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INGRID NEWKIRK'S LETTER TO HILLARY CLINTON
"Dear Senator Clinton,
Animal cruelty is not a partisan issue. In light of Eight Belles' tragic death in the Kentucky Derby, I ask you to condemn horse races.
I support sentiments expressed in the letter below and urge you to denounce brutal spectacles such as horseracing. Horses forced to run so
fast their legs can't support their weight never "win." Dogfighting, cockfighting, and horseracing measure an animal's worth in dollars. When
their glory fades, racehorses are neglected and abused. Some wind up on kill floors.
Animal protection issues matter to myself and many other voters. Please be more aware of this untapped constituency and take a stand against
cruelty.
As a high profile political figure with the esteem of many women, I regret to say that your public support of horseracing � and
specifically betting on Eight Belles � makes you culpable in her destruction. I ask you now to publicly condemn races like the Kentucky
Derby. Eight Belles ran for her life and was fiercely whipped as she came down that final stretch when she was no doubt in a great deal of
pain. We cannot call ourselves a civilized nation if we allow any living being to endure such abuse.
Races like this are the equivalent of child sweatshops. These are not even seasoned horses: They are young fillies and colts whose joints are
not formed enough to endure such a grueling race. Despite this, they are pushed beyond their limits. The Triple Crown and other major horse
races have become the graveyards of too many horses who were called champions.
For example, Go For Wand, who went down in the 1990 Breeders' Cup Distaff and then stumbled up and tried to keep running with her broken
leg dangling; Union City, who fractured a leg in the 1993 Preakness and was destroyed; Prairie Bayou, who that same year suffered a
compound fracture in the Belmont Stakes and had to be destroyed; George Washington, who was euthanized after breaking his leg while
running the Preakness last year; and of course Barbaro, the 'poster horse' of the racing industry's failures and excesses, who despite efforts
could not be saved from the injuries sustained during the 2006 Preakness.
Barbaro's injuries were terrible � fractures of his canon bone, sesamoids, and long pastern as well as the dislocation of the fetlock
joint. These are just a few of the horses we hear about � they are the winners, the horses who run the big races. Hundreds of horses
meet the same painful, deadly fate every year in the horseracing industry.
A racetrack is not a place for a fun day out. Attending the Derby is as despicable as attending a dogfight. Most horses you see will not end
up out to pasture on a beautiful ranch but will be sent overseas to be slaughtered for someone's dinner plate. At some point, all horses stop
winning.
We call on you to publicly reject betting on such hideous spectacles of domination over wonderful animals who deserve more than pain and
death for human profit and amusement."
"Very truly yours,
Ingrid E. Newkirk, President, PETA"
INGRID NEWKIRK'S LETTER TO SENATORS OBAMA AND MCCAIN
"Dear Senators Obama and McCain,
Animal cruelty is not a partisan issue. In light of Eight Belles' tragic death in the Kentucky Derby, I ask you to condemn horse races.
I support sentiments expressed in the letter below and urge you to denounce brutal spectacles such as horseracing. Horses forced to run so
fast their legs can't support their weight never "win." Dogfighting, cockfighting, and horseracing measure an animal's worth in dollars. When
their glory fades, racehorses are neglected and abused. Some wind up on kill floors.
Animal protection issues matter to myself and many other voters. Please be more aware of this untapped constituency and take a stand against
cruelty.
Eight Belles ran for her life and was fiercely whipped as she came down that final stretch. She was no doubt in a great deal of pain. We cannot
call ourselves a civilized nation if we allow living beings to endure such abuse.
Races like this are the equivalent of child sweatshops. These are not even seasoned horses: They are young fillies and colts whose joints are
not formed enough to endure such a grueling race. Despite this, they are pushed beyond their limits. The Triple Crown and other major horse
races have become the graveyards of too many horses who were called champions.
For example, Go For Wand, who went down in the 1990 Breeders' Cup Distaff and then stumbled up and tried to keep running with her broken
leg dangling; Union City, who fractured a leg in the 1993 Preakness and was destroyed; Prairie Bayou, who that same year suffered a
compound fracture in the Belmont Stakes and had to be destroyed; George Washington, who was euthanized after breaking his leg while
running the Preakness last year; and of course Barbaro, the 'poster horse' of the racing industry's failures and excesses, who despite efforts
could not be saved from the injuries sustained during the 2006 Preakness.
Barbaro's injuries were terrible � fractures of his canon bone, sesamoids, and long pastern as well as the dislocation of the fetlock
joint. These are just a few of the horses we hear about � they are the winners, the horses who run the big races. Hundreds of horses
meet the same painful, deadly fate every year in the horseracing industry.
A racetrack is not a place for a fun day out. Attending the Derby is as despicable as attending a dogfight. Most horses you see will not end up
out to pasture on a beautiful ranch but will be sent overseas to be slaughtered for someone's dinner plate. At some point, all horses stop
winning.
We call on you to publicly reject betting on such hideous spectacles of domination over wonderful animals who deserve more than pain and
death for human profit and amusement."
"Very truly yours,
Ingrid E. Newkirk, President, PETA"
