(CN) Racing body condemns club killings

[Guest guest]

Sunday Morning Post, Hong Kong. June 23rd 2002

by Ella Lee and Antoine So

 

An international advisory body on horse racing has expressed shock at the

Macau Jockey Club's weekly practice of destroying retired and injured horses

by shooting them in the head and is to seek an explanation.

 

The Paris-based International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities, to

which Macau, Hong Kong and 50 other racing jurisdictions are affiliated,

made the comments in the wake of last week's exclusive report in the Sunday

Morning Post revealing the killings, which take place every Thursday.

 

In the wake of the story, the Macau Jockey Club has maintained its policy is

humane, claiming all horses shot are suffering from " chronic conditions " .

 

However, when asked by the Post to provide proof of the chronic conditions

in the form of veterinary surgeons' diagnosis reports, they refused.

 

Speaking from Paris, the federation's secretary-general, Dominique de Wenden

said: " Yes, it (shooting) is shocking, especially for the public. Of course

it's not the best thing to do. "

 

He said it was a common practice around the world to put down horses by

injection.

 

Macau replaced lethal injection with bullets, which are half the price, a

little over a year ago.

 

" In France and the same in England, we use injection, " Mr de Wenden said.

 

" I would say there's no international rule about this [horse euthanasia],

but we will see if we can introduce some agreement for member countries. "

 

Mr de Wenden said the federation would seek an explanation from Macau and it

was drafting a code on racehorse welfare.

 

" I think we will have the discussion with Macau when we introduce

international agreement on welfare. We will find out what is the situation

in Macau at that time. "

 

Yesterday, the Macau Jockey Club's director of racing, Ian Paterson,

insisted shooting was acceptable despite the outcry.

 

He also admitted some horses were shot after their racing days had ended

because their owners did not want to keep them.

 

" I am shocked he [Mr de Wenden] is shocked, " said Mr Paterson.

 

In a statement, the club said that in the past 12 months, 188 ex-racehorses

suffering " chronic conditions " had been shot.

 

The figure was at odds with that confirmed earlier by club veterinarian

Martin Wainscott, who said 300 was in the right " ballpark " in terms of the

numbers destroyed.

 

Mr Paterson stood by the need to put down horses, saying the animals had

irreversible conditions preventing them from racing.

 

He said most owners did not want to keep horses that could not race,

therefore the club had no option but to shoot them.

 

" Our vets would recommend they be retired. In other words, they have to be

put down, unless the owners specifically want to keep them. "

 

He said that even retired horses which were fit to be taken on by a riding

school would be put down if their owners were reluctant to pay for their

upkeep.

 

When asked if animals shot after their racing days had ended could have

lived with proper medical care and financial backing, Mr Paterson replied:

" What you said is very, very true, but the reality is some horses which

could live are put down. That's the decision make by the owners. "

 

The " harsh reality " was that a great majority of owners disowned their

horses, he said.

 

" I don't want to sound callous, I can't keep saying that, but it's reality.

If you accept this reality, then what are we talking about? " he said.

 

Mr Paterson also questioned the fate of retired horses in Hong Kong.

 

" They import hundreds of horses every year. Where do you think all those

horses end up? " he said.

 

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has consistently refused to say how many retired

horses it puts down. It is understood that a top-level meeting last week

decided the club would not comment on the row.

 

Mr de Wenden, however, said he was not convinced that most owners around the

world would discard their horses irresponsibly. " No, it's not universal,

especially in Europe. If owners put down their horses, there would be big

articles in the newspapers and it would be a major, major problem here, " he

said, adding: " Racing is something more than just making money. "

 

The chairman of the Macau Racehorse Owners' Association, Cheng Ming-leung,

said he personally felt that horses should belong to the Macau Jockey Club

after they retired.

 

" It's for the Macau Jockey Club to deal with the horses. Owners do not know

where they will end up, " he said.

 

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said shooting was an

acceptable veterinary practice buy questioned the over-production of

racehorses in Macau.

