The images in the following program are highly sensitive and may be as disturbing to viewers as they were to us. However, we have to show the truth about cruelty to animals praying that you will help to stop it.

His name is Chico. He’s 28 years old and Chico came to us about three years ago from a woman who didn't want him anymore. We came to see him and he was just about 300 pounds underweight. The caregivers had 20 other horses, they didn’t want to feed him. So we took him. We put him back in health and now he is feeling really good.

This is Stop Animal Cruelty on Supreme Master Television. Throughout history horses have been revered for their beauty, grace and nobility, with countless artworks depicting these magnificent beings, whose presence fills us with a sense of peace and tranquility.

Sadly some treat the wise, intelligent horse with brutality. Each year countless equines are forced to race, transport heavy loads or serve as breeding machines. Then when these hard-working animals become too old, sick or injured to serve, they are sent to slaughter.

On today's episode, we’ll examine the absolutely unacceptable abuse of our horse friends. In one type of racing called steeple chasing or jumps racing, horses run at full speed over hurdles, fences and bodies of water. And during these dangerous events, the animals are often seriously injured. Elio Celotto, campaign manager for the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, has been monitoring jumps racing in the state of Victoria, Australia.

We’ve just seen 12 races run so far this year and after the implementation of the supposedly safest jumps in the world, we’ve seen the fall rate more than double what is the acceptable fall rate for jumps racing according to Racing Victoria Limited (RVL). The death rate is also double the acceptable rate. The only safe obstacle is one that is not placed in front of a horse.

Given that the lives of horses are jeopardized by jumps racing, the vast majority of Australian states have already banned the holding of such events.

Many horses sustain injuries. They might appear okay, just like a footballer might get up after an injury and then later on finds out that the injury may be serious. And you never see him again. And our statistics show that three out of four horses that compete in jumps racing do not appear the following year. So it is not just the horses who die on the track, it’s three quarters that compete throughout the year.

Other racing styles include flat racing, where horses ridden by jockeys run around a flat track, and harness racing, where a horse pulls a small cart or sulky. From the beginning to the end of their short lives, the spirited, highly refined equines running in these races face constant danger and exploitation. Rose Blickstead, founder of the Refuge RR for Horses in Ontario, Canada now explains some of the appalling practices of the horse race industry.

The standard-breed industry horses, they start racing them before they're two years old. They start training them at about 1.5 years old. A lot of times, they’re injured and they can’t even be used. So before they are two years old, they were sent to slaughter because they either break bones, pull ligaments, or anything. If they’re fast enough to race, they’re raced a lot.

Every racer has an owner, a trainer, a driver, a groom and a chemist; and the chemist is to give artificial drugs to enhance their performance. I’ve even had a call from a guy who said that there was a horse who was given cocaine. And a week later the horse was still hitting his head against the side of the wall because he was driven out of his mind. It’s a cruel industry. They have very short lives. The ones who make it through, and then after that if they can’t use them for breeding they’re sent to slaughter.

It’s not only unwanted horses from the racing industry who end up at the slaughterhouse. An equine is a large animal, requiring considerable care including large quantities of food, veterinary care and a large space for shelter, all of which are costly. Thus when she’s considered no longer of use, even after many, many years of selfless service, a gentle horse may be sent off to slaughter.

The pony beside, on the other side, she’s 32 year old. She was used as a school horse to teach kids how to ride. And she became blind in one eye and they didn’t want her anymore. And after 30 years of work for them, they decided they’re going ship her to slaughter.

The two colored horses there, the pink, he’s completely blind, and he’s been blind since he was six months old. And the only reason he’s blind is because his owner decided that they didn’t want to buy a CAD$6 tube of eye cream. So he went completely blind. Just because they’re blind or they have arthritis, they still love to play, I mean that guy, he just jumped the fence today. It’s not a handicap. You adjust and you live.

In the United States, horse slaughterhouses have been banned, but now horses are being transported to abattoirs in Canada or Mexico. After the last remaining American horse slaughtering facilities were closed in 2006, it was found a year later that the number of horses being sent to Mexico from the US for killing jumped 312%. Currently at least 50% of all horses murdered in Canadian abattoirs originate from the US.

