the only big owner who have set up a retraining programme? More big owners should have to do this.
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ester
Not slacking multitasking
Apparently the trainer/owner were getting a lot of negative about it re. the horse had won a lot of money and that it shouldn't be going through auction at all. I will try and find it again. I think someone else had offered a suitable home and it was overlooked to send it to auction instead.
honetpot
Well-Known Member
Young TB's out of training are about the only horses in this country that have a clean passport, so fit for humane consumption, anything else goes for rendering. I think its down to economics, perhaps £300 on the hoof( not sure of currant prices) or having to pay for disposal, which really when you think what is paid to produce and keep these young horses is a drop in the ocean. It's been going on for years and for all the PR, that many of these horses are retrained, probably only a small percentage, will be suitable. If there was a will to stop this, the Jockey Club could push for further controls, like the non-breeding,non- racing passport, that it's signed out of the food chain, and had a premium paid for 'home' euthanasia.
ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
I don't have any issue with unwanted horses being put down humanely but I do have big misgivings over an industry that breeds horses by the thousands knowing full well how many will be slaughtered when still young and healthy.
I think at some point in the future (but not soon) society will insist that we have no right to treat animals like this if the primary purpose is to provide entertainment for humans.
Meanwhile, I respect how much employment the industry creates, how much tax it contributes to the economy, how much enjoyment racing brings to a lot of people, and the fact that the horse themselves might well chose a good short life over having no life at all.
I would like to find a way to ban transporting horses to abattoirs and require them to be put down singly, away from a production line, at home or very close to home.
.
I think at some point in the future (but not soon) society will insist that we have no right to treat animals like this if the primary purpose is to provide entertainment for humans.
Meanwhile, I respect how much employment the industry creates, how much tax it contributes to the economy, how much enjoyment racing brings to a lot of people, and the fact that the horse themselves might well chose a good short life over having no life at all.
I would like to find a way to ban transporting horses to abattoirs and require them to be put down singly, away from a production line, at home or very close to home.
.
Goldenstar
Well-Known Member
It’s easy enough to prevent horses coming in from Ireland to be slaughtered ,seeing a shipment of these brought in to store before the price rose was what finished me as a welfare officer I could not face it any more .
You simple make import for slaughter illegal yes it would make things slightly harder paper work wise for the rest of us but now we are out the EU we do that if there’s a will .
Of course then more likely than not the horses will end up on ferries heading to Europe.
You simple make import for slaughter illegal yes it would make things slightly harder paper work wise for the rest of us but now we are out the EU we do that if there’s a will .
Of course then more likely than not the horses will end up on ferries heading to Europe.
Carrottom
Well-Known Member
I wonder at the meaning of "career ending" , all my tbs have had injuries that ended their racing careers. None of them has a problem travelling.
windand rain
Well-Known Member
I hope the BBC have been scrupulous in getting their own information and not relied on sensationalised footage from a crank organisation that has set out to provide as much doctored and upsetting imagery as they can to shock with semi truths. As mentioned above better a death in a few minutes than years of endless cruelty. Was talking to the knackerman/horse crematorium man and he has been shooting horses since he was 13 and is well passed retirement age and in his almost 60 years has only had to shoot one twice in quick succession. Every horse he and his men have dealt with is dead in seconds. The abattoir operatives are the ones at fault if it is not a quick death. The fault of overbreeding in any horse industry is with the breeders. training too young, and the financial involvement is also responsible.
palo1
Well-Known Member
The whole issue of TB breeding and 'disposal' after racing is very troubling although I have never met anyone working in racing or looking after racehorses that didn't care about their horses and want the best for them. Owners are those that need to bear the cost of rehab/rehoming and/or humane, local despatch and disposal. It's not exactly vital to own a racehorse so it doesn't matter if that final cost cuts out a few potential owners in my opinion. The industry is absolutely dominated by wealthy, multiple-horse owners so there should be a legal accountability for those horses. There is a real problem too with the availability and sometimes the quality of slaughterhouses here in the Uk which really doesn't help. We are obsessed with bureaucracy in some ways that overlooks, in reality, what might be a better 'system' of smaller, local slaughterhouses. Our local one tried to make a go of slaughtering horses but was forced to shut down by animal rights activists. 
