From October 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 947 horses killed in South Korea… But the Korea Horse Racing Authority (KRA) does not want anyone to know the names of these horses.
The KRA is still struggling to make amends after PETA’s undercover K-Cruelty investigation uncovered brutal beatings and gruesome killings of former racehorses in South Korea. This investigation led to criminal charges against a Korean livestock cooperative in Jeju Island and several of its employees for slaughtering horses in front of other horses, in violation of Korea’s Animal Protection Law. The heartbreaking footage has also generated widespread media coverage and public outrage in Korea and overseas.
While the KRA has pledged to implement a horse pension system, the meager measures were not enough to slow the pace of slaughtering horses for meat for human consumption or for dog and cat food. To make matters worse, the KRA, instead of solving the problem, tried to hide it.
All horse slaughter records have been removed from the KRA database, including details on the slaughter of Private Vow stallions.
PETA revealed that Private Vow, who participated in the 2006 Kentucky Derby, was killed at the Jeju Livestock Cooperative in July 2020. This prompted the Stronach Group – one of the world’s largest racetrack owners and breeding companies – to adopt a policy banning the export of his horse to Korea for racing or breeding. Details of Private Vow’s slaughter date originally appeared in public records, but this data field has now been removed and left blank.
Previously released Quarterly Slaughter Spreadsheets, which could be used by horse owners to confirm the accuracy of the identification numbers of the horses they sent for slaughter, are no longer available on the KRA web pages. Until October 2020, these tables could be used to identify individual slaughtered horses, and this caused a public outcry when PETA published the corresponding horse names and photographs.
Tragic and heartbreaking photographs have been posted on our website, including one of the thoroughbreds, Cape Magic, who raced and was injured at the KRA Racetrack in Busan, South Korea’s second most populous city – taken in just three days before PETA filmed him in the Jeju massacre.
“KRA has completely erased its databases, but KRA’s hands are still dirty and bloody. This is a shameful attempt to bury evidence instead of stopping the murder. “
—Katie Guillermo, Senior Vice President, PETA
PETA asked KRA to do the following:
- Implementation of a post-retirement pension system modeled on the North American Purebred Alliance.
- Allocate 2% of the prize money for follow-up treatment
- Make sure imported North American horses will not be slaughtered
We now require the KRA to fulfill its legal obligation as a government agency by publicly fulfilling everything slaughter data.
You can help stop the racehorse carnage in Korea
Please request that the KRA implement a comprehensive retirement plan for unwanted horses in South Korea:
Take action now!