There is a big horse slaughter industry in this country. The United States has banned the slaughter of horses for meat. And as a result there are still some horses that are being shipped out of the US to Mexico and into Canada. Our horse slaughter has more than doubled in the last couple of years because of what's happened in the US with horses.

And as the numbers increase of these animals being imported into Canada, the number of slaughter plants increases. We have a slaughter plant that recently opened in Ontario. And one opened in Saskatchewan (Canada) and there's one in Quebec (Canada). So it's become a big industry to slaughter horses.

We have a hundred-thousand horses being shipped because in the United States they don’t do horse slaughter, so they’re sending all their horses up to Canada to slaughter them. And they like to breed them, so when they are big, when they are heavy, about to give birth, they send them up to slaughter. So they’re slaughtering not one but two.

They’re butchered and then they’re shipped off to France and Belgium and China, Italy too. Most grocery stores in Quebec (Canada) will sell horse meat. In Valleyfield, Quebec, they have a specialized store just for horse meat.

Horses are transported by truck from the US to Canadian abattoirs, and the exhausting trip, covering thousands of kilometers, can take several days. During this time, the sick, injured or elderly animals usually get no food, water, bedding or rest. The trucks are not designed for such large animals and do not shield the horses from inclement weather.

They're bringing them into this country on what's called double-decker trucks. And horses are very tall and the facilities of the trucks aren't tall enough. They're driven from Texas (USA) up to Ontario (Canada) and the entire trip the animal has to be leaned over because they can't stand tall in the vehicle.

Upon arriving at the slaughterhouse, the sensitive, intelligent animals are prodded, whipped or dragged into the killing chambers. Through a video secretly filmed in 2010 by the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition at horse abattoirs in Quebec and Alberta the facilities’ sickening and heartless practices were brought to the attention of the Canadian government.

A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) news report describes a segment of the film as follows: “In one scene, a horse writhes in agony after it's shot in the face with a .22 rifle, then continues to squirm after a second shot to the head. It finally collapses 20 seconds later when the slaughterer, dressed in blue coveralls and a baseball cap, reloads and fires a third round into its head.”

Captive bolt guns are often used by abattoirs to supposedly stun or render animals unconscious so they don’t feel pain during the slaughtering process. A steel bolt is fired into the skull with the intent to smash the brain. These utterly crude and barbaric devices often fail to make the animal unconscious and thus the innocent one intensely feels every cut and slash of the blade as they are horrifically dismembered.

Usually it’s a bolt gun, as they want them alive. They don’t want them dead. Sometimes they will use rifles. But the idea is they don’t want them dead because they want their heart to pump. If you have ever seen a slaughterhouse, they are not made specifically for horses. They are made for shorter animals. And they don’t necessarily fit a large animal like that. So they move, they don’t necessarily hit them in the spot (where) they’re supposed to hit them in.

They may get them in their eye, they may get them in their ear, lower; and they have to hit them sometimes four or five times. And then they’re still alive, and then they hook them by the feet upside down and they slit their throat because they want their blood to pump faster. They suffer a horrible, horrible death. It could be anywhere from a half an hour to an hour, as long as it takes the blood to drain.

What are some of the things we can do to halt the murder of our horse friends? First, please never purchase horse meat or any products that involve the suffering of horses. Also, consider writing to your local government officials and remind them that a civilized society does not kill and that horse abattoirs must be closed.

Finally, following an organic vegan diet is the best example we can all set, as it affirms all life is sacred. Many thanks Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals, Refuge RR for Horses and all the other caring groups working to stop the abuse of the noble, magnificent horse. May their sincere efforts help create a world soon in coming where animals and humans live in love, peace, harmony and mutual respect.

For more information on protecting horses, please visit the following websites:
Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses HorseRacingKills.com
Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals www.HumaneFood.ca
Refuge RR for Horses www.RefugeRR.org

Thoughtful viewers, thank you for joining us for today’s program. Enlightening Entertainment is up next after Noteworthy News. May all beings on Earth live long and joyful lives.