How abusive is racing?

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So apparently, I've been receiving emails about how horse racing and dog racing are animal abuse and should be made illegal. Shouldn't all forms of racing be considered abuse since you're pushing them (or yourself) to the limit? How abusive is, say, car racing?

I suspect it's not so much a matter of "racing" in and of itself, but rather that dogs and horses didn't consent to participate, can't quit if they're unhappy, and are generally run to death in various ways.

OTOH, human runners or racing drivers are willing participants, can generally quit anytime they want, and participants' health and safety are at least somewhat prioritized.

I think the complaint is probably a consent thing and the whipping involved with horse racing. Horses do quit and also unseat riders. I've seen it said that horses enjoy racing so much that even when they have unseated their rider they will still race - I don't know about that, as conditioning probably plays a big part.

I think with dogs it's all about prey drive that makes them run (it's instinct) as all they want is to catch the rabbit. You don't need to train a dog to chase a rabbit, it either will or it won't (Greyhounds are intensively trained).

Any sort of racing that involves muscles/joints/ligaments etc is going to shorten the life of those parts.

f**k knows what was going through this horse's mind, but it just said f**k it, then changed its mind and still won.



As for car racing being abusive, cars get abused within an inch of their life

Auto racing is incredibly abusive on cars, the car along with all of it's components are treated as wear items and replaced as needed. When they're all used up, they're treated as effectively worthless.





The top one is a former Dale Earnhardt Jr. car, the bottom one looks like a Mazda factory team RX-7 from IMSA.