Craven: Creating a buffer of truth regarding PETA

by | 03.22.2012 | 7:27am
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At the Fugue for Tinhorns blog, Glenn Craven follows up on Wednesday’s Paulick Report story concerning PETA’s involvement in the cancellation of the HBO series Luck.  Craven says the racing industry should never do anything to appease PETA, considering its blantant lies and unethical tactics, but the industry still needs to pay attention to how other audiences perceive what’s happening:

“The secret of managing,” Martin said, “is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided.”

“And in a very real way, that’s the secret of managing horse racing’s image and trying to reverse the downward trend in its fan-base in the 21st century. Those of us who would do anything for the good of horse racing need to be the agents of progress in the sport and the buffer of truth that separates the vast majority of moderately interested and disinterested observers from the agenda-driven animal rights zealots who won’t stop until there’s not a single horse left being raced, nor dog carrying oxygen bottles, nor beef placed on a bun.”

“PETA alone will never have the power to shut down horse racing. But a willfully and woefully misinformed general public who are eventually provoked into crying out to everyone from the networks and advertisers that carry and sponsor racing to state legislatures and Congress that can crush us under the weight of government, just might.”

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  • WILLIAM L. ANTON

    PETA NEEDS TO GO HUG A TREE AND KISS A COBRA.

  • Cindy Rullman

    I would respectfully suggest that you’re still missing the point.  If there weren’t so many real atrocities in our industry, there would be no grounds for anyone to point a finger. If 3 horses hadn’t died, there wouldn’t be a problem.  PETA isn’t the problem. The problem is that we have an industry that isn’t willing to be honest about its glaring sins and do some hard work to improve conditions for horses and backstretch workers.

  • Cryptic Crusade

    PETA is an activist group that will stop at nothing until every human is a veggan, there are no farms and all animals run free. They do not understand anything but their need to support a cause they don’t understand. My experience has been with a limited few, and the young people I met knew nothing about proper animal care, and truly did not care to learn. They did however, enjoy riding a horse, as long as they were not expected to tack or untack, walk the animal down, and definitely NOT clean a stall. ( they were all about enjoying themselves) It is sad, but we do need to somehow educate this group to the fact the majority of animal owners do care for their animals, and not everyone shares the views of PETA, nor should they have to.

  • WILLIAM L. ANTON

    I am in total agreement. However, PETA  is all bulls$$$, believe me. Yes, we NEED to clean up our industry to the fullest. The stewards rid us of the bad guys and the racing board allows them back into the foal. This is problem # one for sure, agree??

  • Dcurtis78

     Yes will need improvements in the industry, but Peta and their ignorant followers are a problem and not just to racing, and ask the backside workers before you intervene on their behalf, I worked as a groom most of my life and lived on the backside part of it and had no complaints, sometimes well meaning people can make matters worse for us.

  • voiceofreason

    Let’s rally around the scapegoat excuse that is “PETA” (who is irrelevant) so that we don’t have to do the really hard work of examining and improving ourselves. Business as usual. Carry on…

  • Dcurtis78

     I am not making excuses, there are many things I would like to see changed, but I do not consider Peta and their lies “irrelevant”.I have seen the damage and harm that ignorant group can cause when they spread their version of the “truth”.

  • Gelio

    Three cheers Glenn

  • http://www.facebook.com/christine.peniaranda Christine Peniaranda

    so do you think the ‘under tack shows’ that injure and KILL youngsters is a good thing for the ‘sport’? i’m glad peta was there to docuement this idiocy. the film showing young horses pushed to the point of dropping dead on the track with heart failure , the colt with a cannon broken in two-sounded like a rifle shot!! oh my God! it’s terrible way to treat a young horse . why in hell run them to death to attract a buyer? they’d make alot more money off this horse by allowing them to mature before they run hell out of them-thereby making more profit in a long career for the horse.

