I’m a die-hard Buffalo Bills fan who suffered through four back-to-back Super Bowl losses — sports are a big thing in my household. So on National Sports Day (Oct. 16), my family will be celebrating all the joys and miseries of professional athletics. What we won’t be cheering for are any “sports” activities that involve animals, which put them at risk.

Take horse racing, for example. Unlike human runners, who are typically in their late 20s when they compete at the highest levels, 2-year-old Thoroughbreds are still growing when they are forced to hit the track. Their legs are fragile. Pounding at breakneck speed on treacherous surfaces leads to broken bones — and dead horses.

Trainers and veterinarians commonly administer drugs — both legal and illegal — to treat injuries that horses incur when riders force them to run at dangerous speeds. Lasix is a drug that stops internal bleeding in the lungs while also masking the presence of other drugs in a horse’s system. Bute is an anti-inflammatory and painkiller that allows injured horses to keep running, which may result in additional serious injuries.

When drugs can’t overcome a horse’s impairment, there’s no grassy pasture awaiting the animal. Tens of thousands of ex-racers are sold for slaughter every year. Some of their flesh is used in dog and cat food, while “prime cuts” are sold for human consumption in Europe and Asia.

Equines forced to “play” polo fare a little better. Although this sport is associated with a whiff of gentility, it treats horses like replaceable equipment. While spectators sip mint juleps, horses are ridden very hard with few, if any, rest periods. They can be hit and injured by the mallets used to strike the ball. Whips, spurs and riding crops are permitted. The rules even allow for a five-minute “time out” so that “visible blood” may be cleaned off a horse.

Even the Olympics aren’t without scandal, as we saw in Paris when horses were viciously whipped and abused in other ways. Equestrian competitions are the only Olympic events in which participants aren’t there voluntarily. In dressage, riders pull horses’ necks into painful contortions so severe that their tongues turn blue — just to win a medal.

Then there’s greyhound racing. Although this cruelty is moving toward the dustbin of history, some tracks are still trying to hang on. Dogs suffer tremendously in this industry. When not on the track, they’re typically “stored” in cramped cages stacked on top of one another. When they become too old or too slow to continue to race, they don’t get cushy endorsements. Instead, they’re often discarded like trash. They have been shot, bludgeoned or simply dumped to fend for themselves.

Dogs forced to run the Iditarod are in a frozen hell. They endure biting winds, blinding snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures for up to two weeks. Even though mushers can sleep while the dogs pull, the official rules require that the dogs be allowed only 40 hours of rest in total. Yet mushers shamelessly claim the “glory.” There’s no respite off the trail, either. Most of these dogs are constantly chained to plastic barrels or ramshackle boxes that are their only “shelter” in below-freezing cold.

And since we’re talking about practices that aren’t sporting, what’s with using bulldogs, birds, buffalos and other animals as mascots? Being hauled into or even being near a stadium full of bright lights, screaming fans and booming amplifiers is stressful — even terrifying — for animals who don’t understand what’s going on. New York’s Binghamton University even inexplicably decided to use a months-old binturong as a mascot, even though they are a vulnerable species.

With so many phenomenal human athletes who compete for the love of the game, forcing animals to participate in grueling and often deadly events is indefensibly cruel. It’s time to stop exploiting animals in the pursuit of pleasure.

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Jennifer O'Connor is a senior writer for the PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

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