June 17, 2023

Why Do Race Horses Keep Dying?: After 21 horses died at Aqueduct in 2011-12, 30 horses died at Santa Anita in 2019 and 12 horses died at Churchill Downs, Los Angeles Times contributor John Cherwa asks, "How can this be? Why can’t more horses be saved?"

posted by rcade to other at 08:53 PM - 1 comment

Interesting piece, although I do think one key component is missing. Race horses (of the type we're talking about here) compete between the ages of 2 and 5. The natural lifespan of a domestic horse is 25-30 years. As I've learned over the years, making comparisons between animals and humans can be clunky as hell, but I'm going to do it anyways: in public health one of the statistics used when looking at premature mortality (think childhood disease or street violence) is Years of Potential Life Lost. Viewing these deaths through that lens would, I'd hope, add some extra fuel to the case that the whole industry is pretty nasty.

posted by Ufez Jones at 11:39 AM on June 18, 2023

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