NYS Humane Association NYS Humane Association

Susan Wagner testified at the Public Hearing on the Welfare of Racehorses in New York State before the Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering and the Senate Standing Committee on Domestic Animal Welfare on Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

Susan Wagner is Founder and President of Equine Advocates which maintains a 140- acre sanctuary in Chatham, NY. Currently the sanctuary is home to 82 equines. Most of these horses were purchased out of kill pens or seized by police in cruelty case raids. Most horses bred for racing never make it to the racetracks. Over a hundred thousand horses are slaughtered annually. Slaughter makes it too easy to dispose of a problem, even making a small profit. Horse slaughter is the garbage disposal for the horse industry. The convenience of slaughter encourages indiscriminate breeding of horses, causing a surplus of horses born each year. If the Federal government banned horse slaughter, the result would be a better and healthier horse industry. https://www.equineadvocates.org/

Susan Kayne testified at the Public Hearing on the Welfare of Racehorses in New York State before the Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering and the Senate Standing Committee on Domestic Animal Welfare on Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

Susan Kayne thanked both Senator Addabbo and Senator Martinez for having the courage to create this venue to hear about the reality of horses bred and used in the racing industry. A lot of funding is needed for the aftercare of racehorses. Ms. Kayne does not think that funding should be controlled by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, a PR organization for the racing industry, that is more interested in covering up racing carnage and the numbers of horses going to slaughter than the aftercare of horses. Unbridled Thoroughbred Foundation - http://www.susankayne.com/Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance - https://www.thoroughbredaftercare.org/

Colleen Segarra testified at the Public Hearing on the Welfare of Racehorses in New York State before the Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering and the Senate Standing Committee on Domestic Animal Welfare on Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

Colleen Segarra testified about discarded racehorses who end up at auctions and are sold by the pound for slaughter. She said that her organization provides support in cruelty cases. One example was the Ernie Paragallo cruelty case in which almost 200 severely neglected horses, many from the racing industry, were seized. The resources required to handle that number of horses was astronomical. She said funding for responsible retirement of racehorses is desperately needed in the industry. http://www.equinerescueresource.net/

Dr. Friedlander testified at the Public Hearing on the Welfare of Racehorses in New York State before the Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering and the Senate Standing Committee on Domestic Animal Welfare on Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

Dr. Friedlander testified before this committee to oppose the slaughter of horses. He stated that New York State should not be a pipeline for horses to be slaughtered in Canada. Furthermore, horses are not being slaughtered humanely as required by the U.S.Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA). https://citizensagainstequineslaughter.org/

John Holland testified at the Public Hearing on the Welfare of Racehorses in New York State before the Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering and the Senate Standing Committee on Domestic Animal Welfare on Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

John Holland is President of the Equine Welfare Alliance (https://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/) , an organization dedicated to ending the slaughter of American horses and the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on public lands. Mr. Holland has determined that about 18% of the 96,000 horses going to slaughter annually from the United States are racehorses. EWA tracks everything they can about the slaughter industry. He says the slaughter industry is an absolute horror. Nobody cares about the animals at all, and it’s all about making money.

The racing industry breeds 20,000 horses a year in New York State alone resulting in thousands of unwanted horses who never make the cut or are worthless after a short racing career. Most of these horses end up going to slaughter because their usefulness is over, no one wants them, and there's nowhere else for them to go. He estimated that providing care for 20,000 horses a year, with average lifespan of 25 years, at a low cost of $2,000 a year would cost $1 billion a year.

If the United States banned horse slaughter and transport to other countries for slaughter, horses could not be disposed of so easily, and breeders would have to become more responsible for the animals they produce.

John Scheib testified at the Public Hearing on the Welfare of Racehorses in New York State before the Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering and the Senate Standing Committee on Domestic Animal Welfare on Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

Mr. Scheib maintains that the welfare of racehorses will always fail because racing is about money. No one gets into racing because this is the best thing do for his horse - it’s all about the money.

Mr. Scheib questions why the NYS Attorney General does not enforce existing laws regarding tampering with a racehorse to affect its performance. It is a felony to illegally drug a racehorse and that rampant violation of the law should be prosecuted.

Mr Scheib is director of Responsible Animal Care (https://www.facebook.com/RACUSALLC/).