Deadspin
When future generations study the first decade of the 21st Century, the debate of course will turn to the Great Racehorse Protests of 2008. In the wake of the Eight Belles tragedy at the Kentucky Derby, PETA is bringing all guns to bear on the remaining Triple Crown events; planning protests at the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore next week and the Belmont Stakes in New York in June. Should be lots of fun, with counter-protesting and everything. Hey, wouldn't it be hilarious if we could somehow manage to run the OIympic Torch through those two locations as well?
PETA's demands:
"We are calling for cruelty to animal charges to be pressed regarding Eight Belles against the jockey and the owners of the horse," Rajt said. "It is actually a Kentucky state cruelty to animal charge. We also say the steward's board at Churchill Downs needs to immediately file a complaint against jockey Gabriel Saez for whipping Eight Belles as she came down the final stretch to the wire. We need standards in place to bar horse owners who allow this kind of cruelty."
I take no side in this debate, except to say that one of the counter-protester's signs on Tuesday, "Horses Are Born To Run," is very misleading. I believe that the photo below proves that horses would all rather be doing something else if given the choice.
PETA Demonstration At KHRA Expected To Continue In Baltimore [Thoroughbred Times]
Comments
I thought it was only Pennsylvania bars Hillary was drinking in?
I would NEVER "whip" a horse
/Jorge "Chop Chop" Chavez
Tramps like Eight Belles, baby, they were born to run.
This is rather comical, seeing that PETA maniacs act like a bunch of glue-sniffing morons.
Can't we just ship all the protesters off to Burma?
Dear PETA:
Really, it was a good run--the food was good, the living conditions were easy, and I liked running, damnit. Plus, being euthanized was much better than the prospect of eventually being taken up the rear flap by my own father. Lighten up, for chrissakes.
Sincerely,
Barbaro
So they've already won the battle against cat juggling?
You'd think a Clydesdale would prefer a Budweiser.
Horse pun thread, part 2?
I'm positive these PETS folks wear leather shoes.
Dear Eight Belles,
Thanks!
Sincerely,
R. Mexico
What a bunch of neigh-sayers.
Mmmmm...horse pitas...
Is that picture a clip of the new Sex and the City movie?
Could have been worse. The jockey could have put a plastic bag over its head and then whipped it.
If whipping is a crime, then someone put an arrest warrant out for my friend's wife.
I take no side in this debate, except to say that one of the counter-protester's signs on Tuesday, "Horses Are Born To Run," is very misleading.
♬ Sprung from cages out on gate number 9, Chrome hoofed, hormone injected, breakin legs after the line... ♬
@Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies: Yes to the Guinness, naaaaay to the horse.
Horses Are Born To Run
I think this is a sign I should take Thunderoad at 18-1 in the Belmont.
I don't really have a horse in this race...
I am bridled at the lack of respect my fellow commentators are showing toward this inhumanity.
MAY WE DANCE WITH YOUR DATES?
- BuzzB and the Knights
@muggsybogues: COTD!
Hey, wouldn't it be hilarious if we could somehow manage to run the OIympic Torch through those two locations as well?
Why don't we get Al Sharpton over there while we're at it?
/dreading evening commute today
@Civil Negligence:
You can bring a horse to water-ed down beer...
For some reason I don't think they'll go after the lions who ride horses.
Buzz....out with his date.
Yes, it is indeed so cruel for an animal to race 6 times a year for a few years, then spend the next 25 having sex. I bet they'd all prefer to be wild and maybe live to be ten.
PETA is bringing all guns to bear
This sentence would be 100,000 times cooler if it said "PETA is bringing guns to all bears."
Now if only we could get the Anti-Protest Protesters* at the Preakness for a Protest Triangle causing a rip in the space-time continuum swallowing all these groups into an inescable abyss I could finally hear the voices in my head again.
*Actually saw this in Harvard Square once and promptly crossed the street.
Ok, so why the pic of Sarah Jessica Parker buying a beer?
Ugh. This from a group (peta) that regularly euthanizes 90% of animals brought to its offices, more than the SPCA.
I can't wait to see the OTB regulars manning the counter-protest.
Doesn't PETA know that horses wear leather saddles and bridles? Horses are just as guilty as people in the oppression of cows!
Someone need to talk some horse sense into those PETA idiots.
Can somebody get Marvin Harrison to bring his to the Preakness and show the protesters whats really going down?
@FEAST: BRING HIS COLT. damnit.
@mydogisdexter: damn
@futuremrsrickankiel: I totally agree. Hooray, bear!
Al Cervik's steak approves.
@Carlton_Whitfield: yes, I hear they are going to beat the PETA protesters with their daily racing forms and generic cigarettes.
@futuremrsrickankiel: In Soviet Russia, bear hunts you?
Someone should ask Bobcat Goldthwait to ask the horses for their opinion.
@ClueHeywood:
They were confused by the Cat Wizard Juggler and moved on to simpler things.
Can I whip Bissinger?
/Leitch
@Jen P:
No one cares because cows are delicious.
Bartender: So why the long face???
If PETA is so concerned about creulty towards triple crown winners they should go after Ted Williams' son
Looks like Dana Jacobson fell off the wagon.
And I am now a horse-racing fan. Fuck PETA with Barbaro's dick.
Canter we all just get along?
Where was PETA when this guy needed some rubber nipples?
"Don't see many horses in this bar."
"At these prices, I can see why!"
I think PETA is missing the real abuse at the Belmont Stakes, which is the horses being forced to come to Long Island.
@BigJimSlade:
(whispers): Call the police!
@UpstateUnderdog: PETA may act a bit silly at times, and some of their methods may be extreme, but the amount of change they have affected in this country (everything from eliminating fur coats from clothing lines, to improving conditions for animals on industrial farms) is significant, and respectable.
Who is the real idiot? The person questioning the possible abuse of animals, or the person who attends the Derby in a gaudy dress and sunhat, sipping on a mint julip, betting thousands of dollars on which midget will whip a horse harder?
So it's ok for jesus freaks to fuck 14 yr old girls and it's ok for stupid football players to put plastic bags on kids heads, but it's not ok to race horses. Fuck you peta and the horse you wouldn't ride in on.
Why don't they take the PETA people into inner Baltimore and show them what real cruelty looks like.
Stupid fucking horse coulda ordered a vented Coors Light.
@Absurd Hero: In any and all situations, the idiot is the one who's not getting drunk.
Why don't we have the horses do something safer, like diving? It worked in that movie "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken".
The bullhorn and huge sign religious protesters were outside of Churchill Downs on Saturday. What's one more group with an axe to grind to ignore?
I'll gladly join in throwing meat at the PETA protestors.
Horses cannot read these protest signs, nor will the signs be read to them.
@Doyle McPoyle: @Absurd Hero: And what is this "sipping" you speak of?
@Doyle McPoyle: John Daly, is that you?
@supermike5alive: ?