Update: December 10, 2021

After PETA requested a thorough investigation into the sudden death of 3-year-old racehorse and Kentucky Derby “winner” Medina Spirit, we’re taking it a step further to protect other horses trained by Bob Baffert. Yesterday, we called on the California Horse Racing Board to protect the surviving horses in trainer Bob Baffert’s barn by issuing what amounts to a restraining order against him.

Pending necropsy results, PETA is calling for 24/7 security guards and additional drug testing. We’re also pushing the board to ban Baffert from having unsupervised contact with the horses in his barn and from making any veterinary decisions about them, as well as appointing an independent veterinarian to make all medical decisions.

Update: December 7, 2021

Medina Spirit collapsed and died during a workout at Santa Anita racetrack.

Trainer Bob Baffert claimed that the horse died of a heart attack—but this isn’t the only time one of his horses has suddenly dropped dead.

Medina Spirit

Seven of Baffert’s horses died mysteriously during a 16-month period that was suspiciously linked to his reckless and routine administration of the powerful hormone thyroxine to horses without thyroid conditions.

He has continued to be embroiled in drug controversies since then, right up until Medina Spirit’s notorious positive drug test in the Kentucky Derby.

All of Medina Spirit’s veterinary records must be seized, and a thorough investigation must be conducted. Baffert’s attorneys must not be allowed to control the narrative.

PETA urges Del Mar and Santa Anita racetrack officials to bar Baffert pending the outcome of an investigation and necropsy.

Medina Spirit –  Bob Baffert

UPDATE: June 3, 2021

Now that a second sample from the Bob Baffert–trained horse Medina Spirit has tested positive for a prohibited substance, bettors who’ve been cheated by putting money down on the rigged Kentucky Derby may contact PETA or attorneys who are filing class-action lawsuits.

But it’s important to remember the other victim here: Medina Spirit.
He should be thoroughly examined by independent veterinarians to find out why he was administered a powerful medication and whether it was through injections to his joints rather than with a topical cream.
The racing industry must at last stop buying Baffert’s nonsensical excuses and kick him out for good.

Bob Baffert and Medina Spirit, the morning after the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

“Doping horses has got to stop—not only is it cruel, it’s also race fixing. This settlement serves as a shot across the bow to trainers who care more about their bank accounts than about horses: Stop cheating or risk having to pay up.”
(PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo)

Performance-enhancing drugs often mask horses’ pain, allowing them to race and train with injuries that would otherwise be disabling.
Illegal doping and the overuse of medication are rampant and frequently lead to injury, broken bones, and death.

As a PETA investigation showed, illegal drugging is common in horseracing, as is the misuse of anti-inflammatories, painkillers, muscle relaxants, and more to keep injured horses on the track and bringing in money when they should be recuperating from strains and injuries.

An average of three horses die every day on racetracks in the U.S.

https://www.peta.org/blog/bettor-sues-horse-trainer-owner-doping/

And I mean… Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was training on a California racetrack. Then suddenly the horse collapsed.
Betamethasone has been detected in Medina Spirit.
This is an anti-inflammatory steroid that can be administered no later than 14 days before a race.
Of course Baffert did not want to know anything about it, he emphasized that he had not given the horse the remedy.

In recent years, however, Baffert has repeatedly been targeted by the state horse racing authorities, as permanently prohibited substances have been detected in horses from his stables.

Many people view horse racing as a harmless sport in which the animals are willing participants who enjoy the thrill to the fullest.
The truth is that behind the scenes lies a story of immense suffering.

The life of a horse used for racing is miserable and painful:

-The use of performance-enhancing and pain-masking drugs is rampant in the racing industry. The horses are more likely to suffer from pulmonary bleeding and catastrophic injuries on the track as they’re pushed beyond their physical limits.

– While their bones are still growing and not yet strong enough to handle the speed of racing, the abuse of yearlings and 2-year-olds in training is commonplace, resulting in catastrophic injuries and often death.

