HBO Investigates Slaughter Of Thoroughbred Horses

[EggCentric]

Subject: HBO Investigates Slaughter Of Thoroughbred Horses

HBO investigates horse slaughter watch it May 12th.

For Immediate Release May 5, 2008

REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL
INVESTIGATES THE SLAUGHTER OF THOROUGHBRED HORSES FOR PROFIT,

Winner of 20 Sports Emmys

in 13 years, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 134th edition debuts
MONDAY, MAY 12 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: May 12 (5:55 a.m.), 13 (7:00 p.m.), 16 (8:00 a.m., 8:00 p.m.), 18 (8:00 a.m.), 22 (1:00 p.m., midnight), 24 (11:30 a.m.), 28
(4:30 p.m.) and 31 (4:40 a.m.)

HBO2 playdates: May 17 (1:30 p.m.), 20 (6:15 p.m., 2:30 a.m.), 23 (3:00 p.m.), 25 (7:00 p.m.) and 29 (11:00 a.m., 12:05 a.m.), and June 2 (5:00 p.m.)

HBO On Demand availability: May 19-June 9 Segments include:
*Hidden Horses. Few casual horse racing fans are aware that many former racing horses are slaughtered for profit. When a thoroughbred race horse reaches the end of its
career or is simply no longer profitable on the track, it is often taken directly to auction and sold for meat. Because horse slaughter is no longer practiced in this country, these thoroughbreds are now being shipped by "killer buyers" to
slaughterhouses abroad, which are frequently less regulated and less humane than former U.S. slaughterhouses.

REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL – 2
Correspondent Bernard Goldberg, who recently won the 2008 Sports Emmy

for Outstanding Sports Journalism for his 2007 REAL SPORTS story on the NFL concussion crisis, traces the disturbing journey many of these young and healthy
horses take from the track, to auctions, to slaughterhouses, and finally to the plates of European and Japanese diners who pay top dollar for the delicacy.

Producer: Joe Perskie.

 

[Chatychick]

It is a sad world when you have to eat horse meat and I have gotten 3 horses that basically rescued fro the auction barn and they are such sweethearts and love to be loved on. I imagine the killers there were mad that I overbid him as I know who the killer buyers are at the auction that we used to go to. I had the money at the time and got them. If each horse owner just would think they need to breed cause they have a mare and it would be sweet to raise a baby then there wouldnt be such a overrun of horses. the professional people breed for racing and if the foal dont measure up to standard they destroy it. Its sad that they really dont care and do this. But they are the 1's profitting from racing. I dont even go anymore or watch it either. I have 6 horses and they are all doing fine and 2 of them are mares and 1 will die a virgin as I wont overbreed and dont need anymore either so she is a papered Arabian but I wont breed her. I thought about it years ago and then finally decided there are enough horses being abused and starved and then put to death. Nope not my thing, and even the vet said if I was to breed her it would calm her down. Ha I love her the way she is....ok I will hush now.

 

[dusti]

I too find this sad. I grew up showing and riding and back then it was hard to find a horse under $2000. I now have 6 and the most I paid for 1 was just over $900 and he's a babysitter, anyone can ride him. I bought a mare that was in foal and she's registered as a paint and the guy that owned her bred her to his morgan stallion just because. But I see her as a rescue because the horses he has are all starved. I have 4 mares and after this baby is born, we won't breed. And 3 of them are registered but there are too many people out there breeding just to breed. When you can go to an auction and pick up a horse for $25 why do it? And yes I have seen them sell this cheap, just 1 month ago. It's sad the number of horses being slaughtered. And since it's been banned in the US, the just haul them to Canada now in a semi like you see cows, pigs and chickens in with no food or water and over crowded. It makes my blood boil when I see animals mistreated. If you can't take care of them then don't get them. They didn't ask for that kind of treatment.

 

[legacyln]

I am a horse wannabe-- grew up riding a Tennesee Walker/Quarter Horse on my grandparents place but never owned a horse and would love to. I discovered this Humane Society Ranch a couple hours away that has TONS of horses up for adoption. So sad! If I am ever able to own a horse, I would like to ask a trainer/boarder in my area to help me pick and then have her train it for me. For now its just a dream, but... I agree with you, Chatychick, if I ever own a mare I would not breed it after reading the descriptions of these great horses at the rescue ranch.

 

[greyfields]

Well, I feel it's not innately wrong to slaughter and animal for meat, especially once it's racing days are over. It's just wasteful. But of course, I can in no way condone the mistreatment of animals simply becuase they are beyond their usefulness or are not slaughtered humanely.

