CHAI - Articles by Our Spokesperson

Last week the eyes of America were on Barbaro, the injured prize-winning racehorse. He was treated by the best vets, but that is unusual. Most horses are euthanized after their leg is fractured because treating them is not cost effective. Before a racecourse is opened in Israel, Tali Lavie asks us to consider the cruelty of this "sport."


	Barbaro on the track after his injury. Photo: Reuters


	Barbaro with his doctors. Photo: Reuters

The tragic incidents with the horses Barbaro and Lauren's Charm last week should be a red light for Israel. Will we learn anything from them?

Barbaro managed to excite America. He represented everything the horse-racing industry pretends to be — glamorous, fair play, and fun.

The story of the serious injury and of the end of the brilliant career of this three-year-old Kentucky Derby winner and number one candidate for a historic win in the "Triple Crown" swept the American media. Over the last week, The New York Times dedicated many articles to his story, news bulletins opened with heart-breaking items about the famous horse, and commentators discussed his chances of survival.

When I first heard about his injury, I was deeply saddened. But after a few minutes, it dawned on me — strangely enough, this was encouraging news for horse lovers. Why?

Barbaro's collapse put the horse-racing industry under the magnifying glass and forced those involved in it to look at themselves in the mirror. This incident compelled the world to confront the outdated concept according to which the racing industry is legitimate. While spectators and gamblers were shocked at the sight of the horse in agony, they realized that they, themselves, had encouraged this suffering by funding the race from their own pockets.

In this respect, the famous horse succeeded in doing what hundreds of other horses failed to do. Indeed, while debates about the legitimacy of the horse-racing industry climaxed following his injury, the racing industry continued to claim its anonymous victims; the kind that "don't make the headlines."

Such is the case of Lauren's Charm, a filly who lost her life on the racetrack four days ago. Like many other racehorses, she, too, was subjected to intense training, and like many others, her body could not endure the strain. This was a relatively promising horse, but not promising enough for the mass media to take an interest in her death. Hardly anyone around paid attention to the fact that her heart stopped working during the race. At four years old, she died of a heart attack on the track, though in a less cruel world, she had a life expectancy of twenty-five. Now she is part of the horse-racing industry's crazy death statistics. And for what?

The stories of most horses in the industry are different from Barbaro's. Most of them don't even come close. Usually, those who are expected to be economically beneficial because of their physical abilities survive the selection process and stay alive. They crossed the first hurdle — they weren't killed shortly after being born.

These horses "win" an arduous training regime starting at one and a half years old, when they are practically still babies. Obviously, at this early age, their joints are not fully developed and their bones not hardened. They are destined to develop stomach ulcers, and some will also suffer from bleeding in the lungs, heart murmurs, and other problems. Many of them will be drugged before the race so that they are able to complete it, despite their bad physical condition. On average, they will live to be six years old, not twenty-five, as they would naturally. They are born into an industry that condemns them to abuse at each and every stage.

One of the most significant differences between Barbaro and other racehorses is the devoted and expensive care Barbaro is now receiving. While he is undergoing a long recovery process with the purpose of turning him into a stud, other horses are usually euthanized immediately upon breaking their leg. "Time is money" and a horse's owner has no economic interest in keeping him throughout an expensive and tedious rehabilitation period. It just isn't worth it.

A New York Times article that laments the nature of the horse racing industry says that "many in the business have noted that had Barbaro not been the winner of the Kentucky Derby, he might have been destroyed after being injured." At the end of the article the author says: "As they say, it's the business. But what kind of business is this?"

Not only in the USA are the first cracks beginning to show in the solid wall surrounding the industry. In England too, a country identified with a long tradition of horse racing, doubts are being raised as to the morality of this industry. Recently, official figures were published in The Independent, according to which 180 horses die every year in Britain on the racetracks alone. This number does not include the hundreds of horses euthanized after the race, far from the cameras and from the scrutinizing eyes of the spectators.

And now, just as around the world, people are starting to take in the magnitude of the inherent cruelty of the horse-racing industry, stake holders are rising and calling to establish the industry in Israel. The former government decided to build a racecourse. MKs declare their intention to promote the initiative. Entrepreneurs are already planning how to become rich on the backs of horses.

If you would like to join the struggle, please call Tali at: 03-6243242 or write: tali@hakolchai.org