Slate.com: Why Did Eight Belles Have To Be Euthanized?
The reason a broken leg is such bad news for a horse.
After finishing in second place in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, Eight Belles fell to the track with two compound ankle fractures. The horse, the first filly to run at Churchill Downs in nine years, was immediately put down. Two years ago, when Barbaro broke his leg at the Preakness, Daniel Engber explained why such an injury is so devastating for a horse. The full article is reprinted below.
Barbaro's veterinarians say the champion racehorse has a 50 percent chance of survival after breaking his leg at the start of the Preakness. He may not recover even after a successful five-hour surgery on Sunday, during which he had almost two dozen screws implanted to stabilize his bones. Why is a broken leg so dangerous for a horse?
There's a high risk of infection, and the horse may not sit still long enough for the bone to heal. Infections are most likely when the animal suffers a compound fracture, in which the bones tear through the skin of the leg. In this case, dirt from the track will grind into and contaminate the wound. To make matters worse, there isn't much blood circulation in the lower part of a horse's leg. (There's very little muscle, either.) A nasty break below the knee could easily destroy these fragile vessels and deprive the animal of its full immune response at the site of the injury.
Barbaro was lucky enough (or smart enough) to pull up after breaking his leg. If he'd kept running—as some horses do—he might have driven sharp bits of bone into his soft tissue and torn open the skin of his leg. Though his skin remained intact, he still faces the possibility of infection; any soft-tissue damage at all can cut off blood flow and create a safe haven for bacteria.
It's not easy to treat a horse with antibiotics, either. Since the animals are so big, you have to pump in lots of drugs to get the necessary effect. But if you use too many antibiotics, you'll destroy the natural flora of its intestinal tract, which can lead to life-threatening, infectious diarrhea. You also have to worry about how the antibiotics will interact with large doses of painkillers, which can themselves cause ulcers.
If the horse manages to avoid early infection, he might not make it through the recovery. First, he must wake up from anesthesia without reinjuring himself. Doctors revived Barbaro by means of "water recovery." That means they suspended him in a warm swimming pool in a quiet room and then kept him there for as long as possible. Not all horses are willing to sit around in a sling, and the antsy ones can thrash about and break their limbs all over again. (In 1975, the filly Ruffian managed to break a second, healthy leg in the process.)
If Barbaro starts favoring his wounded leg post-surgery, he may overload his other legs, causing a condition known as "laminitis." If that happens, the hooves on the other legs will start to separate from the bone, and his weight will be driven into the soft flesh of the feet. He may also develop life-threatening constipation as a side effect of the anesthetic.
Doctors will often put down a horse that develops a nasty infection, reinjures its broken leg, or develops laminitis in its other hooves. (A horse that's unable to stand will develop nasty sores and can be expected to die a slow and painful death.) A few horses have had broken legs amputated and replaced with metal, but the equine prostheses don't have a great track record.
Got a question about today's news? Ask the Explainer.
Explainer thanks Rick Arthur of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and Carl Kirker-Head of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.
Philadelphia Enquirer: Head Strong: Eight Belles a victim of exploitation
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
It's wrong to breed animals for human pleasure, unless, of course, it's for something to grill.
The news of Eight Belles' demise after the filly's second-place finish
in the Kentucky Derby darkened last weekend. It had been a gallant run
for a young filly in a colt's world - a run that ended once she
crumpled to the ground immediately after the race had ended.
The poor horse, which had broken both front ankles, was euthanized on
the track even before her own trainer knew she'd been injured. And it
all happened right before our eyes.
Our three sons asked why she had to be put down. I did my best to take
my time and offer a full explanation. I really wanted them to know of
my concerns that human exploitation had played a role.
I was grilling while we simultaneously played a game of family soccer.
Four hand-molded ground sirloin patties simmered on the flame alongside
four all-beef hot dogs. The smell of dinner wafted through the
neighborhood as we staged a match between "Man U" and "Chelsea." It was
a day to savor. The forecast hadn't been for such nice weather, or
maybe we would have gone fishing and eaten trout instead.
Checkers, our 13-year-old Labrador, was sniffing around the fire hoping
to steal a burger. Our miniature dachshunds, Mr. Lucy and Floyd, were
digging holes nearby looking for frogs. Our Norman Rockwell scene
wouldn't have been complete without them. We treat our dogs like family.
And there I was, pontificating to my sons as to how the cause of Eight
Belles' death might actually be the way she was treated by the humans
in charge of her.
I told them that Eight Belles was the only filly in the race and that
she had outperformed expectations with a heroic stride. The boys asked
what a filly was, so I explained it to them. They wanted to know why horses injured
like Eight Belles were so readily euthanized, and I tried to help them
understand.
In the meantime, the hot dogs were getting crisp, so I reduced the heat
and put cheese on the burgers. Checkers was alternating between sitting
in her monogrammed bed and circling the grill, all while staring at me.
She really is a member of the family, I thought - just like Winston,
the wily cocker spaniel that stuck by my side for almost 20 years until
his death in 2006.
"Some people think that the breeding practices are to blame," I told my
sons. "See, there was a horse named Native Dancer back in the 1950s,
and this horse, Eight Belles, is one of his descendants. In fact, every
thoroughbred in the race had Native Dancer in their family tree, which
suggests in- or over-breeding. It's just not fair what the humans do to
those horses," I said.
"In a lot of ways, it's nothing but exploitation," I told them. "They
just breed them so fast and race them so young. And in this instance,
it finally took its toll."
