12th Horse Dies at Saratoga; Suspend Racing Now, PETA Says

For Immediate Release:
August 23, 2023

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Saratoga Springs, N.Y. –

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo regarding the death today of Burning Bright, the 12^th horse to die at Saratoga Race Course during this season:

It’s sickening that NYRA announced a new safety protocol on the very day when yet another horse has died at Saratoga Race Course, bringing the fatality count to 42 on NYRA tracks so far this year. Now that the heat’s on, NYRA—which did little to protect the horses—is trying to placate the public with a “safety” measure that won’t even be in place until the last week of the Saratoga season, after the Travers Stakes weekend. PETA denounces the new protocol as public relations drivel and renews its call for Saratoga to suspend racing until NYRA puts a serious safety plan in place.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.