May 5, 2008 - PPM - Animal Rights Double Standard
This week’s PET PEEVE MONDAY is about the timely death of Kentucky Derby horse, Eight Bells.
I had previously blogged about Barbaro. The similarities do not rest with the death of a race horse. It is about the reaction.
It is a about how people describe the horse as courageous and motivated and that she was happy. The best quote came from her trainer. He said “She was happy to put her life on the line.”
REALLY!!! I thought Dr. Dolittle and the Horse Whisperer were works of fiction. Unfortunately, Eight Bells was not available for comment.
My PET PEEVE is the DOUBLE STANDARD THAT PEOPLE EXHIBIT when it comes to horse racing and dog fighting. They are both animal rights violations.
PETA was naturally outraged. My question is why aren’t more people? In this case, a competitor (horse) died at the end of a competition. Oh by the way, cock fighting and dog fighting have the same outcome.
I’m no PETA fan. I eat meat at every meal and snack on beef jerky and Slim Jims in between. But I think PETA got it right this time.
The untold story is how, on average, there are 1.6 race horse deaths per 1000 starts. I don’t think anyone would fly given those averages. There are 50,000 global commercial flights per day. If 80 of those planes went down, there might be some outrage.
Last Sunday, 16,406 runners competed in the Flying Pig Marathon. Applying the same law of averages would result in 10 race deaths. Given those odds, I wouldn't run a marathon unless flying pigs come out of my …. Well, you get the picture.
Again everything has to be politicized. Before the race, Hillary Clinton played the gender card and told many probable voters, that they should “bet on the woman – filly in the Kentucky Derby”. She drew parallels as a woman running for President. Some would argue that they put down the wrong Nag. Just kidding.
The only upside from the early expiration of Eight Bells, is that Hillary Clinton was not be able to capitalize on the exploits of an animal.
Is it because we get all dressed up in fancy clothes and hats and sip Mint Juleps that we rationalize the exploitation and death of race horses are OK? Do we just need to have a dress code and top shelf liquor at the Dog Fights to legitimize them?
In some cultures cock fighting and dog fighting are their national pastime, just as baseball or horse racing are apart of ours. They must be sneering at Americans because of our incredible double standard. I do, and so should you.
I had previously blogged about Barbaro. The similarities do not rest with the death of a race horse. It is about the reaction.It is a about how people describe the horse as courageous and motivated and that she was happy. The best quote came from her trainer. He said “She was happy to put her life on the line.”
REALLY!!! I thought Dr. Dolittle and the Horse Whisperer were works of fiction. Unfortunately, Eight Bells was not available for comment.
My PET PEEVE is the DOUBLE STANDARD THAT PEOPLE EXHIBIT when it comes to horse racing and dog fighting. They are both animal rights violations.
PETA was naturally outraged. My question is why aren’t more people? In this case, a competitor (horse) died at the end of a competition. Oh by the way, cock fighting and dog fighting have the same outcome.
I’m no PETA fan. I eat meat at every meal and snack on beef jerky and Slim Jims in between. But I think PETA got it right this time.
The untold story is how, on average, there are 1.6 race horse deaths per 1000 starts. I don’t think anyone would fly given those averages. There are 50,000 global commercial flights per day. If 80 of those planes went down, there might be some outrage.
Last Sunday, 16,406 runners competed in the Flying Pig Marathon. Applying the same law of averages would result in 10 race deaths. Given those odds, I wouldn't run a marathon unless flying pigs come out of my …. Well, you get the picture.
Again everything has to be politicized. Before the race, Hillary Clinton played the gender card and told many probable voters, that they should “bet on the woman – filly in the Kentucky Derby”. She drew parallels as a woman running for President. Some would argue that they put down the wrong Nag. Just kidding.
The only upside from the early expiration of Eight Bells, is that Hillary Clinton was not be able to capitalize on the exploits of an animal.
Is it because we get all dressed up in fancy clothes and hats and sip Mint Juleps that we rationalize the exploitation and death of race horses are OK? Do we just need to have a dress code and top shelf liquor at the Dog Fights to legitimize them?
In some cultures cock fighting and dog fighting are their national pastime, just as baseball or horse racing are apart of ours. They must be sneering at Americans because of our incredible double standard. I do, and so should you.
Labels: Pet Peeve
posted by J. Jay @ 9:34 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
The death of a horse in a race is unfortunate. However, the purpose of horse racing is not to kill the horse that loses. That seems to be a pretty clear difference between horse racing and cock fighting or dog fighting.
Can the horse racing industry do things to reduce the number of fatalities? Of course. Is horse racing equivalent to dog fighting or cock fighting? Not in a million years.
Check out this excellent Washington Post article by Sally Jenkins.
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