ANIMAL CRUELTY

[Anchor Lead]

A video about the abuse and slaughter of retired racehorses has gone viral, prompting people to question the way these magnificent animals are taken care of after they leave the racetracks. It has been confirmed that, except for breeding horses, most of approximately 1,400 horses that retire from racing each year, are not being taken care of properly.

[Pkg]

Every year, around 1,400 racehorses are retired from racetracks nationwide. But even the Korea Racing Authority is unaware of where 400 of those retired horses go. And that doesn't include the horses transitioned to serve other purposes like horseback riding and breeding. Except for the breeding horses that are registered with the KRA for lineage preservation, registration of riding horses is not mandated by law.

[Soundbite] (KRA EMPLOYEE(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "Registration is not mandated, so it's hard to account for all of them statistically."

It is estimated that more than 400 horses are directed to the riding horse farms or slaughtered for horse meat without being subjected to animal product tracking or restrictions. But none of them has been overseen properly. In the wake of the controversy, the Jeju government decided to ban racehorse meat from markets, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs plans to minimize arbitrary slaughtering by turning the retired horses into riding horses. However, concerns have long been raised about turning racehorses into riding horses due to the risk of falling accidents. Also, the government is flip-flopping on its stance. Just last year, the Ministry had announced in its second-phase horse industry promotion plan to bar retired racehorses from entering the horse-riding market. As the controversy over inhumane slaughter of racehorses heats up, improvement must be made to the entire process, from training to post-retirement care.