They shoot horses, don't they?

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Sunday April 06, 2008 15:23

by Roger Yates

The casualties of slave racing grow. Irish numbers unknown.

174 horses have died on British race tracks in one year. Three deaths at the latest "Grand" National Race. This does not include those killed away from the racing arena. It is not clear how many Irish horses are killed every year.

The horse named McKelvey suffered an injury at the 20th fence of this year's "Grand" National and was killed - or in racing ideology, "humanely put to sleep."

Emphasising the appropriateness of the winner's name, Comply Or Die, McKelvey, Time to Sell and In the High Grass died this year. According to animal protectionists, Animal Aid, 174 horses have now died in British horse races since March last year. Of course, in deeply speciesist societies nonhuman slaves will be made to race, and in such circumstances, we should expect casualties.

Perhaps now, however, it is time to think again about those "harmless flutters" on the races?

Dr Roger Yates
UCD

Comments (1 of 1)

174 dead horses would be approximately 71,166kg of horsemeat or derived protein (&/or) byproducts

by Iosaf

Mon Apr 07, 2008 13:35

Given the average height of a thoroughbread racing horse now stands between 16 and 17 hands & using the standard size ratio for estimating weight in adult horses (should a scales not be available for the job) hte formula being

Wt (kg) = [(girth)2 x length] ÷ Y
where y=11900
(measurements are in centimetres)

Gosh. 71 thousand kilograms of meat is a lot of food. Shame to see it going to waste, but I'm sure the consortia who own these animals see a marked depreciation of their investment. After all as any equine familiar sort of guy knows a kilo of horse meat sells at around 42euros if it's lean & organic. I wonder are Irish thoroughbreds fed organic feed? Of course the nitpickers will be on me like a ton of bricks soon pointing out the average yield of 85kg of meat from your average cow regardless of girth or height & say I'm overestimating the yield on your average racing nag. Too lean they'll say. Too many hormones in those thighs, will add others. Which is why I included horse derived protein "(&/or) byproducts" in my estimate. You know the sort of thing they put in cat food. I didn't want use the word g-l--u-e on what I presume is an animal rights rather than food politics related thread.

(That's why I spellt out the bad word there, people are very sensitive about these things.)