Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 25, 1994 TAG: 9412270067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Charles Town's closing - at least until another owner can be found - displaces more than 1,000 horses, because the track won't keep its barns open beyond the end of the month for the horses that lived there year-round.
The lucky ones will race at another track or become pleasure horses for little girls and polo players.
The horses with nowhere to go could end up in slaughterhouses that use the Thoroughbreds for horse meat for human consumption in Europe and Asia. Buyers for the slaughterhouses are known around the racetrack as "the killers." By some accounts, they've been busy since Charles Town closed.
Many horses may be sold at auctions, where owners don't know - and don't have to think about - where the animals are going. Owners who view their horses mainly as investments may find the $500 or so the buyers offer appealing. There are eight slaughterhouses left in the United States and a large one in Canada, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
An auction that was scheduled for Dec. 16, the day of the final races, was canceled after track owners and horsemen worked out an arrangement for the horses to remain temporarily in the track's barns.
Others say they'll never send their horses to that fate. Many horsemen get squeamish when asked about the slaughterhouses.
"I run two killers out of here the other day. I won't tell you what I said to them. In 20 years, I've never sent a horse to the killers," said trainer Kenneth Cross. "None of these horses owes me a dime. They all made money for me."
Several of the horses he cares for have been sold to other horsemen with room to keep them now that the track has closed; one he was to deliver this morning to a lucky 10-year-old who will use it as a pleasure horse.
The racetrack and the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association have been swamped with calls from people across the country who want to adopt or help save the horses. The calls came after an Associated Press story said many of the horses might wind up in the slaughterhouse, but horsemen insist the rumors are exaggerated.
"The stories of tractor-trailers pulling up, of mass movement from here to the killers are not true," said Dick Watson, a director of the horsemen's association, which represents trainers and some owners.
All the horses are individually owned, he said, and "it's each individual owner's prerogative what he wants to do with that horse. What the owner does is between the buyer and seller."
Marc Paulhus, director of equine protection for the Humane Society, said animal groups are asking the track to post notices about groups willing to adopt the Thoroughbreds. Horses that are given away through adoption can be claimed as a tax deduction, he said.
"I recognize it's not just a horse problem - there's human tragedy as well," he said. "A lot of horsemen are just scraping by. Charles Town is not a track where you get rich."
Keywords:
HORSE RACING
by CNB