Bucking a Deadly Tradition: Stopping Omak's Suicide Races | The Humane Society of the United States

	Bucking a Deadly Tradition: Stopping Omak's Suicide Races

August 3, 2005


	AP Photo/Wenatchee World, Mike Bonnicksen

Every summer, the town of Omak, Washington, bears witness to a deadly, nighttime ritual: the Omak Suicide Race for horses. In one race last year, three horses died; two were euthanized on the spot after a stumble on the mountainside left them injured, and the third collapsed in the spectator arena at the end of the race.

Growing protests about the cruelty to the horses who run the race, and increased concern over the ethics of the event, have prompted several major corporations, including Wal-Mart and Diageo PLC (the maker of Crown Royal whiskey, Captain Morgan rum, and Smirnoff vodka), to withdraw longtime sponsorship this year. Despite this, the Omak Suicide Race will go forward as usual, putting the lives of the horses in harm's way. Since 1983, 21 horse deaths have been documented.

Take Action

Urge the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association to withdraw its support of the Omak Suicide Race.

Animal activists who have monitored and protested the race for decades hope to make this year's Suicide Race the last. A coalition of animal welfare organizations is appealing to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), which supports and sponsors the Omak Stampede rodeo event, to follow the example of Wal-Mart and Diageo, and to withdraw its support of the Omak Suicide Race.

Publicity Stunt

The Omak Suicide Race originated in 1935 as a promotion gimmick and the brainchild of Claire Pentz, publicity chairman for the Omak Stampede. The Stampede is an annual rodeo that, this year, runs August 11-14. Suicide Race organizers developed the spectacle hoping to draw tourists by showcasing horses and their riders in deadly situations night after night.

The Suicide Race operates independently, and notoriously, from other Stampede events. Over the years, race organizers have worked to align it with the traditional Native American horse racing of the local Colville tribe, but according to a recent article by Jean Johnson in Indian Country Today, the promotional race bears little resemblance to the Colville Indian Keller Mountain reservation races of the past, which Suicide organizers publicize as their inspiration. Johnson emphasizes that the traditional Keller Mountain horse races were never held at night.

Given the negative attention the race now draws to the Stampede and to Omak, it seems the event may have outlived its primary purpose.

The Infamous Race

The Suicide Race starts in the dark of night, with a plunge down 210 feet of a 60-degree slope covered with loose, wet sand. Riders race the horses 120 yards toward the drop-off, so that they begin their near-blind descent at a full gallop, an invitation for broken bones and other injuries. Most of the human and horse injuries and deaths occur on this initial stretch down "Suicide Hill," constituting the "thrilling" excitement of the race.

Those who would like the race stopped see the collisions and deadly pile-ups differently: "This is a blight on the organizers, promoters, participants and willing spectators, and no credit to horsemanship or anyone's culture. It is the reckless infliction of terror, pain, exhaustion, suffering, and death on an animal that has been our faithful partner and companion through the ages," says Dr. Andrew G. Lang, the Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Director of Equine Programs.

Horses who survive the wild plunge down Suicide Hill are raced into the unpredictable currents of the Okanogan River. The exhausted and terrified horses, by no means natural swimmers, are then forced to cross the river, which is approximately 50 yards, or half a football field, wide. More than one horse has drowned over the years, prompting organizers to keep a float at the ready to euthanize downed horses or rescue unseated riders.

The race does not end on the far bank. As the animals struggle out of the river, riders whip and kick the horses into a gallop up a steep grade to the finish line. By the end of the final uphill sprint, the surviving animals stand panting and exhausted, their coats wet with sweat and the river water. Not as easy to see is the mental stress the race has on the horses—by nature high-strung, sensitive animals.

The horses and riders who successfully complete the first race will go on to race again the second night, and then a third and a fourth race, as long as they successfully complete—and survive—the previous races.

What You Can Do

Activists across the country are joining forces to make this year's Suicide Race in Omak the last. A major effort is underway to convince the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), which supports and sponsors the Omak Stampede rodeo event, to withdraw its support of the Omak Suicide Race.

Please call, write, or email the PRCA and ask it to do everything in its power to stop the Suicide Race.

PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association)
101 Pro Rodeo Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80919-2301
Phone: (719) 528-4794

Chomping at the Bit to Do More?

Please also contact the following sponsors of the Omak Stampede, and ask them also to stop supporting the Suicide Race. Tell them that they should follow the lead of Wal-Mart and Diageo PLC, and withdraw their support from the Omak Stampede until the Suicide Race is permanently canceled:

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco

Vincent A. Gierer, Jr., Chairman, President & CEO

UST Inc.

100 West Putnam Avenue

Greenwich, CT 06830

Corporate headquarters: (203) 661-1100

Coors

W. Leo Kiely III, President & CEO

Molson- Coors Brewing Co.

PO Box 4030

Golden, CO 80401

Email: consumers@coors.com