HBO Horse Racing Series - "Luck" - Under Fire From PETA for Horse Deaths

Two horses were fatally injured during the filming of the HBO television series "Luck" over the past seven months.  Both horses were euthanized when their injuries were deemed irreparable.

In each instance, the horse had been checked by a veterinarian prior to the racing scene, and was found fit to work.   The program is monitored by the American Humane Association following a rigorous protocol. 

However, according to the BBC, PETA maintains that HBO had rejected PETA's suggestions for filming the program and that if HBO had followed PETA's recommendations, the animals might not have died.

PETA also commented that "two dead horses in a handful of episodes exemplify the dark side of using animals in television, movies, and ads." and that "We refrained from telling the show's producers "we tried to tell you so" and are now in discussions with HBO about how to prevent even more deaths on the show.

However, following the second fatality, HBO and the American Humane Society had already suspended filming.  The American Humane Society imposed additional safety procedures which included taking radiographs of all the horses involved in the series prior to resuming production.

For more information, check BBC.com and the American Humane Society.

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