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Equine Welfare

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Equine Welfare 2010 AAEPWRAP-UP SPONSORED BY Equine Welfare BY ERICA LARSON Equine Welfare Issues: An Overview One of the AAEP’s ongoing goals is to address the welfare issues that many hors- es and their owners face. Midge Leitch, VMD, of Londonderry Equine Clinic in Pennsylvania and immediate past chair of the AAEP Welfare Committee, described three key steps the AAEP has taken—and continues to take—to improve equine wel- DINGS fare in the United States. EE The Unwanted Horse: The Beginning She began by describing the phrase, “un- /AAEP PROC wanted horse.” The first time that many AM Americans heard this was in 2005, when RRI ME Y the AAEP hosted the first Unwanted Horse A Summit, a one-day conference at which SY DR. J TE presenters and attendees addressed appar- R U ent welfare issues in the industry. CO The Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC) An “Equitarian” conducts a deworming clinic for horse owners in the developing world. was born out of the summit. According to addressing the issues and recommending “The AAEP Welfare Committee is mem- the UHC website, the group “represents a steps to bring an end to these inhumane ber-driven,” Leitch said, explaining that the broad alliance of equine organizations that practices. As a direct result of the white pa- issues the committee explores are those have united under the auspices of Ameri- per, the USDA introduced thermography that the membership considers top prior- can Horse Council to educate the horse in- as a screening process to detect inflamma- ity. A recent survey of the AAEP member- dustry about the unwanted horse issue.” tion or irritation of the lower legs during ship showed the top five concerns within The UHC has supported and continues pre-competition examinations. In 2009 the veterinary community to be unwanted to back the welfare mission through mea- the task force addressed the more recently horses, slaughter-related problems, racing sures that include hosting low-cost gelding utilized soring technique of pressure shoe- issues (such as breakdowns, retirement clinics, developing a welfare speaker series ing—a method that that makes a horse’s and medication abuse), the soring of Ten- and launching/distributing a newsletter forefeet tender and results in the same ex- nessee Walking Horses and American Sad- designed to educate readers about respon- aggerated gait known as the “big lick.” dlebreds and wild horse management. sible ownership, including breeding prac- She added that the USDA’s Animal and Leitch said that in May 2010 the Welfare tices and equine welfare. Plant Health Inspection Service, in its ef- Committee convened at a meeting to exam- Tennessee Walking Horse Issues Next on forts to enforce the HPA by inspecting ine responses to the membership survey. Leitch’s agenda were the steps taken by horses at competitions for any signs of sor- Stemming from the discussions that took the AAEP to improve the welfare of Ten- ing or pressure shoeing, has most recently place, the committee agreed to begin: nessee Walking Horses, which are often implemented a protocol that sets mini- n Drafting a position paper on principles the victims of soring (deliberate injury to a mum uniform penalties for soring, using of equine welfare; horse’s legs to achieve an exaggerated “big foreign substances on horses or failing to n Examining nonracing performance lick” gait) and other illegal practices. She pass equipment and shoeing inspections. horse medication, procedures, and noted that many members of the Tennes- “It is gratifying to see that both the treatments; see Walking Horse community have been USDA and elements of the Tennessee n Expanding media assistance programs, operating in violation of the Horse Protec- Walking Horse industry have been recep- crisis communications, and emergency tion Act (HPA) of 1970 by continuing to tive to the recommendations of this task response; practice soring techniques on their horses. force,” Leitch said. n Responding to the BLM’s (Bureau of The AAEP Welfare Committee con- Equine Welfare Committee The final aspect Land Management) request to review vened a task force to evaluate the problem of equine welfare that Leitch discussed the care and handling of animals within in December 2007, she noted, and by July, was goal-setting for the AAEP Welfare its Wild Horse and Burro Program; 2008 the group had drafted a white paper Committee. n Pursuing federal legislation to strengthen 21 TheHorse.com/AAEP2010 AAEP Wrap-Up THE HORSE March 2011 2010 AAEPWRAP-UP SPONSORED BY the HPA (a task that was referred to the welfare risk exists under specific circum- and licensing, and transitioning racehors- AAEP Public Policy Committee); stances, science cannot determine what es into second careers, Palmer reported. n Providing education to AAEP members type of risk is acceptable.” In other words, “The welfare and safety issues of racing, about abuse and neglect, rehabilitating defining appropriate welfare