That was not a great day for animal welfare in these parts as the lorry loads of animals just travelled longer then...
At the same time, the BBC hasn't currently got especially high standards for their investigative journalism on some issues; they need to pull in big audiences and I guess since before Martin Bashir lied and connived to make compelling viewing there has been a greater or lesser degree of integrity loss there too. I will probably watch the programme or possibly not but evidence taken from Animal Aid is never going to be in any way impartial or capable of putting across the big picture reality of racing/racehorses. Gawd, the Beeb is getting desperate!!
That was not a great day for animal welfare in these parts as the lorry loads of animals just travelled longer then...At the same time, the BBC hasn't currently got especially high standards for their investigative journalism on some issues; they need to pull in big audiences and I guess since before Martin Bashir lied and connived to make compelling viewing there has been a greater or lesser degree of integrity loss there too. I will probably watch the programme or possibly not but evidence taken from Animal Aid is never going to be in any way impartial or capable of putting across the big picture reality of racing/racehorses. Gawd, the Beeb is getting desperate!!
Elf On A Shelf
...
I feel this may be long and end up going off track but bear with me. I will of course be happy to answer any and all questions I am able to. Having spent 17 years in the industry as well as my down time with normal horses I see both sides of the fence.
There is a huge difference in welfare standards in racing between Britain and Ireland. They come under separate jurisdictions. Ireland see's it very much as an industry, a job, a way to make a living and a way of life. You breed winners, you train winners, you ride winners, if they don't win then they have little to no value and so many are indeed sent for slaughter there as it is the done thing. In Britain we are a lot softer on our animals and whilst they are still working animals we put a value on them at all stages of their life.
The video footage is from Animal Aid who want all animals to be turned loose and life the free life. They are dead set against racing and so I can see this program being very biased. I just hope that the BBC bothered to do their own research rather than just give them a platform to shout from.
The BBC report itself says: "Freedom of information requests revealed that 4,000 former racehorses were slaughtered in Britain and Ireland since the beginning of 2019. Most, but not all, were trained in Ireland."
"Most, but not all, were trained in Ireland." That is the key point here. I do know of a few trainers in Britain who send irreparably broken horses (mind or body) to the hunt kennels or to the slaughterhouse. None that I know of would send a healthy horse that could have another life to it's death.
From the BBC report it does sound more like it is the slaughterhouses that are the problem by not doing their job properly. I would also like to know how Animal Aid knew that these horses were racehorses. Did they take a microchip scanner to every horse and match it up? Did they get hold of the passports? I highly doubt they all rocked up in a branded truck.
I have no issue with horses being humanly destroyed if there is no future for them. Either through injury or mental issues. There are fates far worse than death and I would far rather these horses had no future suffering because someone took on a horse that was too much for them and ended up dumped in a field, wasting away. Not all injuries can be fixed, not all horses are mentally suitable to find a new career. Racing is taking responsibility for it's rejects.
A career ending injury could be anything from a tendon injury that will heal but not hold up to the strain of racing again to a broken pelvis that will never heal. Most people would not transport a horse that was not fit to travel. Some would dose them up with drugs to make sure they got there safely. Each persons interpretation of how severe an injury is is different. By rights Gray should not have left the racecourse alive because he did a 100% tear of his SDFT. But because it was only 1 leg and not 2 I took him home to give him a second chance. Don't get me wrong I knew what I was taking on and I knew I could shoot him 6 months later if the injury never healed well enough to be a field ornament.
Don't quote me on this but I do think a % of bookies takings and race entries are put into the RoR through a roundabout way of donations from the BHA. The amount of money put into veterinary science from racing is also phenominal too. I am not trying to justify it but just think where the latest drugs, equipment and proceedures came from.
