Thoroughbred horses racing at Santa Anita
The Humane Society of the United States has issued a statement praising the closure of the Santa Anita race track in light of recent racehorse fatalities.
© 2018 by Santa Anita Race Track
The Humane Society of the United States is deeply concerned about the deaths of 21 racehorses since December 26 at the Santa Anita racetrack. We support and applaud the decision by The Stronach Group to indefinitely shut down racing as they investigate the causes of these deaths and to hire external experts to review the racing surfaces and all other aspects that may impact the health and safety of racehorses.
We’ve long recognized that some in the industry are trying to address the welfare of racehorses by making changes to reduce the number of racehorses going to slaughter, and working with us to secure reintroduction and passage of the federal Horseracing Integrity Act to address doping problems, ban race-day medication, and substantially increase out-of-competition testing.
We hope that Congress recognizes this act of leadership by Santa Anita as a desire for change, change that requires an act of Congress to make.
Press release by Emily Ehrhorn - The Humane Society of the United States