We will definitely enforce the zero tolerance policy if a trainer is found to be responsible for his horse ending up at auction. As I have said before, it is a learning process, and I am hoping that the President’s Message in our May newsletter will help educate trainers and owners who are approached by people who are, in fact, dealers, or people who deal with them.
My E. D. is behind the policy, he actually initiated the idea with track management a year ago, and he is the guiding force behind TFH. He has nothing to do with the issuance of stalls to horsemen, however. That is the racing office, who also has stated that they are behind the zero tolerance policy.
I hope the policy doesn’t get tested, and from the number of horses (average 4 a week) that have come into the program, we’re making more than just a dent in the problem. I try to have eyes and ears everywhere, but the buzz is that there are horsemen (and hopefully not from Pha) that are selling direct to the kill buyers and cannot be caught because the horses do not go through the auction. Apparently, they have been pushed underground, so to speak, because of the stigma attached to selling through the auctions. I love the idea of rescue groups monitoring the pens, but you have probably heard the many instances of the dealers refusing to cooperate with the rescues, etc.
I don’t know a way around this either, because I think the most difficult (but important) job is the weekly guarding of the kill pens, and playing god as far as deciding which ones can be saved. Going home and trying to sleep with all the other horse faces on the brain is the reward for a long, stressful day…
