I'd be interested too, to hear of Plainridge racetrack's policy. A "no tolerance" policy for those that ship a racehorse to slaughter generally means that that trainer can no longer have stalls or race a horse at that track.. It would be interesting to hear how effective such policies are in discouraging trainers/owners from shipping to slaughter. The tracks need to have knowledge of a trainer violating such a policy. Even if found in violation, that trainer can just go to another track. Racing is in decline in the US, and the industry as a whole desperately needs to condemn slaughter and implement and practice effective post-racing programs: retirement, re-homing/retraining, and industry-wide condemnation of horse slaughter.

Further, commercial horse slaughter will always be considered inhumane and cruel, causing much suffering to this herd-based species. When one looks at the economics of this profit-based industry, it’s clear that there is no concern for the horses’ well-being, even as they die in-transit to plants. Shipping unsegregated horses to these widely-separated plants invites fatalities, yet US plants will never be in every county.

This gruesome practice should be prohibited. And in doing so, owners will breed with caution, not with abandon . . .  as they do now.

Thank you, Boston Globe, for covering this story.  Shipping to slaughter is racing's dirty little secret -- I am glad you are helping to bring the issues into the light.  Please note, however, that the Unwanted Horse Coalition and many Horse Council organizations receive significant support from the pro-horse-slaughter forces -- anything they say should be taken, well, I won't say "with a grain of salt," but it should always be doublechecked for accuracy.  The pro-slaughter adherents are well funded and have produced considerable propaganda -- news organizations as reputable as AP have been caught by this. 

Another issue with respect to horse slaughter for human consumption is the drug residue in the tissues.  These Thoroughbreds would have certainly received drugs that are not allowed in meat, if they were racers, and likely even if they were not: all domesticated horses get vaccines, fly sprays, de-wormers, etc., and some of these are potent carcinogens such as Bute, which has no safe withdrawal period.  Because horses are not explicitly raised for meat here, there is no telling what toxins meat from an auction horse may contain.  Some Canadian slaughterhouses have stopped taking Thoroughbreds, I believe for this reason -- though there are requirements for documentation on drug history, they are routinely flouted.

Hats off to the rescuers and those who funded them, and to John Botty -- if all trainers were like him, perhaps Thoroughbreds would all have the useful post-racing lives they deserve!