The Humane Society of the United States also weighed in Monday, arguing that horses are becoming more fragile because they’re being bred for speed, not durability.
“There are problems coming to light more than ever – problems related to breeding,” said Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society president. “Breeding too many horses, and waiting for someone else to clean up the problem. And breeding them for body characteristics that make these animals vulnerable to breakdowns, especially those spindly legs on top of these stout torsos.”
Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian at Churchill Downs during the Derby, acknowledged there was merit to that argument. He suggested there should be more financial incentives for horses who display longevity, rather than just the ability to come up big in one huge race.
“The value of a horse is no longer related to how much he can win on the racetrack,” Bramlage said. “It’s related to how likely he can get you to one of those events. The breed creeps toward a faster and faster individual, but that individual may be brilliant because they have a lighter skeleton. We’re inadvertently selecting for the wrong thing.”
Eight Belles broke both front ankles while galloping out a quarter-mile past the finish line and was euthanized on the track. Alex Waldrop, president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, said there will be an autopsy to determine cause of death.
Hahahaha that was funny Ru! But seriously how else do you want the animal to end its life, on a farm where he’ll never to be able to walk again, just using up lots of money? I mean its an industry that makes money, people want to complain that the U.S. is in recession but yet want to penalize a business and take away from the economy! c’mon man grow some nuts people if you’ve ever had to put down one of your own pets becuase it can no longer live pleasurably, know that its a necassary evil. On a side note i think that people who keep paying to have surgery after sugery on an animal to keep it alive are in some small way demented and need help letting go, I mean death is a natural part of life. Now as far as the whips thats another issue, but it goes back to the economy thing i was begining to talk about earlyer.
That’s how society works, the end always justifies the means, always has. Always will. Nothing else matters.
Acts are neither good or bad, what matters is the outcome, e.g.- Engaging in conflict that will result in certain deaths of many innocent others will save the life’s of many others ( Iraq).
Whether racehorses, greyhounds on whales end up on our dinner table by being massacred by harpoon, bullets to the head don’t matter because the ultimate end benefits us through financial gain.
Suffering is suffering, whether experienced by animal or human. Society will justify the means by the end result. But it the same reasoning that allow humans to inflict suffering on other humans, cruelty breeds cruelty.
Sharmer, do you honestly think the suffering of humans and animals is no different? Are you saying that I am no higher form of life than my dog? If you are saying that, can you do so with a straight face?
I mean, call me a speciesist, because I most certainly am, but I think there is a big difference between the suffering of humans and that of animals.
I become involved in animal rights through the animal experimentation controversy. I found the conditions in which cats were tested cruel ( testing for changes in fibres composition with extreme loads) many cats would rupture tendons and bones. I didn’t see the point of these tests because the documented lab work had already been carried out.
Theres no question that experiments with animals has greatly advanced medicine over the years. For example, the discovery of insulin, which has been beneficial to diabetes, was accomplished in large through experiments on dogs. For the advance of modern medicine animal experimentation can be justified. However testing animals for cosmetics is much too frivolous to justify animals to pain.
To answer your question, many philosophers and scientists are asked the same question. Do animals have rights? How do humans differ from other animals? Do animals feel and suffer pain?
Dr Donald Griffin Rockefellar university, asked this specific question " Does human consciousness differ from that of animals in kind, or only in degree? The evidence gives us no reason to assume that humans are somehow detached from other species. Even “lower” species as honeybees have forms of communication, self- awareness, anticipation of future events.
but I think there is a big difference between the suffering of humans and that of animals
Nine out of ten serial killers torture and kill animals (cats and dogs) during their childhood, they lack any empathy towards life, killing humans is the continuum. There is a difference however theres also a continuum. As a society our cruelty towards animals, allows us to cruel and brutal to people. Unjust wars, childhood slavery, genocide is allowed to happen because society does not know what’s really right and wrong. Where in moral fog, some bury their heads in sands, others are so blinded they fail to see the type of world we live in.
Sharmer, I think that there is a difference between humans and every other species, and do you know what that is? It’s that we are humans, they aren’t. A cheetah does not think about the well being of the gazelle when it tackles it to the ground and rips its throat out. Similarly, we humans are concerned first and foremost with the species that matters most to us, the one to which we belong.
