NYRA adopts anti-slaughter policy

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- The New York Racing Association is taking a stand against horse slaughter.

Officials with the organization on Thursday announced they have adopted a new policy through which the association will permanently revoke stalls provided to any horse owner or trainer found to have directly or indirectly sold a horse for slaughter.

The policy will apply to all tracks in the state operating under the NYRA franchise, including the Saratoga Race Course.

Dan Silver, a NYRA spokesman, said the policy shows the organization's commitment to protecting the sport's "equine athletes," and that he hopes it prompts leaders at other racing venues to follow suit.

"I'd like to think that the industry is realizing how important it is that the stars of our sport are able to find homes that will care for them once they retire," Silver said. "It's something that should be at the forefront at every track."

While horse slaughter is banned in the United States, animal rights advocates fear thousands are still being transported every year to Canada and Mexico, where the practice remains legal. There, the horses are killed before being shipped to Europe and Asia for human consumption, according to animal rights advocates.

Diana Pikulski, executive director of the Saratoga Springs-based Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, said NYRA's new policy should send a message to those entering the racing world that horses aren't simply commodities.

"It's a very important development because it means that people are going to be thinking - from the beginning, when they first breed or buy a horse - about what the plan is for the end of their life," she said.

Horses that race at Saratoga are of such a high caliber that they don't often end up at slaughter, but many later end up at lesser tracks where the problem is "more acute," said Pikulski, whose organization helps place thoroughbreds at safe havens when they reach retirement.

In adopting the new policy, NYRA joins a growing list of racing venues that are making efforts to improve the chances that horses competing at their facilities find safe homes after their careers end.

Suffolk Downs, located in East Boston, became the first track in the country to implement an anti-slaughter policy in June 2008. Churchill Downs, Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park and a host of other venues have moved to adopt similar policies since then.

Even before adopting the policy, though, Silver said NYRA was making efforts to make sure thoroughbreds racing at the association's venues were not ending up at slaughterhouses by working with rescue organizations such as the retirement foundation.

NYRA officials could have revoked trainers' or owners' stall privileges if they found out they had sold a horse to slaughter even without a policy, he said, but no such punishment has been handed down in recent memory.

"We haven't had a lot of issues that would have come up that would have caused us to take action on this because I think a lot of New York horseman are already behind us on this," he said.

NYRA will rely on rescue organizations to report problems in the future before moving to investigate issues and leverage the new policy, Silver said.

A federal law that would prohibit the transport, sale and possession of horses for slaughter and human consumption is meanwhile being considered in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.