Racing 2yo's. I completely and utterly disagree with this. But because there is too much money involved it will never stop. In this knowledge I would like to see the Juvenile flat season not start until July 1st so they can all be well into their 2yo year and thus less likely to be broken in in Oct/Nov of their yearling year. A few months makes a lot of difference! But then you can say that dressage, jumping, sport horses etc are pushed as youngsters too to do the furturities and loose jumping stuff from foals upwards. In the show ring young horses are too fat and are made that fat to be able to compete so there are evils in every walk of equine life. It's just that none of that is shown on mainstream tv every week and so no one pays it any mind.
The BBC are focusing on racing because it is in the public eye but what about looking at all of the wild Welsh ponies, the Dartmoor Hill ponies, the New Forest round ups, even the breed sales where the, usually, young colts get sold for £30 to the meat man to be packed in trucks like sardines and shipped off over seas with no food or water before being bumped off at their final destination in a country with far less animal welfare standards than our own. These ponies get turned into dog food and leather items. I have no issue with this but what I do have issue with is how they are transported and how far they have to go before they meet their end. What we need is MORE slaughterhouses in this country and make the carcass viable and worthwhile to sell and ship.
Yes there are things that go on in racing that most people would cower at and shun but there are also things in the way they keep their own horses that they refuse to look at and turn a blind eye to. Many domestic horses are killed by kindness. They are too fat, they get laminitus, they are kept alive long beyond their years for human satisfaction. There are thousands of lame horses that their owners don't notice/realise/admit are lame but will still rile about racing.
I do agree that too many horses are being bred but the same could be said of shetlands, welsh, coloured cobs, generic Heinz 52's. Because it is too easy to breed a horse. In racing they do try to restrict numbers by not allowing AI. Everything has to be done naturally (to an extent - the stallions don't get turned out with the mares, they are both lead to the breeding barn and held onto whilst the deed is done). Most studs won't allow close inbreeding at all. There is a problem with using the best mares and stallions in that if they have a conformation default then it doesn't matter they can still run fast and win so they will be used regardless.
From a human perspective racing offers so many employment opportunities, not just in the yards but the racecourses, the studs, bookies, newspapers, tv channels etc. It is the only fully regulated equine career that looks after you (mostly) and pays properly for the hours you do (mostly). It is very much a way of life rather than a living and not everyone gets on with the job. You take the highs with the lows and you still wake up every day for the love of the horse.
Racing will always be victimised because it is a world wide activity, it brings people together, it divides them, it gets them talking and most of all it is wide open to the public.
In September there is a new Racehorse Week where a lot of yards are opening up their doors and everyone is welcome to come and have a look around. Keep an eye on the media as to which yards are opening up on what day and I would urge everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes. If you don't like racing or have reservations about it then go along with an open mind and the yard will be happy to answer any of your questions, see for yourself what goes on and whilst it wont change your mind entirely I hope it opens it up a little and settles some of your fears.
There is a huge difference in welfare standards in racing between Britain and Ireland. They come under separate jurisdictions. Ireland see's it very much as an industry, a job, a way to make a living and a way of life. You breed winners, you train winners, you ride winners, if they don't win then they have little to no value and so many are indeed sent for slaughter there as it is the done thing. In Britain we are a lot softer on our animals and whilst they are still working animals we put a value on them at all stages of their life.
The video footage is from Animal Aid who want all animals to be turned loose and life the free life. They are dead set against racing and so I can see this program being very biased. I just hope that the BBC bothered to do their own research rather than just give them a platform to shout from.
The BBC report itself says: "Freedom of information requests revealed that 4,000 former racehorses were slaughtered in Britain and Ireland since the beginning of 2019. Most, but not all, were trained in Ireland."
"Most, but not all, were trained in Ireland." That is the key point here. I do know of a few trainers in Britain who send irreparably broken horses (mind or body) to the hunt kennels or to the slaughterhouse. None that I know of would send a healthy horse that could have another life to it's death.
From the BBC report it does sound more like it is the slaughterhouses that are the problem by not doing their job properly. I would also like to know how Animal Aid knew that these horses were racehorses. Did they take a microchip scanner to every horse and match it up? Did they get hold of the passports? I highly doubt they all rocked up in a branded truck.