There was more I wanted to say. But my wife likes her burgers fairly
rare, the hot dogs were getting even more crisp, and it was time to get
inside and eat. Checkers was beginning to drool, and I wanted to keep
her on schedule. I really love the old girl.
I bit into my burger and, mouth full, announced: "This just isn't right. Somebody's got to stand up for the horses."
Michael Smerconish's column appears on
Thursdays in the Daily News and on Sundays in Currents. He can be heard
from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays on "The Big Talker," WPHT-AM (1210). Contact
him via the Web at http://www.mastalk.com.
SI.com: Sorting out the facts in the Eight Belles tragedy
From Tim Layden - SI.com
For journalists, Kentucky Derby chaos begins in earnest when the race ends. We watch the race from some less-than-ideal location (we are given sensational viewing spots on the balcony at the front of the press box, but it is nearly impossible to report quickly after the race from that perch, because of the crush of humanity between the sixth-floor balcony and racetrack-level winner's circle). Then we scramble to find quick and genuine reaction, before time dulls emotions.
I have viewed past Derbies on a tiny television in a small room off the entrance tunnel, on a slightly larger TV in the tunnel itself, on a big screen in the paddock. Last Saturday, I watched from a trackside railing across from the sixteenth pole, 100 yards short of the finish line, as Big Brown exploded at the head of the stretch. When he passed in front of me, the storyline was clear and singular: Super Horse. How quickly that changed.
I ducked under the outside rail and onto the track and began snagging quick comments. Winning trainer Rick Dutrow ran past and embraced friends en route to the televised trophy presentation on the infield. Another writer stopped me and said, "There's a horse down on the backside."
The next five minutes are a blur. I see veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage being interviewed by NBC's Kenny Rice. I don't know it then, but he's delivering the news that Eight Belles has been humanely destroyed. I hear this moments later from another source. Then I'm standing on the infield with four other writers, Pat Forde of ESPN.com, Steve Haskin of the Blood-Horse and Rick Bozich and Eric Crawford of the Lousiville Courier-Journal. Everybody looks a step off. When the Derby ends, you throw yourself into report-the-race mode. Now the story is unclear. Super Horse. Dead Horse. Two stories, intruding on each other.
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Alarm Bells over Eight Belles: Wayne Pacelle: A Humane Nation
Wayne Pacelle in A Humane Nation writes:
It's happened again. A horse breaks down in one of the signature events of horse racing, precisely at the time that average Americans briefly turn their gaze to the spectacle and become fans or followers for a day. Their interest in horse racing is as fleeting as one or two mad dashes of horses in a Triple Crown race. But now, rather than remembering the pomp and circumstance and getting a positive dose of the sport, they remember the names of the poor creatures who break down on national television.
For those only mildly interested in horse racing, it certainly appears that something is wrong with the sport. First Barbaro. Now Eight Belles, a 3-year-old filly. And for those immersed in the sport—the breeders, trainers, owners, veterinarians, and the fans—there's been a history of denial, but now perhaps a grudging acknowledgment of the problems with horse racing.
PETA: "Eight Belles" Should Sound the End of Racetrack Betting
PETA:
ust after crossing the finish line in the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2008, a young filly named Eight Belles collapsed when both of her front ankles snapped. She was euthanized in the dirt where she lay, the latest victim of the dirty business of thoroughbred racing.
Eight Belles' death is yet another reminder that these horses are raced when they are so young that their bones have not properly formed, and they are often raced on surfaces that are too hard for their bones—like the hard track at Churchill Downs. Eight Belles' jockey whipped her mercilessly as she came down the final stretch. This is no great surprise, since trainers, owners, and jockeys are all driven by the desire to make money, leaving the horses to suffer terribly.
PETA is calling on the racing industry to suspend the jockey and trainer, to bar the owner from racing at the track, and, at the very least, to stop using young horses who are so susceptible to these types of horrific injuries. We're also demanding that the industry stop racing horses on hard tracks and switch to softer, synthetic surfaces, which would spare horses' bones and joints, in addition to calling for a permanent ban on the use of whips. Help PETA call for an end to cruelty masquerading as sport by using the form below to take action today.
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Newsday: Eight Belles' death leads some to seek changes
"It was a sad scene, but what can I say? ... It's a part of the sport," said Robinson, 57, of Queens Village, as he sat watching the races in Belmont Park yesterday. He has been betting on horses for more than 40 years.
To him, the filly's catastrophic injury, which led to her being euthanized on the track, was the result of a strategic blunder by her handlers and not an inherent flaw in the sport.
"I don't think they should've started the filly with 19 colts in the race," Robinson said. "It takes a lot out of the fillies to run with the boys."
Eight Belles' fatal fractures - coming after a second-place finish to Big Brown in a field crowded with male horses, who are often bigger and faster than fillies - cast a pall through the crowd of more than 157,000 at Churchill Downs and millions more who watched on television screens. It also prompted some to call for more research and reform to prevent these injuries.
"When something like this happens, it's terrible for the image of the industry," said Dr. Dean Richardson, chief of surgery at University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa. Richardson oversaw three major surgical procedures for Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner who was euthanized months after fracturing his hind right leg in the 2006 Preakness.
"It should provide more impetus for the industry to find out how to prevent these types of injury. But it's never going to be perfect. These are horses that are working at their physiological limit," he said.
While Eight Belles' injuries were exceptional in their timing and severity, several experts said, fatal injuries in racehorses are not that rare. No nationwide statistics are available on thoroughbred breakdowns, but a 1992 Kentucky survey found 1.4 fatalities occurred for every 1,000 starts.
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