Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Sad day Indeed

After weeks of force-fed sensationalized stories about Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro’s health, the horse was finally put down. You can read the awesome coverage with the aptly named article - Sad Day for Racing: Barbaro Euthanized. What is sad is the fact that this horse was treated better then most Americans. In a country where 41 million Americans are without health insurance, a horse had a gaggle of high paid doctors perform nearly two dozen surgeries. Now they are calling the horse a ‘Hero’ claiming he was ‘brave’ to go through the ordeal – bullshit. It was a f’in horse not a New York City firefighter running into a collapsing building to try and save lives, it was an injured animal. Even more sad was the Barbaro Fund, which raised $1.2 million dollars for equipment for the horse for post-surgical recovery. How sad is it that people will shell out millions of dollars to help a dying horse? I love animals and will miss my dog when she’s gone but if people sent millions of dollars to help Brandi the Wonderdog, I would be ashamed and so should the arrogant sport of horse racing. There is a bright side though, that horse will make some fantastic glue.


6 comments:

PSUgirl said...

I don't understand the monetary donations either - it would seem that there are more needy causes. But at least those donations went, generally, to things that improved the facility and actually affected his care. What I REALLY don't understand are the people who sent flowers. On the news they spoke to the local florist who said that she would get about 6 orders a day - some were for "carrot wreaths" but most were just flower arrangements - She said that most of the "standing" orders had been changed to condolence arrangements. She said she got orders from all over the world.

Galen said...

Also the thing that really scared me was the "religious medals" that some people sent. I'm no bible thumper but that HAS to be wrong on so many levels.

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness this story has come to an end. We got weekly updates on the local news here in Philly. I don't understand it. The owner is a multi-millionaire. Why donate money? And how cooky are you if you attend a candle light vigil outside the clinic? People need to get a grip. It's just a horse that was pumped full of drugs that probably made it's muscles too big for its bones and caused the injury. It was exploited for money and I'm sure they froze the sperm before they put him down.

Michael Pigott said...

Question:

When they realized the horse wasn't going to make it, what poor pre-vet student had to jack that horse off dry to save the sperm for sale later?

Galen said...

Note to self: don't take drink of beer while reading CHM's comments.

Anonymous said...

I think you are an asshole. Horses have feelings, just like any living thing. That horse was a true athlete, not a stupid toy. He could have had a very promising future. Sure that was a lot of money, but its not required to put in money. whatever.