What's New
Thoughts from the Dean
Reflections from Saratoga: A New Future for the Animal/Human Relationship
Dean Joan Hendricks shares her thoughts on Penn Vet’s recent involvement in the 2008 Saratoga Meeting. The New York Racing Association Inc. is a not-for-profit racing association that owns and operates the three largest racetracks in New York: Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga. The annual Saratoga summer event spans 36 days, and runs from July 23 to September 1, 2008.
This is one of those many times I love being Dean of Penn Vet: It is dawn in Saratoga, the mist is rising off the Oklahoma track, and extraordinarily beautiful animals are trying to run faster than their riders will let them. You see and feel these amazing horses strive, reach, and extend. It is truly breathtaking.
I am at the track to see Curlin, the reigning Horse of the Year, breeze. Along with a healthy crew of photographers from all over the country, I have the privilege of watching Curlin run along with its principal owners, Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke and Penn Vet alumna Nancy Brennan. He is one smart, balletic, swift, elegant mover, that Curlin.
We were in Saratoga to host our annual "At the Rails" lunch on the first Sunday in August. Laurie Landeau, Chair of the Board of Overseers, joined us as did good friends and former Overseers Herb & Ellen Moelis and Bob & Rochelle Levy. We were f
ortunate to have new friends and sponsors Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke (they own Tiz Wonderful who was treated recently at Penn Vet and is featured on our newest brochure for NBC) join us as well. We missed Gretchen and Roy Jackson who were still being congratulated on their great success with Ready Set in the West Virginia Derby on the 2nd.
This year was extra special as we also helped launch a wonderful exhibit on veterinary medicine at Saratoga’s Racing Museum. Dean Richardson opened the exhibit with a particularly moving presentation about lessons learned from and with Barbaro. The following day Dean was the featured speaker (following in the footsteps of such awe-inspiring wordsmiths as Jim McKay, Jane Smiley and Frank Deford) when the National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inducted Edgar Prado, among others, this year. There was a stunning cast of luminaries in the sport, but to my slightly biased ears the applause for Dean and Edgar was the loudest and longest. He did us proud.
Like Westminster, this event is a jewel of history, human admiration and regard for beautiful animals. It is also an increasingly important opportunity to help craft what I see as a new future for animal and human relationships – one in which we ask individually and collectively, what is best for the animal – and how is best determined. This theme was raised by Dean and echoed by the Hall of Fame trainer, Carl Nafzger, in his speech.
In that vein I am sending along to you several recent media stories: the first is Herb Moelis’ opinion piece from a recent Bloodhorse and the second is a summary of a white paper that was generated by an American Association of Equine Practitioners Task Force chaired by Penn Vet’s Midge Leitch. I hope you will take the time to read them and share your reactions.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 10:52:00 AM | Blood-Horse Staff
On Derby Day 2008 shock waves traveled through the Thoroughbred world. A talented filly named Eight Belles finished second in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) but after the finish, the filly stumbled and was euthanized on the track in front of more than 100,000 fans and millions watching on TV. We knew we had to address a problem that has been with us for quite some time. We examined our tracks, drug policies, breeding concepts, and many other things we took for granted.
When are we going to wake up to another very public problem: What happens to racehorses when they finish their racing careers.
There have been laws passed recently that have reduced the number of horses going to slaughter. Additionally, we are seeing the costs of caring for horses, including feed, transportation, hay, and straw, skyrocket. This has translated to more abandoned horses. According to the United States Department of Agriculture data, there are approximately 100,000 unwanted horses in the U.S. each year, a major problem and potential public relations nightmare. The time is now to address it.
Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) supports about 200 of the groups that care for unwanted horses. We have seen the increase in the number of horses these groups must care for and the increasing costs and the lack of funding for them. I’ve heard many stories about horses being turned loose on highways and other horror stories for lack of funding. For the Thoroughbred industry to turn a blind eye to this problem will only result in another jolt, probably much worse from an industry viewpoint, than even the Eight Belles tragedy. How do we avoid this and do the right thing before we have People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and others demonstrating and asserting that we are inhumane and uncaring about our horses? How do we avoid having the government step in to regulate?
The answer is we must make owners responsible for the welfare of their horses, both during their racing careers and also when those careers end. If we agree owner responsibility is needed, the question is, “How do we get owners to be responsible?” Education of new owners is a necessity. When a person decides that he would like to participate in the excitement of racing, he should be educated to the reality that after racing the horse must be provided for.
Yet education alone will still not cure the problem. We must find a way to raise a steady and reliable source of money for the care of horses after their racing careers. Having been a founder and president of TCA and having raised in excess of $16 million over 18 years, I fully understand how difficult it is to raise money voluntarily. To depend on voluntary individual donations would be futile.
There is a very logical and simple way to raise money for this purpose. When owners register their foals The Jockey Club requires a registration form to be filed with payment of $200. Why can’t we add $50 to provide for care of the foal for life? This would be similar to a Social Security program for horses.
