On Wednesday, June 4, NPR's All Things Considered ran a segment they headed, "Bred for Edge, Greatest Racers May Have Handicaps."

You can listen to the four minute segment or read the web story, which provides much of the same information, on line at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91158342

It discusses concerns that Big Brown, who just won the Preakness at which Eight Belles died, will be raced in the Belmont Stakes this Saturday, running on a cracked hoof. The story tells us that the danger to Big Brown is small, and it presents, overall, what some of us might feel is too "balanced" a view of horse racing. But it does include this segment:

"After Eight Belles' breakdown, a sports columnist in The New York Times referred to horse racing as the new bullfighting. Some animal-rights groups have called for a ban on racing. And a congressional committee is investigating. Industry leaders have taken notice. The Jockey Club, which maintains the official thoroughbred registry, has a safety committee that's looking into issues such as whether legal steroids are safe and whether track surfaces need to be changed, and it is trying to get a handle on just how many horses break down."

That kind of coverage of "the sport of kings" is new, and should be commended. Please thank All Things Considered for focusing on the issue. Positive feedback for animal friendly coverage encourages more of it. You may wish to include your own (polite) comments about horse racing.
NPR takes comments at http://www.npr.org/contact/
Choose All Things Considered from the pull-down menu.

Those who are just learning about what goes on behind the scenes might enjoy reading the horse racing section in "Thanking the Monkey," which can be viewed on line at: http://www.thankingthemonkey.com/view_jump.php

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)

Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read reviews of Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals" and watch the fun celebrity studded promo video.