Forcing Animals to 'Race' for Profits
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Nathan Winograd
December 2020

Where there is a profit to be made on the backs of animals, those backs are strained and often broken.

Greyhound racing comes to an end in Florida this month with the forced closure of the last remaining track after residents overwhelmingly voted to ban the sport by the end of this year. Horse racing may not be far behind.

Earlier this week, Florida track Gulfstream Park West quietly ran its final race after 50 years.There were no fans in the stands because there haven’t been any since 2015 when “the grandstand was razed” due to declining attendance and revenues. So why did they continue for five more years?

At the behest of those who exploit horses for profit, state law requires casinos to have certain kinds of gambling as a condition for operating. But the track convinced the state to allow jai alai in place of horse racing. That leaves only two active tracks in the state and hopefully they, too, will follow suit.

Florida voters banned dog racing because, on average, a greyhound died every four days on a track; 461 deaths in five years. Another report noted that the "careers" of greyhounds often "end routinely with injury..." For similar reasons, horse racing should also be banned.

Nearly 10 horses a week on average died at American racetracks in 2018. Moreover, racing isn't the only way they die. Thousands of thoroughbreds also go from the racetrack to the slaughterhouse and end up on dinner plates in Europe and Asia. Last year, “more than 57,000 horses [overall] have been shipped for slaughter to Mexico and Canada from the United States, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data”. And horse racers routinely violate racing policy (such as it is), don’t know “basic anatomy” about horses, and administer "questionable treatments."

Where there is a profit to be made on the backs of animals, those backs are strained and often broken.

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