On this edition of Your Call, we discuss why eight horses died in the lead up to and since the Kentucky Derby.
Elizabeth Banicki used to work in the horse racing industry, but left due to its cruelty. She says horses are pushed to exhaustion. There is no other mainstream sport where carnage and indifference occur so regularly – and are as tolerated. Is it time to ban the billion dollar horse racing industry?
Guests:
Elizabeth Banicki, former racetrack exercise rider, former reporter and writer for The Austin Chronicle, and freelance journalist for the Guardian
Patrick Battuello, animal rights activist and founder of Horseracing Wrongs
Web Resources:
The Guardian, Elizabeth Banicki: Another weekend of death at the Kentucky Derby but don’t expect change
The New York Times: At Churchill Downs, Humans Failed the Horses Again
Horseracing Wrongs: What's Wrong With Horseracing?
The Guardian, Elizabeth Banicki: What do horses feel at the Kentucky Derby? Mostly fear and pain
The Guardian, Elizabeth Banicki: Horse racing is too far gone to be saved. The next best thing is to be honest about it
The Guardian, Elizabeth Banicki: I spent half my life in horse racing. The Medina Spirit scandal lays bare why I left
The Guardian, Elizabeth Banicki: After 15 years at the racetrack, I can no longer watch a horse race
