ARE YOU WILLING TO BET ON OUR HUMANITY?

Last week when Daniel got home from work we were flicking through the channels after watching dinner and believe it or not, I actually stopped to watch "real sports" with Briant Gumble. The story was on horse racing and some of the hidden practices that go on every day 'behind the scenes' at the stables. He interviewed a stable worker who talked about owners who sell their horses for meat as soon as they stop running as fast. (When I say this I mean horses that are in excellent condition, coming in third or fourth, rather of first in races.) She said the phrase "from the stable to the table" is thrown around jokingly amongst horse owners. My immediate question was: Who eats horse meat? It turns out the horses are sold for meat that will be used in pet food and in the European and Asian food markets. Ugh!! Daniel and I debated over who is at fault, the horse racing industry or the food companies that purchase horse meat? While it is true that if there wasn't a market for the meat, the horses wouldn't be slaughtered for it, I still believe that there is something fundamentally wrong about the current trends in horse racing. A New York Daily News Reporter concisely iterates some of my qualms with the sport when he says, “The thoroughbred race horse is a genetic mistake. It runs too fast, its frame is too large, and its legs are far too small. As long as mankind demands that it run at high speeds under stressful conditions, horses will die at racetracks.”

The article highlighted below discusses the interesting topic of sports in which death is often the result of or in some cases, part of the entertainment, whether it be the deaths of people or animals. Think of bullfighting, the roman gladiators, cock fighting, and even car racing, which can sometimes leads to the deaths of drivers. The article also talks about how PETA is often quick to support causes which place the feelings of animals over people and will jump on anyone if it advances their cause (often making them look like lunatics, I might add.) For example, PETA's condemnation of horseracing "even extended to presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, who picked Eight Belles to win, and daughter Chelsea, who attended the event." Anyway, here is the article: Horse Racing.

While I am not ready to jump on the PETA's crazy cart and ride around throwing paint on people, I do think that cruelty is something that humanity should strive to fight. Watching re-creations of the gladiator fights of ancient days we are horrified to see the enjoyment people took in watching others suffer. Since we believe that human beings are advancing as the years progress, I'm hoping that people will one day look back at the days of watching horses collapse from heart attacks and broken ankles on race tracks wth similar disgusted sentiments.

This article is not about the vices of gambling, but that component of the "sport" makes it one which seems to have the potential of ruining both animal and human lives. Regardless of all the negatives, the profit of those who sponser and promote the races is given higher priority than any notions that we should advance our humanity, stop cruel practices, or discourage gambling. So, for the meantime, human greed prevails and I'm sorry to say that I'm not willing to bet that things are going to change any time soon.