Why No End to Racetrack Fatalities?

Continued . . .

That scenario plays out constantly on tracks around the world, as this Memorial proves. Here is one person’s opinion about why:

“Greed, corruption, performance-enhancing and pain-masking drugs, and breeding practices that make horses prone to injury all contribute to these premature deaths. None of these transgressions, however, would be possible without our tacit approval.

“To the detriment of those around us (and probably to ourselves), we humans have mastered the art of denial, compartmentalization, and rationalization. In a country whose masses routinely profess their love for animals, how else to explain the delirium of the record-setting Preakness crowd at Pimlico, even as jockey after jockey flogged their respective horses down the home stretch?

“This capacity to distance ourselves from our actions—and their consequences—is part and parcel of our conflicted relationship with animals. ...

“Treatises have been written about how we’ve managed to get to this point. And while there’s no definitive answer to that question, I do believe it’s possible to return to a place where our hearts and words live in harmony with our actions toward the animals so many Americans claim to love.”

~John Morlino, former social worker
“Horse Racing’s Shame—And Ours,” OtherWords.org