PETA Statement: Santa Anita Racetrack’s Announced Reforms

For Immediate Release:
March 14, 2019

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo regarding the Santa Anita racetrack’s new racing rules banning all medications, including Lasix, and banning the use of the whip, announced following the death this morning of another horse:

PETA thanks Santa Anita for standing up to all the trainers, veterinarians, and owners who have used any means—from the whip to the hypodermic syringe—to force injured or unfit horses to run. This is a watershed moment for racing, and PETA urges every track to recognize that the future is now and to follow suit. This groundbreaking plan, which PETA has pushed for, will not bring back the 22 horses who have died recently, but it will prevent the deaths of many more and will set a new standard for racing that means less suffering for Thoroughbreds at this track. Racing must go the way of the animal circus, but this will eliminate some of the misery on its way out. PETA will be protesting at the office of the district attorney today, and we will urge her to order a criminal investigation into the trainers whose horses died in the last three months.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.