There are approximately 40,000 Thoroughbreds registered each year. At $50 each the total amount assessed annually would be $2 million. This would go a long way to providing a decent life for all Thoroughbreds after their racing careers. A Social Security system is the most feasible way to help, and The Jockey Club is the most logical agent for this project.
When I proposed this a number of years ago to The Jockey Club, I was told that it would be a burden on owners and there would be strong resistance. The Jockey Club would not implement the assessment, because, I was told, even if they collected the money they would not have the mechanism to distribute the funds. My answer to this is simple. TCA has a comprehensive file on all rescue organizations and would help in the distribution of funds. If an owner cannot afford $50 when registering a foal, then that person has no business being an owner. For the welfare of our industry and the welfare of our horses, this assessment is necessary and reasonable.
Herb Moelis is the president of Thoroughbred Charities of America
AAEP Issues White Paper on Ending the Soring of Tennessee Walking Horses
August 07, 2008
Calling it one of the most significant welfare issues affecting any equine breed or discipline, the American Association of Equine Practitioners today issued recommendations for eliminating the abusive practice within the Tennessee Walking Horse industry known as soring. Soring is the infliction of pain to create an extravagant or exaggerated gait in horses for training or show purposes.
Even though soring is prohibited by the federal Horse Protection Act of 1970, some within the industry still abuse horses. Its continued practice is documented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s issuance of 103 competitor violations during the 2007 Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration, the industry’s championship event.
“As an organization with the primary mission of protecting the health and welfare of the horse, the AAEP is strongly opposed to soring,” said AAEP President Dr. Eleanor Green. “This wonderful breed must be preserved and protected in a climate in which its future is not challenged by the practice of soring. The true measure of success will be that soring no longer exists because the Tennessee Walking Horse industry itself brought it to an abrupt end.”
Key points in the white paper, “Putting the Horse First: Veterinary Recommendations for Ending the Soring of Tennessee Walking Horses,” include:
· Immediate institution of drug testing at every competition.
· The abolishment of the Designated Qualified Persons (DQP) Program and the establishment of a corps of independent veterinarians to conduct horse inspections and impose sanctions for violations of the Horse Protection Act.
· The development of objective methods to detect soring in order to eliminate the current practice of conditioning horses to tolerate pressure applied to the limbs.
· Establishment of a single industry organization that has governance responsibilities and sets and enforces uniform standards and regulations.
· Reevaluation of judging standards so that the innate grace and beauty of the breed are valued instead of rewarding the currently manufactured exaggerated gait.
The recommendations in the white paper were developed by the AAEP’s Tennessee Walking Horse Task Force, a group with specific knowledge of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry and equine welfare issues. Dr. Midge Leitch of Cochranville, Penn., chaired the Task Force.
“The white paper is not intended to be a revision of the Horse Protection Act,” explained Dr. Leitch. “We know we are suggesting radical changes to current practices within the industry, but if industry leaders are intent on solving this issue, they will give serious thought to the recommendations that have been made.”
The AAEP recognizes that it has no regulatory authority over the Tennessee Walking Horse industry but intends its white paper to provide guidance and support to those within the industry who are working to permanently end the soring of horses.
“On behalf of the AAEP, I express gratitude to Dr. Leitch, who chaired the task force, and the other dedicated AAEP members who accepted the charge of this task force and were so thoughtful in the development of the white paper,” added Dr. Green. “I also want to thank the members of the various Tennessee Walking Horse industry organizations (HIOs) who came last year to the first Tennessee Walking Horse Summit in Lexington. These groups encouraged the AAEP to develop this white paper and they have a unique opportunity to eliminate the practice of soring.”
Penn Vet Alumni, Faculty and Friends Receive Awards at PVMA Annual Meeting
On Friday, August 15, 2008 the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medicine Association honored several Penn Veterinary Medicine alumni, friends and faculty at the annual Hall of Fame Dinner at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Current PVMA President, Robert Fetterman, V'90, presented the awards:
o Joan Hendricks, V’79, the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine, received the Veterinarian of the Year Award. This award is presented annually to a member of the PVMA for outstanding achievement in veterinary medicine over the past year.
o Dr. Jim Orsini, Director of the Laminitis Institute at New Bolton Center, received the Distinguished Veterinary Service Award. This award is presented annually to a member of the PVMA for an outstanding act or achievement to the veterinary profession over a period of time.
o David Wolfgang, V’82, received the Public Service Award of Merit.
o Vernon & Shirley Hill, supporters of Penn Vet, received a President's Award. This prestigious award is bestowed by the PVMA President to an individual(s) who has made a significant contribution to veterinary medicine during the past year. The persons receiving the award do not have to be a veterinarian.
o Lisa Murphy, V’97, was installed as the Incoming PVMA President for 2009.