The Veterinary Council of Ireland is being urged to prohibit vets from performing grotesque wind surgeries on horses.

“As these surgeries are highly invasive and entirely unnecessary, the VCI should consider them to be unethical and act accordingly” we stated in an appeal this month.

Wind operations are carried out to improve the performance of horses used in racing - this is done by cutting out a part of a horse’s anatomy to increase the airflow into their lungs. Outside the racing arena, this operation would not normally be necessary. It is effectively being done to increase the chances of a horse winning more prize money. 

This conflicts with the Veterinary Council of Ireland’s Professional Code of Conduct which makes it clear that in considering the welfare implications of any proposed treatment or procedure, vets must accept that the “likely benefit to the animal should outweigh any likely harm and must transcend personal advantage or monetary gain in decisions concerning therapy...”

Wind surgeries are carried out not for the benefit of the horse but for the “personal advantage” of the horse owner whose focus is not on the welfare of the horse but on “monetary gain”.

As acknowledged in an article on the Paddy Power betting company website, “wind surgery is one of the procedures owners can conduct on a horse to ensure it runs at its maximum...having the operation could improve their chances of winning a race, as they are now less likely to endure a blockage of their airflow when galloping” 

An Irish trainer was recently asked to explain the improvement in form of a horse who won a race. This trainer attributed the improvement to the fact that the horse “had a wind operation since its last run”. We understand that this is one of many horses subjected to the mutilation every year. 

Wind surgery involves tying back a vocal cord and the sack behind it, or completely removing them with a scalpel.

The different types of surgery are:

• Tie forward operation - The horse is anesthetized and positioned on its back, with head and neck extended before an incision is made between the jaw bones. The larynx is pulled forward and upwards using a wire anchored to a bone. The larynx is sutured into place. The horse’s soft palate is then cauterized through the mouth, causing it to scar and tighten. The horse’s skin is then stapled together. Reported post-operative complications include swelling and wound infection, including infections involving the sutures which “can be difficult to treat, sometimes necessitating removal of the surgical implant sutures”.

• Tie back surgery (prosthetic laryngoplasty) - this is performed under general anaesthetic and involves using a suture to tie a vocal cord into a fully open position. This operation interferes with a horse’s swallowing mechanism and can result, postoperatively, in the horse coughing when bits of food end up going down the windpipe. 

• Hobday procedure (ventriculectomy/ventriculocordectomy) is also typically done under general anaesthetic using a scalpel. It involves surgically removing a vocal cord and the sac behind it to prevent tissue collapsing into the laryngeal passage. 

• Soft palate cautery involves burning the oral surface of the soft palate in order to produce scar tissue to cause a stiffening of the tissue. This has been described as “a pretty crude procedure” which “seems to produce results”. These results may last less than a year, meaning the horse may be subjected to the surgery twice or more.
 
Another related operation involves cutting the sternothyrohyoid muscles to prevent backward movement of the larynx.

As noted in an article by Dr Erwin Koenen and Richard Birnie in Horse Trainer magazine, “Wind surgeries can have welfare implications, for example, if a horse suffers post-surgical complications such as infection or difficulty swallowing...” 

Animal Aid, which campaigns for a ban on horse racing, has also pointed out that after any wind operation, horses are unable to express their full and varied natural vocalisation. This, they stress, “must have a negative psychological effect on their wellbeing”.

We believe that wind operations are contrary to the section of the VCI Code of Professional Conduct which states that a proposed treatment “must be likely to improve the animal’s health and quality of life to an animal’s satisfaction with their own welfare.”

In the normal course of events in a horse’s life, the animal is not going to require increased airflow. This is only a consideration in the context of a horse being pushed to its limits and beyond, forced to run long distances and jump over numerous obstacles - all to provide a gambling product for racecourses and betting companies.

Wind operations do not improve a horse’s health or quality of life. Rather, they improve the wealth and quality of life of horse owners and trainers. The horses suffer obscene mutilations and are left with scars and at risk of infections and swallowing difficulties.

The Veterinary Council of Ireland code stresses that “veterinary practitioners must exercise extreme caution regarding any operation or procedure which involves interference with, or the removal of, the sensitive tissue or the bone structure of an animal and which does not provide any therapeutic benefit to the animal. A procedure of this nature that is primarily for the convenience or cosmetic preferences of the client must not be carried out unless it is expressly allowed under legislation.”

Wind surgeries do not benefit animals and performing them on racehorses is inarguably unethical. Vets who carry out these non-essential, invasive surgeries are breaching the veterinary commitment to promote and safeguard animal health and welfare.

Say NO to horse racing.

SEE ALSO

More horses confirmed dead following races at Irish racecourses
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2021/08/19/horses-confirmed-dead-following-races-at-irish-racecourses/

Why you should say NO to horse racing – download and distribute the leaflet
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2023/08/05/new-leaflet-why-you-should-say-no-to-horse-racing

Watch “RTE Investigates: Horses – Making a Killing”
https://youtu.be/ymm0xh3gp7o
 
Watch the BBC Panorama documentary “The Dark Side of Horse Racing”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1TZnZgV8L4