The nuts who go around parading for animal rights always amused and angered me, as it seemed their time could be much better directed towards ending the many problems facing humanity itself. Once we have no more major problems, then it would be perfectly fine to champion the causes of lesser beasts, but until then there are far too many things directly concerning us that need to be dealt with.
As for your serial killer comment, I am actually a psychology student and this is something I’ve encountered studying abnormal psychology. I agree that a lack of empathy (in general) will indeed go hand in hand with an increase in cruelty, but our treatment of animals in no way leads to the societal problems we face as a whole. It’s not so much as people don’t feel empathy for the animals, it’s that we feel more towards our own species and we act accordingly.
On a personal note, the way the world is sickens me, but unlike those in PETA, I would prefer to deal with the problems directly facing humanity first. I’m actually on my way to becoming a police officer once I graduate college. I know I won’t make much of a difference, but I’ll damn sure try.
Since you’re a Psychology student you would know behaviorists attribute all human behavior as stimuli- response, we are not a thinking species according to them.
I don’t support civil Libertarians or animal right activists, because their arguments are not logical and are full of rhetoric and emotion. Do we really have empathy towards each other? You only need to look at the genocide’s in Rwanda and Sudan, were inter tribal conflicts based on ethnicity has resulted in millions of deaths, by machete. Ironic that the Western world lets this go by.
There are universal moral principles of right and wrong, which should extend to animals. The killing of whales is particular distressing. Whales scream in terror as they are being massacred and unlike humans, they aren’t equipped with a consciousness shut off as their flesh is harpooned and explosives rip through their organs.
Animal cruelty and human suffering are not that distant from each other. Why? It’s the universal principles of profit and greed that is the cause of this suffering for both animal and man. Remove the greed and then suffering for both animals and humans will diminish.
It’s good that you desire to do something about the world we live in. But sometimes the laws we uphold are unjust in the first place. It’s not individual actions that ruin the world but the principles and values that we live by.
Many animal rights activists are well intentioned as are many of PETA’s members.
The problem is that many of these people take extremist and unrealistic views on the subject.
They become extremly intolerant of how other people and cultures deal with the issue of animals.
They are willing to go so far as to try and destroy ancient time honored customs of other cultures. For example the seal hunt in Canada.
They want to prevent animals from being used in medical experiments that could lead to medical cures. They are also like most groups who become extreme, guilty of quite a bit of hypocrisy.
Many animal right activists become extreme in their viewpoints. It’s because their arguments are based on emotion rather than reason. But you need to understand that these people are motivated by emotion, therefore their viewpoints may be tarnished by the over riding emotional involvement in the field.
Logic and reason can tell us that animal treatment is horrific and brutal, man inhumanity to himself and animals is product of societal greed. Greedy capitalists ruin the world. We are all infested with this insidious disease.
I very much agree with everything you said,except the last part about capitalism.
I’m not going to go into a long rant. I will just say this. If it was not for capitalism we would all still be living in mud huts with a life expectancy of about 33 years.
I thank god for capitalism and it’s benefits, It has allowed me the chance to make a living and support my family.
Without it there would be no C.F. website or forum. Now isn’t that enough to love capitalism?
Fortunately, I’m not a behaviorist. I tend to look at things from the social cognitive and evolutionary perspectives. Sure, our actions are a result of our perceived experiences (real or otherwise), and what evolution has given us (our large and complex brain), but I still think that we humans are set apart from animals. Maybe it’s just because I’m a human and want to feel superior, but I think the fact that we can even consider the concepts of morals or greed puts us above other life forms.
Regarding Rwanda, such a case would seem to speak to a lack of human empathy, but I’m not so sure. The western world (and by this I mean the US) has stepped in to stop dictators and genocide and their actions have been greeted less than kindly. Perhaps one conflict in which they’re perceived as the bad guys was enough at one time.
And on the matter of universal moral principles, I agree with you completely. But again, our bubble of empathy can only extend so far. Some species must suffer if we humans intend to continue to rule the world. I’m not happy about the suffering of animals, but it’s a price I would happily pay to avoid living in a grass hut and barely managing to scrape together a living for my family through horticulture.
