Most critics of horse racing have focused on advocating for new rules and regulations that would make it safer. Battuello, by contrast, has never wavered from a core belief: Horse racing cannot be fixed.
CHRIS CHURCHILL: Twenty years ago, there were 50 or so greyhound tracks operating in the United States. Today, there are just four, including two that are slated to close.
That near eradication, driven by changing tastes and new state laws, is one Patrick Battuello hopes to witness for another sport. For the founder of Horseracing Wrongs, it would mean his long campaign against an industry he considers inherently cruel had succeeded…
Battuello, 55, grew up in the Capital Region, went to Siena College and made his living in the pizza business. It was Peter Singer, the writer and philosopher responsible for an army of vegans, who changed Battuello’s life and made him an animal-rights activist.
He founded Horseracing Wrongs in 2013, cataloging thoroughbred deaths around the country while targeting an industry that was largely ignored by the animal-rights community. Today, with partner Nicole Arciello, he runs the nonprofit out of his home near the Siena campus — an effort that has grown into a full-time job.
If Battuello, interviewed by HBO, the New Yorker and most of the major newspapers, isn’t the leading nemesis of horse racing, well, he must be pretty close. He’s also a self-described extremist.
You see, most critics of horse racing have focused on advocating for new rules and regulations that would make it safer. Many don’t believe the sport is inherently cruel. Battuello, by contrast, has never wavered from a core, immoderate belief: Horse racing cannot be fixed.
“It’s just wrong,” he said, “and there’s no way to make it right.” Wait. Aren’t thoroughbreds born to run? Sure, said Battuello. But they aren’t born to compete, wear blinders or spend hours in isolation. They aren’t designed to be pushed to extremes on a hard, circular surface while human beings scream from the stands with little pieces of paper in their hands. It’s hardly a natural environment, he adds.
Battuello is particularly frustrated by the endless focus on drugs in the sport from politicians and, ahem, some in the media. Yes, drugs make horse racing even more cruel, he said. But drugs aren’t the reason that, by his count, roughly 2,000 racehorses die annually at U.S. tracks. (See list of horses Killed on or at U.S. Tracks in 2020)
“The deaths are an inevitable aspect of horse racing… And you don’t have to be a vegan or an animal-rights activist to look at this and say, ‘Why are we still killing horses to bet?’ “…
Think it won’t happen? Well, you might be right. Dog racing has never had the cultural weight of horse racing or the economic might and tradition associated with venues like the Saratoga Race Course.
On the other hand, the popularity of horse racing has been plummeting for generations, and much of the industry is now propped up with government subsidies that are increasingly difficult for politicians to justify.
After all, if dog racing is so unacceptable that 41 states have essentially made it illegal, how do we condone not just allowing horses to race but using public funds to prop up the sport? The difference between dogs and horses is not that substantial. The contradiction seems unsustainable. SOURCE…
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