MEDIA STATEMENT ISSUED ON THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2013 CONTACT: MIKE ALLEN on 082 828 0349 Visuals are available upon request to Mike Allen as above GAMBLING ON HORSES’ LIVES EX-TRACK RACERS NEGLECTED AND DYING The ghastly reality of what happens to horses when their racing days are over came to light this week when the NSPCA uncovered the horrific situation on a farm in the Harrismith area. “What we found is a damning indictment – proof indeed – that image and reality with regard to racing are far apart,” explained NSPCA Equine Inspector Mike Allen. The NSPCA responded to information received regarding thin and dying horses in the Harrismith area. The horses were being advertised for sale and the accompanying visual was enough to convince the NSPCA that assistance was urgently required. A warrant was obtained to allow Inspector Mike Allen access to the property where around 33 horses were being kept. The NSPCA Inspector was accompanied by a veterinarian and a qualified farrier. The majority of horses on the property were thoroughbreds, including the off-spring (blood-lines) of Al-Mufti, Western Winter, Tiger Ridge, London News and Model Man. Such was the emaciated condition of the horses that 9 had to be humanely put down on 16 September and a further 9 horses were humanely put down the following day. Two of these horses had serious injuries that had not been treated and which were untreatable at that stage. A mare and her foal were removed by one of the owners and taken to a property in another province. It is alleged that the horses were kept as blood donors for a company that manufactures blood culture media. Criminal charges will be laid in terms of the Animals Protection Act against the two owners of the property whose residences are in Potchefstroom and Kibler Park. The manager of the farm in Harrismith will also be charged. “This is the shocking reality of what happens when horses can no longer race. The term “retired from the track” is misleading. They are traded.” The NSPCA opposes animal racing, stressing that there is more to racing than the race itself. “This is the bigger picture and the part that the public who support horse racing simply do not see. We have to step in when owners can no longer afford to keep the animals or if they have been sold on to individuals who take inadequate care of them or who simply do not care about them.” Animals are not commodities.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 06:45:05 +0000
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