 

Executive director Chris Hanselman said: " They treat horses as commodities,

not lives. The killing of the horses is sheer disrespect of lives. "

 

ella.lee

antoineso

 

 

Slaughter continues out of public view as workers harass reporters

by Harald Bruning in Macau

and Antoine So.

 

The weekly cull of retired racehorses continued in Macau last week, five

days after the gruesome practice was exposed by the Sunday Morning Post.

 

But unlike the previous week, the animals were shot well out of public view,

away from a road outside the racecourse in Taipa.

 

Again, six horses were shot in the head and their bleeding carcasses dumped

in a landfill on Coloane island. Also dumped on Thursday were the carcasses

of more than 20 greyhounds from Macau's canidrome.

 

The Macau Jockey Club later told the Post that five of the horses were

suffering from incurable conditions and one had a broken leg.

 

While waiting at a roadside overlooking the racecourse, reporters were

constantly shouted at by workers from the racecourse, who accused them of

jeopardising their livelihoods by reporting on the slaughter of the

racehorses.

 

Just as before, the bleeding carcasses of the six horses were dumped in a

hole and an excavator swiftly buried them after a garbage worker covered the

bodies with a bucketful of lime. The whole process lasted 10 minutes.

 

One truck driver transporting a load of dead horses had to be ordered by a

public official to carry on with the job after he tried to drive away

reporters.

 

 

Stunned readers offer to aid doomed mounts

by Niall Fraser

 

Shocked readers of last week's story exposing the killing of racehorses in

Macau have flooded the paper with scores of letters and e-mails of protest,

some of them offering sanctuary for doomed animals at facilities across the

globe..

 

Without exception, readers condemned the practice, describing it variously

as shameful, uncivilised and disgraceful. Some called for a boycott of the

Macau Jockey Club.

 

Offers to take horses no longer capable of living an extended life, came

from Hong Kong, France, the Philippines and Malaysia.

 

Among the letter writers was a former owner of horses that raced in Macau.

He asked not to be named but said that rumours of healthy horses being put

down had been " going round for years " .

 

" Seeing the horrific front-page pictures and reading Ella Lee's very moving

account about the inhumanity that these noble beasts are going through on a

regular basis in Taipa, really struck heart and home. " the former owner

said.

 

" What one must understand is that the majority of the Macau Jockey Club's

horse owners are a different 'breed' to those found anywhere else in the

world.

 

" Having spoken to many of them, they come to the races for one reason - to

win money and damned be everyone, jockeys, trainers and horses, if they

don't. If it means giving a horse the bullet - literally - it's certainly

no skin off their noses, " he said.

 

Mary Ann Sparrow of the New Territories wrote: " I was absolutely upset to

see beautiful and friendly animals killed right after they have made

millions for their so-called owners.

 

" If the Macau Jockey Club have no quarantine arrangements with Australia...

your horses will be very happy at my ranch in France. "

 

Walter Wyss of North Point wrote: " The club's decision to replace lethal

injections with shooting is just another example of the limitless greed and

disrespect for the horses.

 

" I would gladly sponsor the amount of HK$30 per horse, HK$9,000 a year -

0.02 per cent of the club's profits in 2000. This would at least give the

animals a more humane way to be 'retired'. "

 

Another reader from Sai Kung, who wanted his name withheld said: " With its

slaughter of thoroughbred horses the Macau Jockey Club has turned the 'sport

of kings' into a bloodsport. "

 

And Reena Khubchandani of Hong Kong wrote: " If ordinary people exerted

enough pressure, this disgraceful behaviour and murder of young horses could

be stopped. There is a solution and they owe it to the community, and to

the horses, to find a good one.

 

" Someone has to care, " she added.

 

Peter Pi, the executive director of the Society for the Aids and

Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers, said his organisation's facility on Shek Kwu

Chau island would be prepared to take horses - if their owners would pay for

their upkeep.

 

" This may result in providing some form of useful work for recovering drug

abusers, apart from giving the horses a happy retirement home. Visiting

students to the island may also have a close glimpse, and possibly a ride

on, the animals as well. "

 

Horse owners or officials from the Macau Jockey Club can get details of the

offers of help by contacting the Post's newsdesk on 2565 2604.

 

niallfraser