Following an epidemic of equine fatalities at nearby Santa Anita Park, Los Angeles is considering becoming the first major U.S. city to place an outright ban on horse racing.
At a meeting this week, the Los Angeles Board of Animal Services discussed a motion which would prohibit racing and off-track betting in L.A. Animal Services will consider a motion Tuesday recommending that the city go on record as supporting a ban on all activities related to horse racing.
Animal Services commissioner Roger Wolfson, who also encouraged the board to pass a motion banning rodeos in LA, said he was hopeful the city could take a “real stand” on the issue of horse racing.
“We’re the department of animal services, not the department of companion animal services, and anything that affects the well-being of animals in Los Angeles is in our purview,” Wolfson told City News Service. “This wasn’t a political calculation. Look, 30 horses have died at Santa Anita; that’s a nearby city. We’re concerned about it.”
Located in Arcadia, Santa Anita claimed the lives of 30 horses over the six-month meet which wrapped on June 23.
If passed in L.A., the ban would not apply to Arcadia or its now-infamous track.
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