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Wednesday 3 October 2007

A Stick in the Mud


Horse racing is bad, hmkay?

Argument 1: Not it's not -- the horses love to run.

Counter 1: I'm sure they do, but I'm sure they'd much rather run just when they felt like it, not with some guy sitting on their back whipping their asses, and especially not on injured, strapped, steroid-injected joints.

Argument 2: Not it's not -- those horses are loved and are the best looked after horses in the world!

Counter 2: They are as well looked after as any material investment. But only as long as their material value holds out. If they don't win races, they're killed. That ain't love, folks.

Argument 3: No it's not -- it's great for the economy.

Counter 3: Our economy would be fine, just fine, without it.

Argument 4: No it's not -- going to the races is so much fun! I get to dress up and feel fancy, get a lil' drunk, have fun...

Counter 4: Can you do those things not at the expense of animals' wellbeing/life? Horses fall, break legs, and get shot while people are sipping (chugging) their champagne metres away. Please, how can this be justified? And they put screens around them if they have to shoot them. Why cover it up? Does someone feel uncomfortable about the fact that a big beautiful healthy animal is dying because they are there allowing this to happen?

There's no getting around the fact that horses do suffer for this industry, and this industry exists purely for humans' enjoyment. Nope -- I'd rather have fun somewhere else, thanks.

Besides, the "fanciness" of the races is a thin veneer. From what I have seen, most racegoers fall into the "trashy" category.

2 comments:

Claire (ethel loves fred) said...

Totally agree. Anything that makes this kind of money is exploitative - I'm feeling VERY anti sweat shop at the moment as well, yet another example of profit before well being (in this case humans).

mixtapezine said...

I don't like horse racing either.
Hey could you please send you address to the mixtape email address, i can't find you email address anywhere and we want to send you your free copy.