HBO's newest drama Luck, a gritty portrait of characters connected by the world of horse racing, has been canceled. However it is not due to its lower than average viewership but rather political pressures from the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which were recently intensified due to a third horse dying during the production, but not during or in transition between filming of the shows 2nd season. PETA has been vocal and ever vigilant opponents of the show and voiced anger over the previous two horses deaths as well.
First one must consider the political motivation of PETA to take down Luck, in that it romanticizes horse racing which is, in their ideology, a publicly ignored example of animal abuse. The institution of horse racing is riddled with controversy and understandably so considering the treatment of the horses however it is important to illustrate the hypocritical over-political actions that are PETA's persecution of HBO.
First consider that Luck has been filming since 2010. So to be fair we can assume around 1 year filming the 1st and part of the 2nd season. 3 horses died during production, only 2 of which were in the racing area (The latest occurred in the stable area). This gives it 3 deaths per year at the most and 1 death per year at the least (considering all three calendar years of production).
Also it is unclear how many horse deaths occur in film production, although the lack of data suggests few to none. However it is unfair to compare any former production to a production on the scale of Luck for several reasons. For starters the sheer amount of final edited footage is massive when compared to a single movie. Each episode is around 1 hour long and often contains 2 or 3 racing scenes. Assuming an episode had 10 minuets of final edited race footage one can deduce that it was filmed over the course of several hours, if not days, and through many takes. The first season contained 9 episodes that would, following the above-mentioned estimate, total 90 minuets of final edited race footage.
These numbers equal to more than the total time of the final edited film of many movies. Seabiscuit and War Horse are two examples of movies starring horses both of which reported zero deaths during production. The Secretariat runs for 123 minuets and clearly does not contain anywhere near 90 minuets of racing footage. This is a clear reason in the difference in horse deaths considering how many more days and hours of filming are required for Luck and not required in any prior examples of horses in film.
Another immense different between Luck and other examples of horse use in films is the use of a single location. Movies often film in several locations and this requires the horses to be transported in some cases around the country. PETA lists the transportation of horses as a part of the inhuman treatment of horses in the horse racing industry. Luck filmed in the Santa Anita track in California for every race and therefore did not require any repeated long-term transportation.
Now consider the actual world of competitive horse racing.
The state of California's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) release an annual report which contains a fatality report (Page 24) totaling 265 deaths from July 2010 through June 2011. In the same period Santa Anita, the setting and filming location of Luck, alone had 37 fatalities. In 2009-2010 287(42 at Santa Anita) reported fatalities occurred and in 2008-2009 320(41 at Santa Anita). So in three years reported California had 872 total reported fatalities with 120 at Santa Anita alone. One must also consider that these 872 deaths are only in California and thoroughbred racing tracks exist in at least 20 states most of which contain more than 1 track (CA-6 NY-5 LA-4).
It is also interesting to note that the highest numbers of fatalities are listed as other indicating not caused while racing or training, although these "other" causes are arguable results of the other categories. The third production fatality and straw that broke PETA's back was one of these "other" deaths.
Finally consider the nature of these "Retired" race horses. PETA's own website says, "Few racehorses are retired to pastures for pampering and visits from caring individuals."
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