Turf Club urged to vet who takes retired racehorses

A police-backed probe into disturbing footage of two men abusing racehorses at Pebbles Beach is continuing, and the chief veterinary officer has urged the Barbados Turf Club to tighten how it disposes of retired horses as investigators prepare potential charges. 

No arrests have been made, but authorities said progress is being made, and the Turf Club has pledged to be more selective when rehoming spent animals.

On Monday, Barbados TODAY broke the story that a police-backed investigation had been launched into the reported abuse, with authorities preparing to press charges as disturbing video evidence emerged during the past week.

In an update on Friday, Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mark Trotman disclosed that police are continuing their investigations into the incident and his department was in the process of advising the Turf Club to review its practice of dispensing with retired racehorses.

“We have had discussions with the police, and we are contacting the Turf Club to ask them to exercise a certain amount of caution, when they give spent horses to various people. So, we are progressing on it,” Dr Trotman said.

The chief vet had suggested that the abuse had become a worrying trend on the rise, with discarded racehorses from the Turf Club being given to people who were unable to treat the animals with care.

The Turf Club’s financial controller, Kyle Edwards, told Barbados TODAY on Friday that, going forward, the BTC would be willing to be more selective about whom they gave spent horses to.

Edwards, who said the Turf Club is also continuing its investigations into the case, indicated that the horse racing organiser would certainly not be handing over retired animals to “young boys.”

The BTC would instead consider mature individuals who they believe may show greater respect for the horses’ welfare, he said.

The probe followed a video shared by this media house showing horses being abused by handlers at the popular St Michael beach last week.

The footage, recorded by a British visitor and self-described animal welfare advocate, shows the animals being mistreated by two young men.

Dr Trotman said then: “It is becoming an increasingly difficult situation with us; and we have actually been having to impound and investigate cases of abuse and neglect in horses; and usually, an increasing number of this is happening. So, this particular situation is just one of many that we are having to deal with.

“We were made aware of this particular situation at Pebbles Beach already, and we have been trying to investigate it. But this is the first time we have been able to get some sort of photographic evidence, because every time we went to check it out, they haven’t been present. It was rather difficult to actually catch them in the act.”

(EJ)