Louisville Rejects PETA Billboard Exposing Truth About Kentucky Derby
Can Kentucky Derby fans handle the truth? Outdoor advertisers in Louisville don't seem to think so. We sent the ad below to every billboard and bus ad company in town with the intention of running it during next week's Derby, but they all turned us down flat.
We wanted racegoers—and everyone—to know that the horrific on-track breakdown of Eight Belles at the end of the 2008 Kentucky Derby was no fluke. On average, three horses break down on racetracks in America every single day. That adds up to at least 2,000 racehorses dead on tracks since Eight Belles collapsed two years ago after both her front ankles snapped.
After being prodded by PETA, the racing industry has made some improvements, including banning steroids from the states where Triple Crown races are run, but the misuse of legal drugs is still the biggest cause of breakdowns and deaths, and the industry has yet to address that issue in any meaningful way.
Many trainers use injections of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs to mask fatigue and injury and make horses feel well enough to run when they should be resting and recovering. Racing subjects horses' bodies to punishing stresses that can lead to breakdowns. Racing insiders tell us that some horses are injected with various drugs 25 to 30 times in the week before a race, and it's all legal.
PETA advocates a ban on all drugs during the week leading up to a race, among other reforms. Please take a moment to send an e-mail to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority to let its officials know that Eight Belles has not been forgotten and to demand that the authority take steps to ensure that no more horses die in pursuit of the roses. As for the Derby: Don't go, don't watch, and don't bet.
Posted by Alisa Mullins
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Since watching Barabaro's fatal race , I loathe the sport now, & I had been an avid supporter. It can't be compared to human sport injuries. Those are rarely fatal. The horses are meant to run, but not insanely to the point of Eight Belles or Ruffian or Barbaro & others that aren't mentioned so that humans can gloat & have another party. It's a terrible sport!!!!! I pray PETA gets much further than the billboards & eventually either eliminates the races or alters them drastically to another kind of cross country race of sorts.
Kentucky Horse Race Tracks has links to all of the biggest horse race tracks, city and state listings, and dog race parks in the nation as well as betting information for gamblers.
http://www.texashorseraces.com/states/kentucky.html
Most trainers and owners are very vocal about their opposition to this kind of stressing. People that genuinely love the animals do not want to see their animals or their competion abuse their animals.
This does not mean that all races are bad or that all owners and trainers are guilty of the same behavior.
For all the noise about the "Demolition Derby" billboards, it seems appropriate to expect PETA to care enough about racehorses stabled at Churchill Downs that are about to be bombarded with the unrelenting bombastic racket of 65 bands banging through the night for two or three nights in a row.
Certifiably inhumane, they call it the "Hullabaloo" and is about to terrorize noise-sensitive prey animals , while they attempt to sleep in the stall they call home. ...Coming soon, next month, July 23rd.
Helloooooo? Where is PETA on this? Do racehorses stabled at Churchill Downs qualify for "ethical treatment ?"
Wake up please. Churchill Downs and the horsemen should be expected to ship these horses to a place of peace and quiet for these nights of terror.
It is certainly no surprise that advertisers in Kentucky refused to display any billboards that paint a dark cloud over the Derby. Do you realize how much revenue is generated for Kentucky because of the Derby!! It's all about the money ! Those people could care less about the fate of any of those equines. I am an active member of PETA and I have rallied against the horse racing industry for a long time. Just the other day Churchill Downs Incorporated announced its safety initiatives for 2010. Very redundant and not much different than the ones they announnced after Eight Belles death . Their Safety and Integrity Alliance that was quickly formed after the Eight Belles death has been nothing more than "window dressing." It is simply a profligate industry that will never keep the equine athletes' welfare paramount. People continue to get gussied up, sip on their mint juleps, and watch as these horses are run to death. I agree, as for the Derby: Don't go, don't watch, and don't bet!!