I have no issue with horses being humanly destroyed if there is no future for them. Either through injury or mental issues. There are fates far worse than death and I would far rather these horses had no future suffering because someone took on a horse that was too much for them and ended up dumped in a field, wasting away. Not all injuries can be fixed, not all horses are mentally suitable to find a new career. Racing is taking responsibility for it's rejects.
A career ending injury could be anything from a tendon injury that will heal but not hold up to the strain of racing again to a broken pelvis that will never heal. Most people would not transport a horse that was not fit to travel. Some would dose them up with drugs to make sure they got there safely. Each persons interpretation of how severe an injury is is different. By rights Gray should not have left the racecourse alive because he did a 100% tear of his SDFT. But because it was only 1 leg and not 2 I took him home to give him a second chance. Don't get me wrong I knew what I was taking on and I knew I could shoot him 6 months later if the injury never healed well enough to be a field ornament.
Don't quote me on this but I do think a % of bookies takings and race entries are put into the RoR through a roundabout way of donations from the BHA. The amount of money put into veterinary science from racing is also phenominal too. I am not trying to justify it but just think where the latest drugs, equipment and proceedures came from.
Racing 2yo's. I completely and utterly disagree with this. But because there is too much money involved it will never stop. In this knowledge I would like to see the Juvenile flat season not start until July 1st so they can all be well into their 2yo year and thus less likely to be broken in in Oct/Nov of their yearling year. A few months makes a lot of difference! But then you can say that dressage, jumping, sport horses etc are pushed as youngsters too to do the furturities and loose jumping stuff from foals upwards. In the show ring young horses are too fat and are made that fat to be able to compete so there are evils in every walk of equine life. It's just that none of that is shown on mainstream tv every week and so no one pays it any mind.
The BBC are focusing on racing because it is in the public eye but what about looking at all of the wild Welsh ponies, the Dartmoor Hill ponies, the New Forest round ups, even the breed sales where the, usually, young colts get sold for £30 to the meat man to be packed in trucks like sardines and shipped off over seas with no food or water before being bumped off at their final destination in a country with far less animal welfare standards than our own. These ponies get turned into dog food and leather items. I have no issue with this but what I do have issue with is how they are transported and how far they have to go before they meet their end. What we need is MORE slaughterhouses in this country and make the carcass viable and worthwhile to sell and ship.
Yes there are things that go on in racing that most people would cower at and shun but there are also things in the way they keep their own horses that they refuse to look at and turn a blind eye to. Many domestic horses are killed by kindness. They are too fat, they get laminitus, they are kept alive long beyond their years for human satisfaction. There are thousands of lame horses that their owners don't notice/realise/admit are lame but will still rile about racing.
I do agree that too many horses are being bred but the same could be said of shetlands, welsh, coloured cobs, generic Heinz 52's. Because it is too easy to breed a horse. In racing they do try to restrict numbers by not allowing AI. Everything has to be done naturally (to an extent - the stallions don't get turned out with the mares, they are both lead to the breeding barn and held onto whilst the deed is done). Most studs won't allow close inbreeding at all. There is a problem with using the best mares and stallions in that if they have a conformation default then it doesn't matter they can still run fast and win so they will be used regardless.
From a human perspective racing offers so many employment opportunities, not just in the yards but the racecourses, the studs, bookies, newspapers, tv channels etc. It is the only fully regulated equine career that looks after you (mostly) and pays properly for the hours you do (mostly). It is very much a way of life rather than a living and not everyone gets on with the job. You take the highs with the lows and you still wake up every day for the love of the horse.
Racing will always be victimised because it is a world wide activity, it brings people together, it divides them, it gets them talking and most of all it is wide open to the public.
In September there is a new Racehorse Week where a lot of yards are opening up their doors and everyone is welcome to come and have a look around. Keep an eye on the media as to which yards are opening up on what day and I would urge everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes. If you don't like racing or have reservations about it then go along with an open mind and the yard will be happy to answer any of your questions, see for yourself what goes on and whilst it wont change your mind entirely I hope it opens it up a little and settles some of your fears.