– Jockeys have been known to whip horses so mercilessly that the animals’ eyes have hemorrhaged and they’ve sustained other injuries.
As if the races themselves weren’t hard enough, the horses endure repeated auctions, serial ownership, and constant travel throughout their careers.

Racehorse at the slaughterhouse – Australia

Retirement equals slaughter.
Whenthe animals are no longer making money, they’re shipped to Mexico, Canada, or Japan to be slaughtered for food.

The easiest and best way to speak out against the horceracing Mafia is by not supporting these tragic events.

We want an end to all horse racing because it is a cruel and exploitative industry.
We can all help: Avoid anything horse racing related and educate your friends about the cruelty to animals practiced by unscrupulous veterinarians and business people to make money from horses.

My best regards to all, Venus

Commissioner Stella Kyriakides & Dr Jane Goodall: Improving animal welfare is in the interest of all of us

14 December 2021

Last week, Commissioner Kyriakides and Dr Jane Goodall took part in the high level Conference “EU Animal welfare today & tomorrow”, gathering the main players in the field of animal welfare from the EU and beyond.

Animals are sentient beings. This is recognised in the EU treaties, and we have a moral and societal responsibility to ensure that on-farm conditions for animals reflect this. The reality is however that today, billions of animals around the world are kept in intensive conditions. Millions are shipped for very long distances. The fact that each farmed animal is a sentient being that is able to feel fear, despair and pain is at times ignored. They are not always treated with the care and respect they deserve. Changing this is a priority for the EU.

The Jane Goodall Institute has worked tirelessly, in partnership with local communities and farmers, to improve the lives of people, animals and the environment, introducing sustainable livelihood options that address local needs. These values mirror the beliefs and ambitions of the European Union, which places sustainability at the centre of improving its citizens’ lives, rights, working conditions, and the environment.

The EU is also leading by example on animal welfare in many areas. Since the adoption of the first EU animal welfare legislation in 1974, laws, regulations and multiple actions that protect our animals have been consistently expanded and reinforced, resulting in a better quality of life for millions of animals. 

A strong commitment to animal welfare is among citizens’ growing concerns and demands. Everyone can help make a difference, and in the EU, citizens have been given the power to do just that. In 2020, over one million people joined together through a European Citizens’ Initiative calling on the EU to ‘End the Cage Age’. This led to unprecedented action and the EU Commission’s commitment to propose, in 2023, to phase out and finally prohibit cages for animals such as sows, calves, rabbits, hens, ducks, and geese. 

But we still have a long way to go. Where possible, animals should live in an environment where they can behave naturally, and us, citizens, we need to move towards a more plant-based diet with less red and processed meat. 

As we all know, climate change and loss of biodiversity are threatening our future. The health of humans, animals, plants, and even our planet, are all intrinsically linked. We humans are part of the natural world and depend on it for air, food, water – everything. But we also depend on healthy ecosystems, each one made up of interconnected plant and animal species. 

The harm to the environment driven by our current demands on resources has led to increasing recurrences of droughts, floods, and new pests that pose significant threats to our food systems and habitats. To our future. They only highlight the need for sustainability in every aspect of our lives, including our food systems. 

Our task is to build a robust and resilient food system that guarantees citizens a sufficient supply of affordable food, of good and safe quality and with the wellbeing of farmed animals front and centre. Animal welfare and health is both a cornerstone of this shift and the way forward.

The Commission’s ambition is, with the help of farmers, industry, animal welfare organisations and consumers, to maintain the EU’s status as world leader in animal welfare. We can only achieve this objective by putting people and partnerships at the centre of our approach. 

The EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy is an unprecedented commitment to making food systems fair, healthy, environmentally and animal friendly and based on sustainable models of agriculture. A shift in this direction would not only benefit millions of farmed animals, but also the quality and safety of our food, our health, as well as the environment. 

With the Farm to Fork Strategy, we have a unique opportunity to improve the lives of every being, both human and animal, always having as our guiding force that animal welfare matters.

Let us aim high to the benefit of farming families, consumers, animals and our planet.

– Commissioner Stella Kyriakides & Dr Jane Goodall

Regards Mark