Is horse racing heading toward the endangered species list?
That’s what a lot of people may be suggesting based on their comments on talk radio, on social media and in local newspapers.
The controversial decision in the Kentucky Derby didn’t start the controversy that has been building in recent months.
The deaths of at least 23 race horses at the Santa Anita racetrack in L-A this year and the closing of the track for a period of time, has raised more voices among those who have been critical of horse racing for a long time who point to the hundreds of horses that are put down because of injury around the country each year.
As one reader at the San Diego Union Tribune put it, “Horse racing is…not a sport at all. It is a gambling operation with the animals bearing the mortal risks.”
Those involved in horse racing who own horses and breed and train them for competition on a racetrack say the animals are not abused.
But these criticisms of horse racing are not new.And now with all the added attention the Kentucky Derby controversy has drawn among more people that otherwise might never have even ever thought about horse racing, the time may be near when there will have to be an evolution in horse racing for it to survive.
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