Introduction
Animal extortion is an ongoing issue in relationship to animal welfare and rights. There seems to be some ethical areas that individuals feel need to be changed on how humans use animals for human personal benefits. The argument supporting animal extortion and maltreatment has been the same for generations, including this view on animals used for experiments, “These benefits to humans far outweigh the costs in suffering that relatively few animals have had to endure. Society has an obligation to maximize the opportunities to produce such beneficial consequences, even at the cost of inflicting some pain on animals” (Andre & Velasquez, 1988). When looking at public policy and a resolution, it becomes a question of overcoming this …show more content…
The other major problem is that when an authority is enacted, there seems to be drugs that are not even detectable. One authority figure denies that a drug problem even exists. “Mike Hopkins of the Maryland Racing Commission said at the Preakness that Maryland’s drug testing program was adequate, and that he didn’t believe there were cheaters in the sport’s top tier” (Macur, 2014).
Despite Mike Hopkins claim, there are several examples of abuse among the racing horses that have not been left unnoticed:
• Rick Dutrow, the trainer of the 2008 Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown, barred for 10 years after multiple drug violations.
• Steve Asmussen, the second-winningest trainer in the United States, had multiple drug violations and served a six-month suspension
• Last year [2013], Bob Baffert, a Hall of Fame trainer, told California investigators he had been giving every horse in his barn that thyroid drug without checking to see if any of them had thyroid problems. He quit only after a seventh horse of his died in a 16-month period (Macur, 2014).
The three trainers were exposed and it shows that there is indeed an ongoing problem with drugs in North America’s horse racing industry and there is no clear indication of the depth of the
Animal extortion is an ongoing issue in relationship to animal welfare and rights. There seems to be some ethical areas that individuals feel need to be changed on how humans use animals for human personal benefits. The argument supporting animal extortion and maltreatment has been the same for generations, including this view on animals used for experiments, “These benefits to humans far outweigh the costs in suffering that relatively few animals have had to endure. Society has an obligation to maximize the opportunities to produce such beneficial consequences, even at the cost of inflicting some pain on animals” (Andre & Velasquez, 1988). When looking at public policy and a resolution, it becomes a question of overcoming this …show more content…
The other major problem is that when an authority is enacted, there seems to be drugs that are not even detectable. One authority figure denies that a drug problem even exists. “Mike Hopkins of the Maryland Racing Commission said at the Preakness that Maryland’s drug testing program was adequate, and that he didn’t believe there were cheaters in the sport’s top tier” (Macur, 2014).
Despite Mike Hopkins claim, there are several examples of abuse among the racing horses that have not been left unnoticed:
• Rick Dutrow, the trainer of the 2008 Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown, barred for 10 years after multiple drug violations.
• Steve Asmussen, the second-winningest trainer in the United States, had multiple drug violations and served a six-month suspension
• Last year [2013], Bob Baffert, a Hall of Fame trainer, told California investigators he had been giving every horse in his barn that thyroid drug without checking to see if any of them had thyroid problems. He quit only after a seventh horse of his died in a 16-month period (Macur, 2014).
The three trainers were exposed and it shows that there is indeed an ongoing problem with drugs in North America’s horse racing industry and there is no clear indication of the depth of the