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Animal Abuser Raul Vega Was Going to Race 'Cause for Love' Like This…

FROM HorseracingWrongs
May 2023

The scratch finally came because Cause presented with “large open wounds” on her hindquarters and “signs of being underweight.”

underweight horse

So I’m wondering, what does it actually take for a trainer to get a figurative death sentence in horseracing? On the surface, it would appear that trainer Raul Vega was hit hard by the New Mexico Racing Commission last week: 5-year suspension, $10,000 fine. But then you learn what he did.

Vega’s horse, 3-year-old Cause for Love Too, was scratched by the regulatory vet at Sunland Park March 21, prior to what would have been her second race. (In her first, by the way, Feb 24 at that same track, she finished dead-last, 27+ lengths back.) The scratch came because Cause presented with “large open wounds” on her hindquarters and “signs of being underweight.” (Because of an ongoing vet shortage in NM, Cause was not seen and scratched until she hit the paddock.) Here is how she looked that day, and remember, Vega had every intention of putting her to the whip like this:

horses' wounds

Vega, with his horse in tow, then hightailed it out of there, not only the track, but the state, not stopping till he reached El Paso. Texas authorities were then alerted and Cause was eventually brought back to NM for further evaluation. Bringing us up to this ruling.

Clearly, to anyone – everyone – this is unadulterated animal cruelty. Raul Vega is a repulsive human being and should be in a prison cell. Instead, he’s a free man, no criminal record, open to reapply for his license in five short years, and, I assume, unimpeded from working with other kinds of animals in the interim.

And you wonder why I’m an abolitionist who holds that the evil lies in the very idea of animal property. Speaking of which, what of owner Erika Aldrete? Where are her repercussions? Is not she ultimately responsible? As for Cause, I do not know her whereabouts and current condition, but I can tell you she hasn’t been raced since.

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