Bengaluru: A four-year-old racehorse was euthanised after suffering a fractured left foreleg during the Bangalore Summer Derby at Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) last Sunday. According to the club’s incident report, the horse was “humanely euthanised”. It is the first reported euthanasia of the racing season at BTC, which began in May.Knotty Cruise stumbled and fell shortly after crossing the 300-metre mark, throwing apprentice jockey Sachin from the saddle. An ambulance was immediately rushed onto the track, and a green screen was erected around the horse while veterinary doctors examined it. Finding the injuries irreparable, the medical team anaesthetised the horse on the spot before administering injections to euthanise it.“Knotty Cruise sustained an irreparable, comminuted fracture of the sesamoid bones, with rupture of supporting ligaments and dislocation of the joint. The animal had severe injuries and was suffering. In such cases, euthanasia is accepted under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, in India, and is permitted by law worldwide,” Dr R Senthil Kumar, chief veterinary officer at Bangalore Turf Club, told TOI.Animal rights activists, however, contend that the horse could have been treated and rehabilitated instead of being euthanised. “In the horse racing industry, horses are treated as commodities and props for human entertainment. Because of this, when they are injured and no longer considered ‘economically valuable,’ they are viewed as ‘losses’ rather than as sentient individuals, and it is a standard industry practice to euthanise them,” said Dilip Kumar DRVS, an animal rights activist who attended the derby last week. He added that horse racing itself must be questioned and ultimately brought to an end.An RTI application filed by Erase Horseracing India, a volunteer group, revealed that 50 horses were euthanised at BTC between April 2018 and March 2025. “As many as 228 horses died at BTC during this period. Many died due to colic, laminitis, cardiac arrest and other diseases. Racing and solitary confinement take a toll on their health. The natural lifespan of horses is 25-30 years, but we often see horses as young as two die in horse racing,” said Nitharshni Rajagopal, president of the volunteer group.She said BTC complies with the provisions of PCA Act and promptly reports horse deaths, though it does not submit monthly health reports. “Many other clubs evade accountability and transparency and do not submit the data,” she added.
