Print

Mail

wiki links

600 racehorses culled in Beijing

Approximately 600 thoroughbred horses have been killed following the failure of an attempt to introduce racing to China. The animals were put down by lethal injection during the last month, soon after the closure of Tongshun racecourse on the outskirts of Beijing.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source at the track said: "They have culled 600 to date, 400 racehorses and 200 mares. It is an open secret here."

The track's racing manager admitted on Monday that there had been a cull but attempted to play down its significance although animal rights campaigners reacted with horror.

Phil Spiby, a spokesman for the International League for the Protection of Horses, said on Monday: "We would urge the Chinese authorities to do all that they can to find a worthwhile alternative use for these horses."

"Having said that, if they cannot find an alternative use, it is often better that the horses are humanely destroyed. When Karachi racecourse closed down a number of years ago, 380 horses were simply abandoned in their stables, and by the time we were alerted to the situation, 70 of those had starved to death," he said.

Tongshun, a state-of-the-art facility home to 2,000 horses, was opened in 2002 by Y.P. Cheng, a Hong Kong-based businessman.
This story has been viewed 1583 times.