Whenever I can afford to contribute to charity, I always give first to organizations that work for the protection of and betterment of conditions for animals, such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Animals cannot speak directly for themselves--it is vital that caring humans do it for them.
Nonetheless, I do not support groups on or beyond the lunatic fringe, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Such groups do not recognize that their actions often do more to harm their credibility--and thus the credibility of other, more sensible groups--than those actions help the animals they say they are trying to protect.
PETA's latest nuttiness? It has written a letter to the Kentucky Horse Racing Association (KHRA) calling for the suspension of jockey Gabriel Saez's license. Saez rode the filly Eight Belles to a magnificent second-place finish in Saturday's Kentucky Derby. After galloping out following the finish, however, the filly collapsed when both her front ankles broke, and she had to be euthanized right then and there. [Thanks to all the networks which had footage of same but which didn't show it directly. It was sad and shocking enough to hear what happened. Seeing it would not have added anything but titillation to the broadcasts.--Ed.]
PETA spokesperson Kathy Guillermo claims that this suspension is necessary while the horse's death is investigated, because we need to know (1) whether the jockey "felt anything along the way," as the filly "doubtlessly was injured before the finish," and (2) even if not, we must blame the fact that the jockeys are "allowed to whip the horses mercilessly."
Excuse me while I roll my eyes in total disgust. Do PETA's members know anything about horses? Do they even bother to consider reality before they spew forth their idiocy? An animal weighing half a ton, moving at high speed, CANNOT land on a broken front ankle, let alone two broken front ankles, more than once before collapsing in a heap in a great amount of pain. It is physically impossible to do otherwise. I watched the Derby's stretch run, and have watched every replay of same that I could see. Eight Belles shows NO signs of discomfort, let alone pain or serious injury, through the stretch, at the finish line, or well beyond it. As her trainer Larry Jones noted, her ears were up (and I add, her eyes were bright) the whole way--a sign of happiness in a horse. If she were in any pain, her ears would have been flat down against her head and she would have been fighting her jockey, not going forward in a straight line with him.
As for the allegation that the horses are whipped "mercilessly," I wonder whether PETA's members have ever seen a racing crop. It's got two small squares of leather on the business end, attached only at the top--it's designed to make a noise as the leather pieces slap together. Even when applied quickly at full strength, it's more sound then sensation: it's to get the horse's attention and to keep the horse running along the line the jockey wants--s/he taps the left hip if the horse is bearing in to its left, the right hip if the horse is swerving out to the right. It's math in action: the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Get the horse to run in a straight line, and you save distance, therefore time. You thus improve the horse's chances to win or finish in the money. You also improve the horse's chances of avoiding collisions with other horses, as the jockey can see things on the track which the horse cannot see, letting the jockey steer clear of trouble.
I am not saying that there are never any abuses of animals in horse racing. I am saying that at this level of horse racing, the likelihood of abuse is so small as to be virtually non-existent. The money spent to race at this level makes it counterproductive financially to hurt the animals. Eight Belles' owner is so devastated by what happened that he's not speaking to anyone.
I don't blame him. I get teary-eyed just thinking about what happened, and I didn't have any stake in the situation at all, except for caring about the horses, the beautiful horses.
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