A third horse dies and HBO's "Luck" is gone
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

[Ed. Note: Watch Horse Racing: Behind the Glamour.]

By Karen Dawn, DawnWatch
March 2012

Last month I reported that two horses had died during the filming of the first season of the HBO series Luck. I was disheartened to learn that the American Humane Association had chosen to stay associated with the production, simply changing its stamp on the two episodes in question from "No Animals Were Harmed..." to "The American Humane Association monitored the animal action." After receiving the sad news that a third horse died on the set this week I was gratified to read in a Los Angeles Times blog this afternoon:

After it was determined that the only humane course of action for the horse was to euthanize it, the AHA demanded all filming involving horses be suspended pending a full investigation.

Thank heavens.

An updated version of the article tonight tells us that now the whole second season of the series, which was currently being filmed, has been cancelled. After all, what's a series about horse racing without horses racing?

Pressure from animal advocates led by PETA, and finally including perhaps most importantly the American Humane Association, has led to the cancellation of a series that never should have aired. It's bad enough that thousands of horses are killed every year on the track without the number being added to by Hollywood mimicry. When news broke of the first two horse deaths many animal advocates called for HBO to do a better job of looking out for the horses but DawnWatch asked folks to ask HBO to cancel the planned second season suggesting: "Please send a note of protest via the HBO feedback page and let the network know that one season of horse slaughter for entertainment is more than enough"
http://www.hbo.com/#/about/contact-us.html

May I ask you to please send notes to that same address thanking HBO for doing the right thing (whatever the network's motives might be)?
Positive feedback can be powerful.

Then raise a glass tonight in memory of the three beautiful beings who died on the set of Luck, and to celebrate the cancellation of that series as this brings us one step closer to a world in which animals are not abused for human entertainment.

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at DawnWatch. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts only if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line.) 

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