The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday in the noon hour.
38 racehorses died at Golden Gate Fields in 2019, over 22 died in 2020, and so far this year, five have died.
QUESTION: Do you think horse racing should be illegal?
Talk about it….
WHAT?
No.
Any and all forms of animal abuse should be illegal, including zoos and rodeos. I don’t believe God created animals to amuse humans. When visiting a zoo, check out how the bears, elephants, and big cats mope around. They are bored and not happy. Feeling stressed is one of the reasons why some animals attack zookeepers, and why chimps will spit and throw feces at people. A lot of animals are intelligent enough to understand they are being held captive and people are looking at them for enjoyment.
I agree. There is even a name for this strange behavior, zoochosis. Animals do not act like that in the wild, with their pacing, self mutilation like monkeys pulling their hair out and such. To deal with it, zoos often drug the animals, so parents who think they are teaching their kids about animals are really showing them stressed, dysfunctional behavior that has nothing to do with how they really are. They would be better off looking at posters of the animals. Zoos are just animal jails.
What does boredom and unhappiness look like?
Sorry, I love going to the zoo. I have learned a lot about animals at zoos.
I believe animals live longer in the wild when they are at the top of the food chain.
But to answer whether we should continue horse racing. No. It serves no purpose.
They also like the regular food and not having to defend themselves.
Domestic pets should be banned.
Many zoos are involved in breeding and IVF programs which have brought endangered and threatened species back from the brink.
Six Flags in Vallejo markets itself as a zoo and rollercoaster experience. Animals such as the Fennec Fox with comically oversized ears meant to pick up the slightest sounds in the wild, live their lives listening to loud roller coasters. The cougar has no escape, caged in a very out of the way small enclosure where his life is spent with people on one side staring at him calling “here kitty kitty” and the other side a parking lot. The penguin’s enclosure is on concrete with temperatures easily getting over 100 degrees in the summer, very unlike how they actually live. Really, an animal adapted for arctic conditions living on hot cement.
Just to be clear, the penguins at Discovery Kingdom are not an arctic breed. They are African Penguins from the southern part of that continent.
You do not say if you are defending that exhibit. Anyone who does should consider what it would be like to spend one day IN that exhibit during the summer. They can have a swim suit on and nothing else. There is no soil, no dirt, just concrete, inlaid rocks and a recirculating stream. And Vallejo gets very hot. That’s their life. You can Google it. And yes I do know that they are African penguins and while the evolutionary past for them is a bit murky, what they are subject to in Vallejo is not.
YES YES YES
I don’t know if it should be illegal….BUT
I Went to Golden Gate Fields with a friend and her family (when I was twenty, 40 Years ago) Her mom and dad had invested in a horse. The field was wet and muddy, I kept thinking this is bad, their horse went down and had to be put to sleep….
they haul out large screens to block visual for the audience and then a truck comes and the horse is removed. I NEVER WENT BACK!
I enjoy watching horse racing. I don’t think they should ban it…but eventually they will do so. They have pretty much wiped out dog racing in the US State by State with ballot measures and marketing campaigns. It won’t be long before horse racing is next.
Not for anything, but the racing industry is its own worst enemy, especially in California. They are constantly pushing the limits for training and medications. Most of the best trainers have been busted over and over again…with little consequences…They just enter their horses in other peoples names etc. There needs to be one universal racing commission with standardized rules etc.
Yes, and dog racing, too. Horses may love to run, and so do some dogs, but they don’t need to compete for the enjoyment of humans.
If it wasn’t for horse racing there would be no race horses. Another way of looking at it.
They might frolic and race around a corral, but not against one another at a track with humans betting on the outcome.
Take my word for it there would be no race thoroughbreds without horse racing.
Maybe there should be no humans because some have to work and risk their lives.
With the advent of casino gaming, there are other places to bet that don’t involve beating an animal. It’s time has come and gone. Stop it…..
No!
Alright. So, as someone who has worked in the equestrian industry and has been heavily involved for years, non-equine people fail to educate themselves on this subject a lot.
Do racetracks need better regulation for humane and administrative purposes? Yep. But not all racetracks are like this. The bad tracks always pop out more than the tracks that genuinely care for their horses. So many of these thoroughbreds are well cared for, and go on to being revoked to wonderful homes and retrained to be riding horses. Unfortunately, there are many thoroughbreds coming off the track that are in rough condition, but I personally am seeing that less and less. Changes *are* happening, but there needs to be more awareness for transparency for horse racing.
Horse riding in general is not cruel. Horse riding is wonderful mental enrichment for our equine friends- horses need mental enrichment to thrive. Thoroughbreds are bred for racing and many enjoy having a job, but this is all dependent on how they are treated and humanely trained without excessive and unnecessary use of additional tools/gadgets/general handling. As someone who has a performance horse, and is surrounded by those with performance horses, we take extremely good care of these animals- regularly checked by a veterinarian, get chiropractic/electromagnetic therapy care, meticulously put together feed plans, post-recovery care- we advocate for these animals’ well being and longevity.
The FEI is already cracking down on a lot more welfare-oriented subjects and putting updated rules into effect to ensure these animals are handled and cared for humanely. I do have hope that racetracks are able to change as well.
I encorage anyone who is not familiar with the industry to educate themselves with an open mind so we can recognize problems within the racetracks before they escalate.
@Spruce Tree Just keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better about how these animals are abused and exploited for human profit.