Gamebird
Well-Known Member
I agree with an awful lot of this. I do think that ex-racehorses have thankfully gained some value since I wrote this 5 years ago. And the thing that will most improve their welfare is for them to have value. I still know where to go to get a free racehorse, but I am pleased to see trainers doing a tiny bit of extra-curricular work with horses (hacking/hunting/schoolwork) and sending them out of training for £5000, instead of £500. Give these horses a value and you will give them a place in life.
I still stand by my opinion that those that will be poorly suited to another job - whether by dint of temperament, injury or other factors - should be humanely shot at the end of their careers, rather than being mismanaged, misunderstood, poorly treated and passed on again and again.
Article from 5 years ago:
Better Off Dead? – e-Venting
TPO
Well-Known Member
Lammy
Well-Known Member
I really hate the deflecting that goes on when people try to justify one type of wrong against another. “We know the racing industry overbreeds but look at the coloured cobs! We know racing 2 year olds isn’t good for them but 4 year old classes exist!”
We know there are other wrongs in the world and they can’t be fixed all at once but using other cruelties to deflect onto is such a bad argument.
Also there are levels. If there are 4 year old classes then sure there are likely some horses being broken and doing too much at 3 maybe even late 2. 2 year olds racing…broken in at 18 months, some started even earlier. If you can still count a horses age easily in months then it’s far too young to even be thinking about work.
All racing authorities need to have an overhaul. Every racehorse born needs a pension that goes with it for life. At least it should be enough to cover euthanasia at home. Racehorses should not enter training until at least 3 years old. This should also slow down the breeding as there would be more youngstock in the system for a longer amount of time and less need to replace these so quickly. All trainers and owners should have to sign up with an organisation like the ROR and when the horse leaves racing it should be to stud, the owner, a credited retrainer or rehoming charity, the pension could either then go back to the owner or to the charity. Wetherbys have a new track and trace system so surely this could be monitored.
Obviously this is idealistic but I don’t see how with all the money racing generates that this couldn’t be set up. It’s about time all horses that retire from racing life have somewhere to go.
We know there are other wrongs in the world and they can’t be fixed all at once but using other cruelties to deflect onto is such a bad argument.
Also there are levels. If there are 4 year old classes then sure there are likely some horses being broken and doing too much at 3 maybe even late 2. 2 year olds racing…broken in at 18 months, some started even earlier. If you can still count a horses age easily in months then it’s far too young to even be thinking about work.
All racing authorities need to have an overhaul. Every racehorse born needs a pension that goes with it for life. At least it should be enough to cover euthanasia at home. Racehorses should not enter training until at least 3 years old. This should also slow down the breeding as there would be more youngstock in the system for a longer amount of time and less need to replace these so quickly. All trainers and owners should have to sign up with an organisation like the ROR and when the horse leaves racing it should be to stud, the owner, a credited retrainer or rehoming charity, the pension could either then go back to the owner or to the charity. Wetherbys have a new track and trace system so surely this could be monitored.
Obviously this is idealistic but I don’t see how with all the money racing generates that this couldn’t be set up. It’s about time all horses that retire from racing life have somewhere to go.
Lipglosspukka
Well-Known Member
That absolutely does not happen in the New Forest and hasn't for a long while now. The colts make good money. Far more than any meat man would want to pay.
Tiddlypom
Carries on creakily
AnimalAid are weirdos, but we do need people who will risk themselves to put covert cctv into places that may not be following relevant guidelines, especially where animal welfare is concerned.
Sussexbythesea
Well-Known Member
I don’t disagree with much of what you’ve said but none of it really deals with the issue in discussion and there is a lot of “Whataboutery” and I’ll say “so what?”
I don’t think I’ve seen anyone here disagree that humane destruction isn’t a good option for some provided it is humane. I do find it hard to swallow that any life is not respected and the best done for that life as best we can.
