Humane Society of the U.S. president Kitty Block slammed & damned Baffert in 2018 for allegedly drugging Triple Crown winner Justify, praised him in 2020 for support of the Horseracing Integrity Act, & has slammed & damned him again since then. BALTIMORE, Maryland––Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s horse National Treasure won the Preakness Stakes […]
Necropsies dominate the 2023 Kentucky Derby post-mortems
15-to-1 longshot winner Mage is barely noticed amid seven horse deaths LOUISVILLE, Kentucky––Kentucky Derby post-mortems began in 2023 ten days before the 20-horse field walked to the starting gate, but they were called “necropsies.” The more familiar term “autopsy” is used only when the deceased is human. The upset victory by Mage, a horse with […]
All the money in either racing or breeding horses is gambling money
Shocked! Shocked! by gambling that sparks electroshocking horses Cheating methods, regulations, & some statistics have changed since this article was first posted in June 1999, but the monetary motivations & horse industry attitudes have not. HOUSTON, LITTLE ROCK ––All the money in breeding race or show horses is gambling money. Figure that out, and it […]
Can the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Act save horse racing from itself?
Marty Irby leaves Animal Wellness Action on a high note, but horses are not drugged just to get them high WASHINGTON D.C.––Former Animal Wellness Action executive director Marty Irby on March 23, 2023 spoke in Oxford, Mississippi at the “Celebration of Life” for his friend and ally Clant Seay, founder of the Citizens Committee Against […]
Court returns Horseracing Integrity & Safety Act to the starting gate
Newly formed Horseracing Integrity & Safety Authority loses turf battle to state & industry agencies NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana––Horse advocates and the horse racing industry across the U.S. are somewhat belatedly beginning to realize that a November 18, 2022 unanimous decision by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has returned the Horseracing Integrity & […]
Anti-“Big Lick” soring PAST Act passes U.S. House; goes to Senate
And California voters dump horse racing bail-out measure WASHINGTON D.C.––The U.S. House of Representatives on November 14, 2022 for the second time passed the PAST Act, short for Prevent All Soring Tactics, and sent it to the U.S. Senate, where for the second time it is likely to pull up lame. But maybe not. Before […]
Horse defenders ask, “Where are the Cheshire cats of equine advocacy?”
Barn-sour big groups leave the hard work to Lone Rangers Fighting the horse’s rear ends promoting the horse racing industry, rodeo, and “Big Lick” horse exhibition, Political Animals founder Sherry DeBoer, Action for Animals founder Eric Mills, Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder Steve Hindi, and Citizens Campaign Against “Big Lick” Animal Cruelty founder Clant […]
Why was a sick horse, too old to work, pulling a New York City carriage?
Opossum piss may have made the horse sick, but why didn’t the 35-year driver see it? NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.–– The New York City Transport Workers Union might be said to have invoked the “Ernie Paragallo defense” on behalf of carriage horse owner/driver Ian McKeever, 54, who during the evening rush hour on August […]
Did the Omak Suicide Race start with a horse massacre & the KKK?
Uncovering the nasty origins of an ugly event OMAK, Washington––The 88th edition of the bizarre and often deadly “World Famous Suicide Race” held annually in Omak, Washington, is to conclude on August 14, 2022, as the final event of the annual Omak Stampede Rodeo. Bizarre as is the race itself, down an extremely steep […]
“Outlaw” horse racing: drugs, murder, mayhem, & not just to the horses
Horses shocked & likewise the public by exposés of “bush tracks” MILNER, Georgia––Parallel investigations by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA] and the Washington Post on August 5, 2022 brought the existence of “bush track” quarter horse racing to public awareness, but the often violent and only sometimes illegal industry has openly […]