Quote:
Originally Posted by driveway
Based on the list of animal fatalities posted on the first page, it's clear that the chuckwagon races are far and away the most dangerous for the animal competitors. Even though I find them hugely entertaining to watch, I'd be perfectly fine with ending chuckwagon races for reasons of animal safety.
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And for the most part the horses that would otherwise being racing in the wagons would be going to slaughterhouses where they are often inhumanely killed. What's more unsafe than painful certain death?
From my understanding most of the horses are just former race-horses who's time was up. Thousands of former race horses are sent each year to the slaughterhouse, if you want your day ruined check out some of the leaked footage of the inhumane practices employed at slaughterhouses across Canada.
The root of the problem is thoroughbred horse-racing. If you're not stopping that there's no point at all going after the chuckwagons. The vast majority of the racing-horses will be raised and trained for two or so years, race for 3 and be dead before they are 6. The chuckwagons are just a second shot at life, again from my understanding, most of the horses you'll see there.
It's one of those things where it's because we see it it's so much worse. We see the fall, we find out the damage and we know that outcome. We don't care about the other 100,000 of horses (unwanted racing horses, neglected pets, injured farm horses etc.) destined for the slaughterhouse in Canada alone this year because out-of-sight-out-of-mind. So maybe in a bad year 5 horses will be injured and sent to the slaughterhouse thanks to a wagon accident at the Stampede. Well chances are they would been dead earlier if not for the chuckwagons so I don't see the evil.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10561757
An article and video on Wayne Knight, a chuckwagon racer, who says he's saved 500 horses alone.
As an animal lover, I completely understand the sentiment that a couple posters have expressed. I just believe it's ill-informed.
I do believe there's more room to talk about other animal cruelty related to the rest of the Stampede, like say the bucking horses who are bred by the Stampede for that purpose. But horses who would be dead if not for the chuckwagons? Not sure I understand that argument. "It's animal cruelty and dangerous to put them in a race where there's a possibility they may die...let's shoot them in the head instead and see how that goes."