N.Y. Governor Risks Horses to Keep Belmont Racing: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
June 8, 2023

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo regarding Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to allow racing at Belmont Park this weekend, even if the Air Quality Index is at the “unhealthy” level of 150-200:

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul should fire her advisors without delay. Her plan to allow three days of horse racing, including the arduous mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes, is foolhardy and dangerous. People are being advised to stay in and all outdoor activities have been canceled, yet the governor wants Thoroughbreds to run at breakneck speed in this air. The horses won’t be wearing masks, and they’ve already been breathing in smoke and particulates for several days. Their bodies will not have any chance to clear their lungs. The governor would prefer to risk sickness, injury, and death rather than postponing racing. We urge the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the New York Racing Association to cancel the races until conditions are safe for the animals they claim to care about.

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.