A 10-month undercover investigation conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) revealed horses being whipped, drugged, shocked, and killed at an unsanctioned race track in Georgia.

Arthur English IV, who founded the Rancho El Centenario track in Milner, denied any abuse, telling The Washington Post that shock devices, gambling, and drugging horses aren’t allowed at the track.

But PETA investigators, who viewed jockeys injecting horses with syringes before scheduled races, collected and sent those discarded syringes to a lab – with results showing cocaine, methamphetamine, and methylphenidate (also known as Ritalin).

Investigators also photographed jockeys with shock devices strapped to their wrists during racing, and horses who broke bones during their races, were shot in the head, and dragged off the track by a tractor, according to PETA.

“These unregulated races are a free-for-all of drugging, whipping, electroshocking, and gambling, with horses doped with cocaine and meth and shot dead right on the track,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. 

PETA’s investigation started in June 2021 and continued through the end of spring 2022.

The nonprofit animal protection organization has sent their investigative findings to local law enforcement and prosecutors and also to state and federal horse racing commissions and is asking for criminal investigations.

Those interested in learning more about the investigation can visit PETA’s investigations page here.