risk is sub- while extremely important, are only one malnourished horses and assisting res- jective and innately complex. segment of our larger responsibility to be cue and retirement facilities; Palmer explained that the ethics of horse good stewards of the horse,” he said. “Rec- n Engaging the horse industry as a whole racing, for example, has come under fire. ommendations by the AAEP Racing Com- in recognizing and prohibiting abusive Some organizations label racing as objec- mittee are applicable to all performance training and treatment procedures; and tionable due to equine welfare concerns. horse disciplines. The fundamental as- n Developing proactive programs for re- At the same time, the American Veterinary sumption underlying AAEP Racing Com- sponding to current, as well as future Medical Association views the sport as ac- mittee recommendations is: What is good (or new) welfare issues. ceptable. Such conundrums illustrate the for the horse is good for the sport. “It is our mission that all members rec- complexity of equine welfare issues. “This is the lens through which we must ognize the importance of equine welfare Palmer added that the racing industry view the everyday welfare challenges of in their daily personal and professional has been working to improve the safety equestrian sport,” he added. “Although lives and advocate for its advancement and welfare of the horses involved. winning is the obvious goal of competitive throughout their careers,” Leitch con- “The NTRA (National Thoroughbred equine sporting events, we must remain cluded. “Knowing the issues and under- Racing Association) created the Safety and focused upon the fundamental obligations standing the facts, the perceptions and Integrity Alliance in 2008 to address five inherent in our stewardship to the horse. the actions provides all of us the ability to major areas that were felt to be critical to To the degree that we lose sight of that comment on and discuss the many con- the safety and integrity concerns of racing focus, both the horse and the sport as a cerns of our clients. If we—the collective fans,” Palmer said. The five areas the alli- whole will suffer.” horse world—do not lead, a poorly in- ance opted to focus on were all veterinary- formed (non-equestrian) public will deter- Equine Welfare: One European mine the outcome.” Perspective The fundamental The horse industry in the United States Responsible Horse Ownership and assumption underlying is not the only one dealing with an equine Racing Reform welfare problem. Some European coun- Responsible ownership is one of the AAEP Racing Committee tries are also facing challenges in assuring keys to addressing the country’s equine all horses have a good quality of life, ac- welfare problems, said Scott Palmer, VMD, recommendations is: What cording to Joe Collins, MVB, PhD, MRCVS, of the New Jersey Equine Clinic. He noted is good for the horse is CertEP, CertVR, who recently conducted that racing is one segment of the horse in- his PhD study at University College Dub- dustry that regularly is subject to public good for the sport. lin’s Veterinary Sciences Center. criticism, mostly due to catastrophic inju- Collins and his colleagues visited spe- ries sustained by race horses. Palmer de- DR. SCOTT palmeR cific locations where poor equine welfare scribed responsible horse ownership and was evident, including horse fairs and the need for reform in some aspects of the related: medication and testing, injury sale venues, horse farms and horse dealer racing industry at the meeting. reporting and prevention, safety research, premises, animal sanctuaries and rescue “Responsible horse ownership must creating a safer racing environment, and centers, and horse competition events. As first address the basic needs of the horse, the care of retired racehorses. in the United States, some horses were including food, shelter, and health care,” The AAEP Racing Committee has found to be malnourished, living in less- Palmer said. “Their well-being must be a drafted white papers on Thoroughbred, than-ideal conditions, or dead. priority, and we need to recognize that this Quarter Horse, and Standardbred racing, Additionally, Collins conducted an stewardship represents significant time which address welfare issues specific to in-depth study of the number of horses and financial commitment.” these racehorses, he noted. The group also processed and of the disposal of horses. He described the basic needs of the recently drafted “Clinical Guidelines for Collins said that the recorded number horse, the financial hardships that some Veterinarians Practicing in a Pari-Mutuel of horses slaughtered in Ireland for hu- horse owners face, and the challenges that Environment,” a document designed to man consumption abroad each year has arise because understanding of equine help vets who are making welfare and eth- been on the rise—from 614 slaughtered welfare and definitions of appropriate ical decisions at the track that will support in 2005 to 3,163 in 2009.
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