Might be a crazy question, but why are horses killed ('put to sleep') when they break a leg? It usually seems to happen with racing horses. Is it simply because they can't race any more and are therefore of no value to the owner, and may in fact cost him a lot of money? If that is the only reason, then I find it very difficult to accept. I know that there are such things as prostheses for horses just as there are for humans - so, even if a horse loses his leg, he shouldn't have to die because of it. Does anybody know more about this than I do - ie are there "good" reasons why a horse with a broken leg is killed?
Horses put to death because of broken leg
- Thread starter Audrey
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a quick google brought this explanation up
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: Why are so many horses put down after injury. Why can’t they be treated, after all one does not shoot a human being or even a dog if they break a leg?
[broken link removed]
: Why are so many horses put down after injury. Why can’t they be treated, after all one does not shoot a human being or even a dog if they break a leg?
- Vets take every opportunity to repair fractures where it is possible.
- Some fractures are successfully treated. Danoli and Moorcroft Boy are just two examples of horses which have returned to racing after serious injury.
- Several limb fractures can actually be treated, however, there are many problems which subsequently arise during the recovery period. For example, horses cannot be “put to bed” or have their leg put in a sling. When you or I break a leg there will be a significant period of time following surgery when no weight whatsoever can be put on the fracture, and we only weigh a matter of stones. Most fractures are simply unable to bear the weight of half a ton of horse immediately after treatment.
- In addition, the risks of infection following a fall on turf and soil are very high indeed and sometimes no amount of anti-biotics can prevent infection spreading and causing irreparable damage. Furthermore, when there is a fracture there is often significant soft tissue damage as well and this can also complicate the repairing of an injury.
- Many horses, and racehorses in particular, do not adapt well to sustained period of inactivity during convalescence.
- When we talk about a horse’s welfare we are talking about the quality of life for a horse. In the event of a horse incurring a bad fracture the vet responsible usually has two options, he can either try and treat the injury, which will, at best, result in a protracted and painful recovery period with no guarantee of a return to a useful activity or, by the administration of a quick injection an end can be brought to any pain and suffering.
DrMoriarty
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Back in the 60s, the 'Hollywood existentialists' reckoned that the horses were the lucky ones! 
icantbelieve
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I'd wondered about this as well to be honest as I'd assumed that for proven horses keeping them alive and extracting the semen for breeding purposes would mean that an owner with dodgy morals would keep the poor animal alive for profit reasons.
Good to see animal welfare comes into it or maybe their insurance covers future earnings, actually I now can't help but feel that this is the reason and that the owner is only too happy to take the money and doesn't consider the animal too much.
Good to see animal welfare comes into it or maybe their insurance covers future earnings, actually I now can't help but feel that this is the reason and that the owner is only too happy to take the money and doesn't consider the animal too much.
. Rubbish! (with all due respects). It would no more difficult to administer an injection than it would be to 'administer' a bullet in the head. Your argument is nonsense. Whenever I have seen a horse being 'put down' on TV at a race (which airing unfortunately has happened, although rarely, when the race is live on TV) it appears to me that the horse is certainly not fighting the guy with the gun! Your argument suggests that because the poor animal is wounded, pained and frightened, this is a very good reason to shoot him in the head rather than make the process a little easier on the poor unfortunate creature. I think you've shot yourself in the foot Observer!Observer said:
Hmmmm, are you sure that you want to ease the animals suffering or the sensibilities of the watching public? (Interesting that the guns used in UK racetracks are REQUIRED to be fitted with silencers! Can't have the animal loving public hearing a nasty BANG, can we?)Andrewa said:
Look, this is basic stuff. A quick bullet in the head will produce immediate loss of consciousness and rapid death. On the other hand, lethal injection (following the US human model which was designed to be as humane as possible!) would require a cocktail of painkillers, muscle relaxants and a toxic agent to induce cardiac arrest. (Even then, experience from recent US executions suggests that lethal injection is not entirely pain-free and the subject may possibly experience quite an agonising death.) It takes up to a minute for the painkillers, (usually barbituates) to kick in. And that's in human beings, in a controlled environment with an IV drip already in situ. Can't possibly be any quicker for a horse weighing 5 to 10 times as much (and who needs a fairly hefty physical volume of liquid to be injected) who's lying on the racetrack. But, even if all goes well, the vet finds a vein quickly, the horse doesn't struggle, and a suitably large and effective injection is administered, it still does not produce as fast a death as shooting does. It may not be pretty but it's effective.
They dont show this deliberately as its not needed to be seen. The times Ive seen it happen at racecourses, where no screening was available (they put up screening so punters dont have to see the animal getting shot), the horse has been in considerable distress and an immediate solution is needed. Bullet is fastest method. A half ton agitated beast, albeit injured, is not one to be trifled with. Really tho, what difference does it make? Surely youd like the animal to be put out its suffering as soon as possible?
I was simply asking for the reasons why shooting would be used instead of an injection. No need for everybody to get on thier 'high horse' !! By the way, I wasn't even thinking about the sensibilities of the watching public to be perfectly honest. My only thought is for the animal. My question has been answered. Thank you.
Clubman - "poor horsies" - do you feel you have to speak in this childish fashion in order to try and bring a perfectly serious and adult thread down to a level with which you feel more comfortable??
Clubman - "poor horsies" - do you feel you have to speak in this childish fashion in order to try and bring a perfectly serious and adult thread down to a level with which you feel more comfortable??
ClubMan said:
With or without the i, I dont really understand your point. Just because you are meat eater (and actually in Italy horse is as common a meat as beef at home) doesnt mean you dont understand where your meat has come from, nor does it mean you dont want your meat treated humanely when it was alive. Or am I misunderstanding you?