Interview:Horseracing Wrongs with Patrick Battuello: Difference between revisions

When I started filing Freedom of Information Act requests with racing commissions around the country, I wanted very specific information on horses who died or were euthanized at each state's tracks. I wanted full necropsy reports if possible. I'm very fact-based, so I knew I needed to come armed with data when going up against the massive horse racing industry. A dead horse is a dead horse, and there's no denying it. When we started receiving this information, even I was shocked at the scale of the killing.

We estimate that over 2,000 horses are killed at US racetracks every year - about six every day. This number doesn't include horses that die during training or those that are simply discarded. The estimate covers all track deaths, whether from racing, training, or otherwise. When incorporating these numbers with those from the slaughterhouse, we estimate that between 10 and 15,000 American racehorses are sent to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. I use the word "carnage" to describe what's happening in the American horse racing industry. I've been using this term for years, and no one in the industry has seriously challenged me on it. They know the situation is dire.