As to the quality of Panorama programmes I’d say the quality of journalism is absolutely rubbish. A recent one on fly-tipping was very inaccurate. It used examples in Wales to illustrate the Environment Agency failings - they don’t cover Wales anymore NRW does. It also showed how easy it was to get a waste carrier registration using a site that was not the genuine Gov.uk Site. It was a site mimicking the genuine site. There were other inaccuracies also, however the issues raised by the programme were ones that needed raising.
TPO
Well-Known Member
It wont happen BECAUSE of the money it makes.
To delay them by at least a year I'd a year more expense on "field/stable ornaments" and a years "loss of earnings"
When money talks...
It's the same in america (& parts of europe) with the reining futurities for 2yr old quarter horses. I dont agree with it but I can see why people are motivated to do it because the winning gs are so high.
That's caught on here and people/trainers are starting (& training the big maneuvers like stops) 2yr old and doing yearling "longe" classes. Theres no notable prize money in the UK it's literally to win points and to be like the "proper" western trainers overseas. So even when there arent big bucks involved it's impossible to reason with people who have no common sense. The same people backing/training/riding their 18mth-24mth olds are the same ones posting about how much they love their horses ??
Really people are the problem and I dont know how you fix that...
TheProdigal
Active Member
I have had several ex-racers over the years (mostly when I was younger, braver and more idealistic) and only one of them was sound in the longer term. The same was experienced by friends of mine - we all had the very best of intentions. The strain on the ligaments, tendons, musculoskeletal system in general (not to mention their brains/their emotions) through intensive training at 2 takes its toll and soon reveals itself. ‘Worse fates than death’ (sometimes) is my mantra.
I have also met racehorse owners at both ends of the spectrum (lower and high end). Sadly, the racehorse is often very much a prestige asset, much like a high performance car. Of course, there will always be exceptions, but it seems to be about ‘the craic’, the fun day out for you and your coterie etc etc.
I will watch Panorama tonight and take a view, but the bottom line is, as many here have suggested, much of the industry and the owners need to start taking responsibility. And if that involves humane destruction, then good! (Too many out there at the moment trying to sell broken OTTBs to make a quick buck).
And final thoughts on RoR. There are obviously some fantastic organisations out there and all power to them, but I know too that there are a few that might possibly be a bit of a tax dodge.
I have also met racehorse owners at both ends of the spectrum (lower and high end). Sadly, the racehorse is often very much a prestige asset, much like a high performance car. Of course, there will always be exceptions, but it seems to be about ‘the craic’, the fun day out for you and your coterie etc etc.
I will watch Panorama tonight and take a view, but the bottom line is, as many here have suggested, much of the industry and the owners need to start taking responsibility. And if that involves humane destruction, then good! (Too many out there at the moment trying to sell broken OTTBs to make a quick buck).
And final thoughts on RoR. There are obviously some fantastic organisations out there and all power to them, but I know too that there are a few that might possibly be a bit of a tax dodge.
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ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
I think it's high time we had cctv with volunteer monitors who are absolutely neutral using technology to prevent identification of slaughter house staff by anyone who shouldn't know it.
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coblets
Well-Known Member
Agree with pretty much everything that Elf's written, but what I will say is that there's far too much money in racing, too many job opportunities etc for the horses in the industry to not have a good end. Those young TBs do far too much for the economy to meet the end that some of them do - it's entirely unethical. I'd argue it's even more unethical than sending a dartmoor pony to the same slaughterhouse (mind you, last I heard all the ponies at the recent Chagford sale found good homes).
100%. ABC News have a really good documentary on this with Australian racehorses. They had people going to the slaughterhouses with cameras and microchip scanners so they knew exactly which horses had been sent to slaughter even though, on the database, many of those horses had been put down as retired to a good home.
Elf On A Shelf
...
Yes racing does need to put its money where its mouth is and they do put a lot of money into the RoR. What they actually do with it is beyond me but that's a totally different discussion for another day!
Godolphin have their own rehoming centre and they should be applauded for the work they do for their retired racehorses. More operations should follow suit. Coolmore have just put up a pic of a 30yo retired Broodmare. She is the dam of Giants Causeway along with a good few others that were plenty decent enough on the track. She has got to live out her pensioned days where she has always lived.
