Animal Rights

Over 1000 Horses Died Racing or Training at American Racetracks in 2018

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The United States horse racing industry has long been criticized by animal rights activists for its high fatality rates.

A spate of 33 horse deaths at California's Arcadiaâ€™s Santa Anita Park facility since December, has animal activists and lawmakers pushing for national reform.



The industry is in the news again today as a crackdown on doping or drug use is in the works, reports Los Angeles Magazine. Generally, though, these changes are welfarist in nature, making slight improvements in the treatment and safety for horses, but not addressing the underlying issue that horse racing kills horses.

The number of race horses killed in 2018 are listed at roughly 1,000 strong, and this number could "easily and reasonably be doubled, leaving us with upward of 2,000 kills in 2018" as some states withheld, or claimed they had no records of, training deaths. These are the numbers painstakingly, documented by Patrick Battuello a leading expert on racehorse deaths in the US, who has been waging a campaign to end horse racing. He advocates for abolishing the 'sport' entirely, stating "We are not interested in compromises, reforms, or half-measures. Racing must go." Battuello reports the findings on horses killed across the United States on his website Horseracingwrongs.org.