FWD: HELP STOP THE CRUEL HORSE RACING INDUSTRY FROM COMING TO ISRAEL

[Guest guest]

[Note from Moderator: Israel is not usually considered Asia but technically it

is so I am allowing this one to be posted as it does seem important and AAPN has

been involved in campaigns against horse-racing.]

 

Dear fellow animal rescuer,

Can you please ask your members to send letters to the 3 addresses

below and to sign our petition against the Israeli government's

plan

to establish, in a major way, the cruel horse racing industry in

Israel? We need to generate lots of letters and signatures for this

campaign to be successful. Without that, tremendous suffering will be

inflicted on thousands of horses year after year. Thank you for

whatever you can do to help.

Gratefully,

 

Nina Natelson, CHAI

www.chai-online.org

 

þLETTERS NEEDED ! SIGN THE PETITION! PLEASE CROSS-POST WIDELY!

 

HELP STOP THE CRUEL HORSE RACING INDUSTRY FROM COMING TO ISRAEL

 

Hakol Chai, Israeli sister charity of CHAI in the U.S. (Concern for

Helping Animals in Israel), filed a petition in Israel's Supreme

Court to block the government's plan to build two large race

tracks,

and to bring gambling on horse racing to Israel. The plan calls for

initially importing 2,000 horses to begin racing.

 

Hakol Chai's appeal is based on the fact that the government

failed

to consider the animal welfare implications - the horrendous cruelty

to horses - before reaching its decision, as required by law.

 

The cruelties of the horse racing industry include:

 

1. Thousands of horses bred annually, a few fastest selected out to

race, the rest sent to slaughter (up to around 1/3 of all born).

 

2. Horses trained too young (1 ?or 2), before their bones have

matured, making them susceptible to injury, including catastrophic

injury, in training and on the race track. The races with the biggest

prizes take place when they are only 2 and 3.

 

3. Drugging ?a recent front page New York Times article

exposed

the fact that this is a widespread problem in the industry. There are

so many drugs and new ones all the time, that labs cannot detect

them. Drugs are given, and then other drugs given on top, to conceal

the presence of the first ones. Steroids are given so they can race

even while injured (one race track vet said 70% of horses are on

steroids while racing, which is dangerous), performance-enhancing

drugs, drugs to control bleeding in the lungs and ulcers, morphine,

and more.

 

4. Other health problems, such as bleeding from the lungs (happens

to a high percent of race horses and can result in sudden death),

chronic ulcers, and heart problems (which also can result in sudden

death).

 

5. Though Thoroughbreds can live to 25, at around 6, when they are

no longer fast enough or if they are injured, they are sent to

slaughter or into a downward spiral of abuse, including former

champions. Few are used for breeding.

 

6. Videotape shows even their first time out, they are whipped up

to 30 times in one race.

 

 

The same number leave racing as enter it each year. The same abuses

have been found in every country where the industry exists. In Macau,

a newspaper exposed photos of them being lined up and shot in the

head, one after the other.

 

Hakol Chai's petition included expert written testimony by: Holly

Cheever, DVM, Vice-President of AVAR and of the NY State Humane

Association, author of a manual on cruelty investigations and

prosecutions, and trainer of NY State law enforcement officials;

Jennifer Hack, Director of Investigations for the U.S. Equine Rescue

League; Eva Berriman, BVSc, former racing vet, teacher on horse-

related issues, and author of books, video tapes and curriculum

materials on horse care used throughout Australia; and Tim

O'Brien,

PhD, former head of Research for Compassion in World Farming, former of The Genetics Forum, currently an independent animal

welfare researcher for Animal Aid UK and other organizations.

 

See article about this initiative in Globes:

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?

did=1000013113 & fid=1725

 

PLEASE WRITE (POLITE ONLY) LETTERS OF PROTEST TO THE FOLLOWING

MINSTERS (faxes and snail mail -80 cents/letter - are better than e-

mail). SEE SAMPLE LETTER BELOW.

 

Mr. Ehud Olmert, Acting Minister of Finance

1 Kaplan St.

Jerusalem 91131, Israel

Email: lishka

Fax: 972-2-5635769

 

 

Ms. Limor Livnat, Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport

34 Shivtei Israel St.

Jerusalem 91911, Israel

Email: llivnat

Fax: 972-2-6753726

 

 

Mr. Israel Katz, Minister of Agriculture

POB 30

Beit Dagan 50250, Israel

Email: yiskatz

Fax: 972-2-6496170

 

Please sign the petition at:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/398531952

 

For more information, see: www.chai-online.org

 

To donate to this campaign, go to:

 

http://www.chai-online.org/joincont.htm.

 

Donations to CHAI in the U.S. are tax-deductible.

 

CHAI/Hakol Chai thank Animal Aid UK for their invaluable assistance

with this campaign.

 

THANK YOU TO ALL FOR WRITING LETTERS AND SIGNING THE PETITION!!!

 

SAMPLE LETTER:

 

Dear Mr. Katz (or Mr. Olmert or Ms. Livnat):

 

Please reverse the government's decision to bring gambling on

horse

racing to Israel. Experience in every country where this industry has

been studied shows that it is extremely cruel. Thousands are born

every year, from which only the fastest are selected, the rest

slaughtered. Horses are trained and raced too young, before their

bones have matured. They are susceptible to serious injuries and most

are drugged so they can race even while injured. The stress of being

pushed beyond their limits and brutally whipped causes them to bleed

from the lungs, suffer from chronic ulcers, and experience heart

attacks. When they suffer catastrophic injuries, or when the racing

career of the fastest ends, often as young as 6 years old, these,

too, are sent to slaughter, or are sold from hand to hand, into

increasingly worse conditions.

 

Does Israel intend to go into the bloody business of slaughtering

thousands of baby horses every year? Will Israel launch the live

transport trade, reviled for its extreme cruelty by humane people

worldwide - sending horses on torturous journeys only to lead those

who survive to slaughter? Will Israeli citizens stand for watching

horses break down in training and on the track, with crushed bones

and blood coming from their nostrils? Surely Israel can find another

way to earn money. Please learn from the experience of other

countries where animal organizations are working hard to expose the

cruelties of racing and to end it. Don't let this industry of

greed

and cruelty get a foothold in Israel.

 

Sincerely,