AB - Horse racing a cruel sport (LTE)
Letter The Edmonton Journal, Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The Journal recently published an article about a dog that was tortured and left to die by teenagers. Albertans responded with outrage, calling for punishment of the kids who committed the crime.
Yet every day, we openly allow various forms of cruelty to animals that are equally unpleasant.
The horse who was injured last week during a race at Northlands Park is an example of a socially acceptable form of animal cruelty. Its leg was shattered and the horse had to be “destroyed,” as if it were a car that had crashed; as though it wasn’t an intelligent, living being.
The animal died for fun and entertainment, so that some folks could make and others lose money, and so that somebody could go away and brag about winning a race.
I hope our politicians will discourage this heinous cruelty to animals by discontinuing funding for horse racing.
Sherry Dawn Knettle, Devon
© The Edmonton Journal 2006
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