I have retired racing greyhounds, which in nearly every state are categorized as "livestock" and typical dog/cat protection laws do not apply to them. An immense number of them, completely healthy dogs, are euthenized annually. Roughly three times the number are killed each year than are re-homed after racing. It's simply inhumane.

I was explaining this one day to a farmer here, and how I felt passionately about it. She then said to me, "Well, they do the same thing to racing horses... then feed them to greyhounds." Point well made.

 

[EggCentric]

They stopped using horsemeat in pet foods back in the 70's. It was making dogs sick.

 

[s6bee]

I know they will focus mainly on the track horses but there is another HUGE industry that is putting foals out to the meat truck. Those are the PMU horses. Pregnant Mare Urine that is. It's an awful life for the horses and for those that may not be aware, if you take Premarin for hormonal replacement therapy, this is where you get your meds from. Find out more and consider symthetic therapy.
The meat is shipped out the European countries for human consumption.

 

[Crunchie]

I will never understand why one animal's life is worth more than another, just because you have some sort of emotional attachment to it (i.e., why it's so horrible to eat a horse, but cows are fair game?). I have goats and horses. Both are pets. We're just as attached to both kind of animals. If I ate an unwanted horse I'd be all over the national news as some sort of psychopath. But if I ate one of my goats, no one would bat an eye. But that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

In my opinion, a huge part of the problem (and this goes for dogs, cats, any animal, really) is the wastefullness of it all. People breed needlessly every day. If two animals aren't near to being perfect, or don't have a chance at producing excellent quality offspring, they should not reproduce. Period. Huge pet peeve of mine. "I'll keep the baby anyway" or, "I want to see what this cross would look like," or "but I just love this (horse, dog, etc., fill in blank...) and I want a piece of them" is NOT an excuse. It's irresponsible.

Yeah, lots of TBs might go off to slaughter from the tracks. Why? 'Cause people keep breeding crap [<--- not the word I originally used]. They keep breeding less-than-quality horses together, hoping one day the genetic fairy is going to wave it's magic wand and they're magically gonna have the next derby winner in their backyard. Not gonna happen.

I'm a little less bothered by this in the chicken world, as often "extra" chickens are used as food. This takes out the waste part of the equation.

Sorry, it's a big deal to me. I probably sound really witchy and this probably isn't the most coherent post I've ever made, but I haven't had any coffee yet and I was up half the night with my baby and because of the bad storms we had....flame me if you must.

 

[EggCentric]

Crunchie,

Why would anyone flame you? I understand what you are trying to say and I agree. People shouldn't breed their animals just because they want a baby, heck, some people shouldn't breed either, but that's another issue

People in Vietnam eat dogs, would it be ok if slaughterhouses here killed dogs, processed the meat and shipped it to Vietnam? Heck no, it wouldn't be allowed. Slaughtering horses for consumption overseas is the same thing. We, as Americans, don't eat horses, so why are we slaughtering them for rich people overseas? (No, contrary to popular belief, horsemeat is a delicacy in europe and only the wealthy can afford it, it doesn't go to feed hungry people) The slaughterhouses, when they were open, were owned and operated by foreign companies, they didn't pay taxes and didn't benefit their communities in any way.

And then there are the people screaming about the "Unwanted Horse" problem. I have news for those people, there aren't any "Unwanted" horses. "Unlucky" maybe, because they ended up with irresponsible owners that either bred their mare "just because" or they got a horse and THEN found out that they can't afford it. Every horse was wanted at one point or another, or it wouldn't exist. If you have a horse and can no longer afford to take care of it, and cannot find a good home for it, then do the responsible thing and call the vet and have it humanely put down. I am sick to death of people whining that the vet costs money, that they can't bury the horse, so they have to pay someone to come haul the body away, well boo very hoo! You chose to take in that horse (or bred your mare to get it or however you got it) and now you have to be responsible for it.

Sorry, my rant is over. And please keep in mind that this post wasn't directed at anyone in particular. I was just speaking in general.

 

[s6bee]

I understand that horse slaughter is going to happen, and this holds true to ALL slaughter houses, they are so inhumane to the animals. It's awful. These animals are sometimes skinned alive. I don't see the good in that, sorry.
There is an emotional attachement because our country was built on the backs of horses. Too many irresponsible people out there yes, but the industry itself ( racing, medical ) is a HUGE part of it.