Furious over filly shot at Philly Park

The Daily Racing Form is reporting that a Pennsylvania veterinarian has been ordered off the grounds at Philadelphia Park for shooting a horse with a gun to put her down.

DRF reports that the Pennsylvania Racing Commission is investigating Thomas J. Lurito DVM after 4-year-old filly Rich and Mean was allegedly shot in her stall two weeks ago. The filly was trained by Ralph Riviezzo, who told the Form: "I didn't know how they were going to euthanize her. I was away. I got a phone call the next day that said that they had put her down that way. One might argue how humane that is, but I will not get into that argument."

Oh, let's.

While it's true that "they shoot horses, don't they," it's inconceivable that "they" would shoot a horse, in her stall, at a racetrack, in the city. Especially when "they" happen to be a veterinarian who should have both access to, and the wherewithal to administer, lethal injection. Humaneness aside, the stupidity of it is mind-boggling.

And while Riviezzo was unwilling to "get into that argument" with DRF, or anyone else, about how humane shooting the filly might have been, by not disavowing the method he leaves one to surmise (rightly or wrongly) that he's really not all that bothered by the whole thing. The vet put down his filly with a gun instead of a needle. If the trainer was at all in disagreement with those actions, it would be prudent for him to say so.

Lurito has been disciplined once in the past by the Pennsylvania Board of Veterinary Medicine. He was assessed a civil penalty of $500 and given a deadline to complete eight hours of continuing education in a ruling on March 18, 2004 (Page 6), stemming from his failure to complete said continuing education on time.

From some accounts, it appears Lurito being ordered off the grounds at Philly was more a product of his having a firearm at the track (dumb enough) than his using that gun on the horse, which is a public embarrassment to horse racing.

The Form reports that Rich and Mean -- unplaced in six lifetime starts -- was being treated for a knee ailment, but her condition was not improving.

I can't pass judgment on whether the filly truly needed to be put out of her misery or was just another victim of racetrackers who find euthanasia the cheapest and most expedient means of disposing of a horse that has outlived her usefulness to them.

But I'm very willing to condemn the unconscionable fashion in which she allegedly met her end.

Note: I've communicated with DRF writer Matt Hegarty, who noted that his story states that Ralph Riviezzo said he "did not know HOW they were going to euthanize" the filly, not that he did not KNOW that she'd be euthanized; this blog post is re-edited as such. Indeed a version of the story accessed now (posted at 11:35 a.m. today, June 17) reads as Hegarty states. I could've sworn the version I read between 3 and 4 a.m. today, which was the original, posted before midnight on June 16, said Riviezzo "didn't know," not "didn't know how," but I can admit that I merely misread Hegarty's reporting. (Hegarty said the repost of the story Wednesday morning was due to a changed date in the filly's racing record, not due to any changes in his quotes.)

Hegarty also informs me that he considers Ralph Riviezzo to have been both truthful with him and genuinely concerned with the manner in which his horse was put down in his absence. I'll certainly trust Hegarty's judgment as the reporter who spoke with Riviezzo about the incident, and that the decision to euthanize Rich and Mean wasn't reached lightly.

That does not change the underlying fact that I find it nonsense to be shooting a filly at the track instead of using a sedative to put her to sleep followed by drugs to stop her heart.