  • http://www.facebook.com/christine.peniaranda Christine Peniaranda

    i guess you haven’t seen the peta video showing young horses dropping dead on the track and one limping along on the stump that’s left of his cannon! under tack shows are beyond hideous and cruel use of a young horse. 

  • HappyHarriet

    What I’d like to see are these two things happening simultaneously:  the horse industry improving (and it is), AND an effort to get the 501(c)3 status of PETA revoked by the IRS.  I’ve done some preliminary searching, as I believe Ray has, and there are carefully constructed ratios and percentages that charitable organizations must maintain, financially, AND they cannot be considered “activist organizations” or involved in political or legislative endeavors.  I took a very close look at their website yesterday.  Is there an attorney who has some free time who can see if the “Be a Vegan for 30 Day” effort they are making could be considered “activist” under that legal definition?  I’m a CPA (inactive thank God) and I can review their 990 as others here can, I’m sure.  These people are vicious and malicious maligners of good people and animals.  Please – can’t someone get their smart legal brain tuned up to do something, en masse, about these PETA folks?  And Ray – where did you get the 990?  I couldn’t find it.

  • PortTownGirl

    Even people who knowledgeably advocate for horses are lumped in with Peta.  I do not like what they stand for, what they do or how they do it.  The most reasonable thing to do is for those within the horse industry to correct the wrongs that need to be made right, and maybe even consider doing so at the urgings from time to time by people who want to see reasonable changes made that will help the industry, not destroy it.  But crying out there is nothing wrong with racing and attacking anyone who disagrees and sneeringly calling them Peta supporters is not going to help anyone.

  • PortTownGirl

     You are indeed the voiceofreason

  • voiceofreason

    Think of it like this, Dcurtis: If we were legit, if we cleaned our own ship, if we watched over the equine population with care, and didn’t abuse medications publicly, if we had proper breeding and selling practices, and leaders with integrity and vision, PETA couldn’t spin enough bullsh*t to matter.

    You want a strong defense from people like this? Run a good clean offense.

  • judgebork

    Reply to Mr. William L. Anton
    Mr Anton, My primary focus is on the regulation of the horse racing industry and your statement alleging that after stewards rid us of bad guys, racing boards allow them back, is of great interest to me.  I know that this happens to some degree, because I have been a party to a few incidents, as a steward, where racing boards and or commissions have reversed or modified stewards rulings that would have withstood review by the United
    States Supreme Court.  I would like to have the pertinent details on decisions of this nature.  If you would care to provide me with them, tell me so on this forum and I will arrange for you to do so privately if that is your wish.

  • Gfpowell

    I like many of the comments here. Our industry must spend energy on self- examination not on an extremist group like PETA. Sure we have made some positive changes, but we are far away from the shore. Our industry has lots of lip service, but no action. People who provide constructive criticism are labeled “bad for racing,” and I know that from direct experience. So lets focus on the positive which is the beautiful racehorse and do everything we can to protect it while it us in our racetrack enclosures.

  • WILLIAM L. ANTON

    Just pay attention to the daily racing form on judication, then the allowance of the fines etc to be either reversed or passed over.  The other senerio is the sharp lawyers get them off.  It has become a real joke. Is your real name Bork, if not why would I talk to someone that does not post a real name etc.  I am truly transparent with my name etc.  Owner/trainer Northern California.

  • judgebork

    Mr. Anton, You avoided answering my question.  Congratulations!  You, like many others, spread allegations that you are unable to support.  Like it or not, you are part of the problem.

  • Convene

    PETA is a master of propaganda. It would be wise to ready their mandate sometime, as I did years ago, to find their REAL agenda – which is to eliminate the ownership of all animals. Forget the many benefits animals gain from ownership in general and toss them aside in response to the abusive actions of a minority of owners. If the public realized that PETA wants to take Fido and Fluffy, not to mention Ol’ Dobbin, away from them, they might be less willing to part with money to support this organization. There is so much good PETA could be doing. It’s a shame that they use misinformation and the illusion of animal welfare to do so much harm instead.

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