I've had too many good dogs break a leg while hare coursing, or smash into the barbed wire while lamping to defend my argument strongly Mr Bold. It would be hypocritical of me to do so. Never the less, the "most scrupulously run abattoir" analogy doesn't work. The animals that are slaughtered in said abattoirs are not seriously injured beforehand, nor are they left to thrash around, broken and bleeding until the bloke with the humane killer arrives.
The abattoir comment mainly referred to seeing the animals in trouble on the course. The issue that most people seem to have with the National is not that they mind the horses dying. They mind seeing it on telly. It is incredibly painful to watch but I would argue that those who watch National Hunt racing all year round are likely to be much more upset by it than someone who just watches the National. Every year during the National Hunt season there are several bad falls in which horses are killed. Or horses just breakdown or are injured.
Because you watch some of these animals every week/every two weeks you really feel like you know them. It's not just some dead horse to you, it's a dead Exotic Dancer whom you've watched many a time running the race of his life and being up against the best horses. A horse that you've cheered on for many a race as he was just such a wonderful animal.
Monet's Garden having a hoof infection grabbed the Racing World's attention (or at least it seemed to) and almost every reader, no doubt, was rooting for him as he fought back from it.
TBF to Aintree there were tonnes of vets on the track (BHA stated a 150 specialist staff were on duty at Aintree focussed on making the race as safe as possible though they don't state how many of them were vets) and I am sure they were there ASAP. In fact, within 2/3 minutes of falling the areas were blocked off and vets were on their way to the fallen horses.
I think that's a pretty decent response time TBH.
I would almost argue that the current sensationalist media and the animal rights activists, like Animal Aid, who want an outright ban on racing (As that is what Animal Aid really want) don't understand horse racing and especially National Hunt and the strong feelings many of the NH supporters have towards the horses.
It's a tragedy that two good horses died in the Grand National, and it's a tragedy that several more horses died or were injured in races outside the Grand National. It was very sad to see indeed, but it's a risk that comes with this physical sport. the sport is doing all it can to limit the dangers to any horses and the horses are well taken care off. Unfortunately, sometimes they fall...and sometimes they even fall badly and are hurt, or killed.
Tragic yes, a reason to ban it..I don't think so.
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