From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2008:

LEXINGTON, Kentucky– Widely regarded as an appropriate
horse sport for young women, three-day eventing has in recent years
suffered an injury and fatality rate among both horses and riders
that rivals British steeplechase racing and appears to far exceed
that of American-style track racing.
Public attention to safety in horse competitions as of June
7, 2008 remained focused on the parallel foreleg fractures suffered
on May 3 by the filly Eight Belles, moments after she placed second
to Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby.
In Lexington, however, leaders of the U.S. Equestrian
Federation and U.S. Eventing Association met to try to figure out how
to stop the little-noticed toll of eventing, which many eventing
veterans believe was once much less than it is today.

Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2008:
LOUISVILLE–Eight Belles, 3, a filly trained by Larry Jones
and ridden by jockey Gabriel Saez, 20, charged home second in the
Kentucky Derby on May 3, trailing undefeated Big Brown by four and a
half lengths, but broke both her front ankles seconds later while
“galloping out” around the first turn, and was euthanized where she
fell.
“There was no way to save her. She could not stand,”
trainer Larry Jones told Associated Press racing writer Beth Harris.
“Galloping out” is the post-race slowdown of the field.
Racehorses are stopped gradually to avoid pile-ups and injuries.
“She didn’t have a front leg to stand on to be splinted and
hauled off in the ambulance,” said track veterinarian Larry
Bramlage. “In my years in racing, I have never seen this happen at
the end of the race or during the race.”

Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2008:
NOME–A hit-and-run snowmobiler at midnight on March 28,
2008 ended Lance Mackey’s effort to become the first winner of the
Triple Crown of Alaskan sled dog racing, severely injuring his
already ailing stud dog Zorro, 9, injuring several other dogs less
seriously, and wrecking his $3,000 sled.
Mackey, 38, was in third place, 20 miles from finishing
the 408-mile All Alaska Sweepstakes, and had just passed a
checkpoint at the town of Safety, he told Associated Press, when
two snowmobiles overtook him. One of them plowed into his sled and
team. “Three or four dogs were sucked underneath and Zorro,” who
was being carried, “was trapped in the sled bag,” Mackey recounted.
Mackey had Zorro flown first to Anchorage and then to Seattle
for more advanced care than is available in Nome, and took the
opportunity to plead for better traffic control along sled racing
routes. “I almost got hit on the way into Nome during Iditarod and
then was almost hit half an hour later,” Mackey said.

Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2008:

LONDON–The Royal Veterinary College pays
the Greyhound Clinic in Essex £10 per dog to
kill healthy racing greyhounds and supply body
parts to the college, revealed Daniel Foggo of
the London Times on March 2, 2008.
The fee paid by the RVC is in addition to
the £30 per dog that the Greyhound Clinic charges
dog owners, Foggo wrote. “The RVC, the oldest
and largest veterinary college in Britain,
admitted that it had similar agreements with
other clinics,” added Foggo.

Read more