I just watched an appalling story on "Real Sports" on HBO. I believe it was called "Running for Their Lives" and the terminology of "Stable to Table in 7 Days" was used.
It told of the current practice of selling off thoroughbreds for human dinner meat.... steak and sushi at fancy restaurants in Europe and Japan. They actually showed these horses being killed and it was BRUTAL. Many of them hung upside down and had their necks cut open while they are still conscious until they bleed to death. The ones that they took to Mexico have the guys stabbing at their spines with small hand held daggers and the onlookers cheering as the horse finally passes out. Then there were the simple gun shots to the head.
The trainers sell these horses to a man named "The Meat Man" for $200. They don't even try hard to find these horses homes. The "Meat Man" takes the horse to a "Kill Pen" where they are bunched together in a tiny area. The ones that survive are then auctioned off and sold to their deaths for only $300+ to people called "KIller Buyers." Apparently, this is a fairly common practice at tracks around the United States.
All thoroughbreds have their ID tattooed under lips on their gums. HBO found a lady who "rescued" one horse from becoming dinner, who they found out via the tattoo was named Little Cliff, who was according to HBO "one of the hottest prospects in all of racing and a Kentucky Derby contender." He was slow in his last race and was sold to a Meat Man for just a couple of hundred dollars.
These trainers sell them for this measly amount off to slaughterhouses instead of trying to adopt them out or to properly peacefully euthanize the horses themselves in a humane manner. It costs them only $60 to peacefully euthanize these horses!!!!
Little Cliff had been purchased for as much as $350,000. He had won over $200,000 in prize money. He was sold off to his death for only a few hundred dollars. Even worse, as you can read in the article below, his papers carried a sticker saying that if he was ever in need of a home when he was retired, to call Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, yet they couldn't even bother taking the time to make that call.
http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/420982
Here's a video I found on YouTube that was rather "tame" compared to what they showed on Real Sports regarding the slaughter if anyone wants to see. Warning: Not for the faint of heart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyF3IcIK2_A
Seriously... the guys that own these thoroughbreds are rich. They make a lot of money off of these horses. Can they not spend $60 to put such a magnificent animal down peacefully? Can they not donate them to some little girl somewhere who would love to own a horse? Can they not open a riding farm and bring poor inner city kids in and teach them how to ride? They'd rather make a $260 profit instead ($200 from the Meat Man + the $60 they save from having to peacefully euthanize it) when they are spending countless thousands to purchase the animals in the first place? Most people wouldn't do that to a sick stray cat in front of their homes, but would instead take it to a vet (or call the proper animal authorities) in order to have it peacefully be put to sleep.
It shows a huge lack of ethics from rich horse owners who use the animals to make them money, but can't even spend $60 to give them a proper peaceful death.
If anyone wants to watch the episode, it replays on HBO several times this week.
http://www.hbo.com/realsports/stories/index.html
Cheers....