And greed is not a new plague besetting us, nor will never go away. Though I feel humans are empathic and are genuinely ‘good’ at heart, we also always want more. We’re are selfish by nature and this will be our ultimate downfall. Really though, isn’t this true of other animals as well? I don’t see you telling lions to stop feasting on the poor suffering wildebeests, or foxes to stop feasting on terrified rabbits, or even blue whales to stop gorging themselves on helpless krill. The fact of the matter is that if any other species was in our place and had our capabilities, they’d be doing the same thing.
Capitalism is not entirely flawed. Even Karl Marx liked some aspects of capitalism. In many industries capitalism is the driving force behind progress. The problem being, capitalism turns our nature into greed, and our empathy towards others is replacing with this insatiable desire for more.
Not sure about your hut theories. Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts and Gothic cathedrals were all developed hundreds of years before the birth of capitalism.
I defend capitalism because many anti-capitalist critic capitalism for all the wrong reasons.
No we are not selfish my nature, it is capitalism that turns our nature towards greed. Whether it’s the latest four-wheel-drive or digital television or the latest gadget – these corrupt nature rather than liberate humanity. What happens when the next four- wheel-drive comes out? We want that one.
Yes its true animals compete for food resources. And yet we like to think of ourselves as superior to animals. Capitalism is competition for resources. Is there a equitable distribution of wealth and resources in the world ?
Obviously no, were just like animals we compete at all costs for resources. This difference we think of ourselfs as higher level species based on moral fabric. What if there was a superior species that preyed on humans? Now that would be inhumane. Were human animals. Nothing more.
Some species must suffer if we humans intend to continue to rule the world. I’m not happy about the suffering of animals, but it’s a price I would happily pay to avoid living in a grass hut and barely managing to scrape together a living for my family through horticulture
I don’t necessary disagree. I don’t see the brutality of consuming common red or white meat. Protein is necessary requirement for humans. However killing whales and horses is just too far. There needs to line. Animals hunt in the wild in order to survive. However we kill animals for sport, for profit, and even entertainment. If we are to think of ourselves as different too animals than we must should not act like animals.
I don’t think captitalism is to blame. If given the choice, any creature with the mental capacity to do so would choose more of something over less of something. We humans want cars, and Iphones, and computers because they make our life easier (if not more complex). Capitalism doesn’t make us want those things, the benefits each item provides do.
And what is your point about there not being an equitable distribtution of wealth around the world? So what if some people have less. I’m a firm believer in the strong and smart rising to the top of the pack. This is one reason why I like capitalism, despite the fact that it is fundamentally flawed. Those who are good enough to get the resources end up with them.
And if a superior species started to prey on us then I would not be happy about it and I’d fight like hell to stop it. However, if they eventually succeeded in conquering/destroying us, then we’d deserve what we got as we weren’t strong enough to make a stand or smart enough to strike a truce.
And on the topic of hunting, I agree. I fish, but I eat everything I catch and don’t kill anything (except mosquitos and spiders) for the sheer sport of it.
Since you don’t seem to like capitalism or the greed it has supposedly instilled in us, how would you go about fixing our modern day situation? If you have a solution I would damn sure love to hear it. But I’m afraid you don’t, as we’re already too far gone to make any drastic changes at this point.
Sharmer, I think you are confusing Corperate greed or personal greed with capitalism or at least you are linking the two of them. One does not have to lead to the other.
Capitalism was going full throttle during the great Egyptian, and Roman, dynasties, as well as other ancient cultures.
As to the difference between animals and humans I think the main factor is the Brain. Our brain power is much more advanced. Does this make us better than Animals? I’m not sure, but I think it is safe to say we are certainly much more technically advanced.
Sure you are. You sell your products via this website. You advertise when Charlie is giving speaking engagements,on this site. C.F. also gives coaching advice for a fee on this site. None of this is free nor should it be. CF has worked hard and has the talent to produce a product that other people are interested in. He therefore should be entitled to reap the profits that the freemarket can provide,
Also without someone inventing and marketing the computer. There would be no CF forum.