The Ohio State Racing Commission released the following statement Tuesday regarding the practice of shipping Thoroughbreds via cargo container, which has become a common method of sending horses from the United States mainland to Puerto Rico and other nearby islands.
In August, The Stronach Group announced that it would ban owners and trainers who sold horses subsequently transported in this manner. The practice came to light last year when a Puerto Rican owners' association filed suit over the deaths of eight horses aboard a container ship.
The Ohio State Racing Commission (OSRC) considers the safety of horses that race and train at Ohio racetracks its top priority. The Commission has serious concerns about the conditions that exist, and care provided to, horses that are shipped via cargo containers.
These conditions represent a significant risk to their health and welfare and as such, the OSRC believes this form of horse transportation is inhumane.
The OSRC is urging, in the strongest terms possible, that all tracks and training facilities within the state take immediate steps to ensure that horses are protected from this practice.
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