Open minds are frequently drafty.
No. Some of those horses get treated better than people. I used to own a couple of race horses. Every month I had to “pony” up for the vet fees, trainer fees, and the stable fees it wasn’t cheap. There is a reason its called the sport of kings.
Why do we need another law banning something? If you don’t like it don’t watch it. Don’t go to the track. Horse racing is fading away on its own. Just let let it peacefully ride off into the sunset.
It’s not about you, it’s about the health and well being of the animal.
Horses involved in any sport that involves running and jumping have higher risk of injury or death. I don’t know if I would ban it per se but breeding animals should go through a testing and approval process before passing on their genes and get rid of the bush league races they serve no benefit. Horses back in the day were raced more often and had longer careers and deaths were usually a result of unsafe track conditions; not horses legs breaking, or catastrophic ligament tears…. because their legs and hooves can’t support the muscle mass.
Let’s have robo horses or robo dogs. Kind of like battle bots.
Amusing reading lefty voters animal thoughts. I bet they all still eat hamburgers and chicken tendies their Social security checks provide. Horse Racing is America’s first sport and awesome to watch! Advice to you looney leftists is you don’t have to watch or participate so go back to making everything about race/sex gender stuff and indoctrinating children to be like you aka weak, no critical thinking skills, and easily offended.. The Overton window will swing back and fast on you and history will label you as the collective cowards you really are
It’s not about hiding one’s head in the sand and avoiding the issues. It’s about not abusing the creatures over which we have dominion.
A Righty
Having emotional reactions to horse deaths is an inappropriate springboard for discussion.
What laws would need changing to eliminate horseback racing? Who are the primary customers of the track(s)? What would be the economic impact of its closure? What is driving this discussion? Is it developers who want the land?
I don’t go to racetracks; just want adult conversations on things like this.
Thank You.
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No. Raising and training horse to race is a humane and worthwhile endeavor that has been pursued world-wide for centuries. The horses are not caged in zoos, From everything I have seen or heard they are allowed to have a life of care and respect in an environment (ranches) similar to their natural habitat. The horses are not being exploited to race. It is the activity that they appear to enjoy.
Yes. Eliminate horse racing and bring back bull fighting. Also, let the chickens fight. What’s the harm?
Martinezmike
I could go along with chicken fights but bullfighting is cowardly. At least in a chicken fight it is one chicken against one chicken. In bullfighting it is a bull against many. Get rid of the cape, the horses, and make the sword about twelve inches long and I may go along with it.
Illegal? It should be mandatory. Horses are expensive and require enormous resources. If your horse isn’t pulling a plow or racing, why in the world do you have a horse? Like what is going on in your personal life that you would willingly choose such an arrangement? Let horses be horses and stop treating them like lap dogs. You liberals crack me up.
Ewwewww! Always making everything political. What does liberal and conservative have to do with not wanting to abuse horses?
Yes it should be banned! Those of you who condone mistreatment of animals all for your entertainment are sick in the head. Animals are not ours for entertainment. And some zoo’s are good. They rescue the animals from circuses, abuse, etc. Just research the zoo before you visit it.
PS: Hence the reason we have COVID. Cause y’all don’t seem to understand, don’t buy or eat our animals. Especially those in China don’t seem to get it. #leaveouranimalsalone
@Raiderette.….But some animals are so tasty.
Stop the genocide! Equidae Lives Matter!!!
No. Why should it be illegal? Because horses died at GG Fields? Why did the horses die? Because of racing, or because the rider pushed them too hard, or they had a cardiovascular defect, or were too old to run?
What else are horses used for?
@reekorizzo…..Check out restaurant dinner menus from the 40s and 50s (even in the Bay Area), you’ll find horse steaks and a few other critters…Squab=pigeon. Like Farmer Vincent’s mother used to say “Meat’s meat and a man has to eat”.-Motel Hell
Where I grew up in Denmark a big farm next to us had race horses, they were beautiful, when they were not racing the that plenty of acres to roam in. A good friend of my parents was a waiter at a racetrack in Copenhagen. I don’t remember horses dying. It seems with the death toll at the above mentioned tracks, something is wrong. I’m an animal lover so my concern for the animal takes precedence over someone’s gambling or betting habits. I don’t have a problem with zoo’s as long at the animals have plenty of space and their space is close to their natural habitat. Zoo’s years ago was cruel. tigers and lions in small cages etc. but for the most part that has changed.
Yes! It is very cruel. Stresses the animals. They are dying all the time. I hate to see any horse suffer. Very sad.
,,, no – another American tradition people are trying to stop
Horse racing is not unique to America, it is popular in Britain and other European countries. The issue is if horse races are cruel to the horse?
Should we have kept slavery because it was a tradition at that time.
We’ll I’d leave it up to the horses to decide.
Maybe I should drink less when I comment….
What would Mister Ed have to say about it?
@jjshawk…that’s a way too easy question, he’d say “Oh Wilbur”.
No, those horses are valuable property and as such receive good care from their owners.
All I want is delicious horse meat in the supermarkets like they had in Japan. I don’t care where the horses come from.
I would expect horse meat to be too lean to be very flavorful.
I know the French will eat it…. and practically anything else.
How about dog Anon? Ever try that?
Obama ate it back when he was an Indonesian Muslim….
He said it was good.
Personally, I would not eat horse or dog, even if you paid me.