According to a report published Aug. 22 by Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, Puerto Rico's Camarero Racetrack has a serious problem with equine fatalities. An English translation of the report indicates that 108 horses were registered as euthanized there between January and May this year, up from 94 the previous year. The report indicated 55% of euthanasia cases in both years were due to fractures in horses' legs.
The report goes on to indicate that at least 675 euthanasias of horses have been reported to racing authorities there since 2021, 379 of which were put down due to fractures.
It's not clear from the report how record-keeping at Puerto Rico's only track may differ from reporting to the Equine Injury Database from mainland racetracks, which track racing injuries that result in a fatality within 72 hours of a racing event, or from state racing commissions, which monitor fatalities (usually, though not always euthanasias) from different causes in racing, training, or due to illness.
An infographic shows that of those 675 deaths, 57 were attributed to arthritis, 42 to laminitis, 26 to tendonitis and 18 to colic.
The report also suggests that the use of performance-enhancing drugs may be common by trainers who are able to evade regulatory scrutiny and import substances from South and Central America, in addition to the mainland United States. In 2016, trainer Gilberto Escobar was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Control and the Department of Homeland Security for smuggling medications into Puerto Rico for use on racehorses. Escobar pleaded guilty in 2017 and is back training, per the investigative report.
Welfare advocates on the mainland have expressed concern for the safety and welfare of horses that are claimed in cheap races and moved to Puerto Rico, which does not have the infrastructure to support a large-scale sanctuary or retraining facility for horses at the completion of their racing careers. Recently, Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare, a non-profit dedicated to adoption on the island and the return of Thoroughbreds back to the mainland, announced it was running out of funding and could no longer accept new horses into its herd.
Read more at Centro de Periodismo Investigativo
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