Lipglosspukka - sorry if I offended you by using the New Forest round ups as an example, it's great that they don't go for bin end prices any more but obviously the stigma still sticks. But people are changing that stigma by buying the ponies before the meat men do which is great.
Godolphin have their own rehoming centre and they should be applauded for the work they do for their retired racehorses. More operations should follow suit. Coolmore have just put up a pic of a 30yo retired Broodmare. She is the dam of Giants Causeway along with a good few others that were plenty decent enough on the track. She has got to live out her pensioned days where she has always lived.
Lipglosspukka - sorry if I offended you by using the New Forest round ups as an example, it's great that they don't go for bin end prices any more but obviously the stigma still sticks. But people are changing that stigma by buying the ponies before the meat men do which is great.
meleeka
Well-Known Member
They may be wierdo’s but if it didn’t go on they wouldn’t have been able to film it .
littleshetland
Well-Known Member
A very close member of my family was a racehorse owner. What he actually KNEW about horses was negligible. He owned 4 racehorses, all in training and all cost a fortune. When they showed themselves to be unsuccessful, he picked up a phone, declared he wanted out and god alone knows what happened to them. The trainer said 'leave it to me' and that was that. Racehorses tend to be owned by wealthy individuals or syndicates who most don't give a rats arse about what actually happens to the animal once they've lost interest. The same can be said for greyhounds. Where there are big bucks to be earned from animal abuse, then basically NO ONE seems to be able to stop it. All we need from animals, in my opinion, is their forgiveness.
Tiddlypom
Carries on creakily
I hope that whatever tonight's footage shows that faces are blurred out to prevent identification.
Maybe the footage will not be as bad as it is hyped to be, but it's not sounding good.
Marigold4
Well-Known Member
Totally agree about the deflecting. This post is about the racing industry - note industry not sport - and not about the many other issues with horse ownership
palo1
Well-Known Member
I just wanted to add that I bought my nephew shares in a racehorse for a gift this year. As an 'owner' (well, purchaser!) even in a small syndicate it wouldn't trouble me to have had to pay a 'pension' fee or to pay a proportion more for the share in the horse to help secure it either a healthy period of retirement or to contribute to a genuinely decent end. That is a system that could be put in place reasonably easily I think.
Elf On A Shelf
...
They might be total pain in the rear ends but yes they do have their place. If everything ran to code and by the book then they would have no reason to film or fuel for the Flames. But sadly we all know human nature is not always kind and by them being the nosey, intrusive, fire starters that they are we have to face up to our realities and take off our rose tinted specs. Let's hope nothing but good comes out of this - the slaughterhouse staff get fired and replaced with people that will do the job correctly and that racing does indeed think on a pension plan for our warriors.
I do seem to think this is another dig at Gordon Elliott too. He has been singled out and named. One of the horses that went to slaughter he had given to someone else to be their horse, their property. It is when they are sold and are no longer in the care of the trainer that anything can happen and we have no control over it. Same when any horse, cat, dog or budgie is sold.
palo1
Well-Known Member
Yes that is fine but there is also an issue of integrity and trustworthiness with these kinds of groups with very specific agendas. If you cannot trust the basis of that then what they have to say is definately questionable. I want to see improved animal welfare across the board but the agenda of animal rights activists/marginal groups can be so extreme, with manipulated evidence and appalling levels of due diligence in research, activities and communications that it does no favours to policy or societal wide change in my opinion. I don't have much love for our government (!!) at all BUT I do trust those people who have identified animal rights activists as a serious threat. I don't want the Beeb or anyone else providing a platform for other extremist groups so why would anyone want to give public credence to these people? I know that there are serious issues of free speech of course and I don't want to suppress that but 'research', 'evidence', 'proof' all need a level of impartiality and professionalism that these groups don't often work to.
Sandstone1
Well-Known Member
Its on BBC news now, I am afraid I wont be watching later as it will upset me too much. Its just so sad that we breed these animals for our entertainment and this is how we repay them. I really hate humans sometimes.