͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌To prevent cruelty to animals, we promote enacting and enforcing good public policies. To enact good laws, we must elect good lawmakers, and that’s why we remind voters which candidates care about our issues and which ones don’t. If you’d like to unsubscribe, click here. [[link removed]]

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Dear John,

It was a jarring body count of horses this week as the national spotlight shifted toward Louisville and this year’s running of the Kentucky Derby.

Seven horses, all starting the week young and healthy, ended up dead by the end of the competition. They died on the track, in the paddock, and after being vanned off and euthanized at a veterinary hospital. There were breakdowns in full gallop. Others pulled up and died after their races. Two had been trained by the now infamous Saffie Joseph, Jr.

Not in all of my years as a watchdog of the horse racing industry have I heard about two horses handled by the same trainer drop dead almost back to back. They didn’t sustain an obvious injury on the track or break down. They ran their races and then the life drained out of them.

A few days ago, Animal Wellness Action immediately called for Joseph’s suspension. Just hours later, Churchill Downs (the operator of the Kentucky Derby) and the Kentucky Racing Association complied. Joseph’s horse slated to participate in Saturday’s evening’s 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 6 was scratched, as were all other horses he trained set for competition during the week. He’s been indefinitely suspended in Kentucky, joining the legendary and animal-unfriendly Bob Baffert who had also been sidelined by the same authorities for the last two years.

But it would be a mistake to think that horse deaths are just the consequence of a few bad trainers.

Horse racing has long had a doping problem. Horses juiced up, or medicated to get injured horses into competition, have been a regular feature of competition. Horse well-being is subordinated to profit. In too many cases, racetracks turn into crash sites.

We worked to change all that by leading the effort to pass the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) in Congress in 2020 – to ban race-day doping of horses and to create a uniform national set of rules governing racing protocols.

As I told the press this year, these rules should have been in effect months ago. But the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association has stood in the way, suing in multiple jurisdictions to attempt to block enforcement of the law.

If they hadn’t delayed implementation of the law, the Kentucky Derby and its preceding races would have had proper oversight over the trainers and a protective watch over the horses. And maybe four horses would be alive today.

The only favorable news amidst the loss, our effort to establish more humane rules has prevailed in the courts and in Congress, including our effort in December to tweak a part of HISA to make it more invulnerable to future legal challenges. The law is set to take effect on May 22. Again, it should have been in place months ago, but we’ve outmaneuvered the opponents of horse well-being and the law will soon be put to work on tracks all over the nation.

Our fight to drive down injuries and death in horse racing is just one part of our broader portfolio of horse protection work.

We are also committed to securing a national policy to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption.

And we are committed to ending the disgraceful practice of horse soring – the injuring of the feet of Tennessee Walking horses that causes them so much pain that they wildly exaggerate their gait at horse shows. We are executing on our plan to get this legislation over the finish line this year.

If all of that happens, it will be a trifecta when it comes to horse welfare.

But we cannot maintain this full gallop on three key fronts for horses without you. We need your advocacy. And perhaps more than ever, we need your financial support to put the best team in the field and in the halls of Congress and to fight on three fronts for horses.

Please donate generously. As you can see, there’s so much at stake. [[link removed]]
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I assure you, we are on the offense. We are playing to win. And to save the lives of horses.

For the animals,
Wayne Pacelle [[link removed]] Wayne Pacelle
President
Animal Wellness Action
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