A family is seeking answers after their racehorse "Black Lives Matter" mysteriously died during a routine procedure.
The Hatley family, considered the first Black family to race quarter horses in Texas, first garnered national attention after their horse named "Black Lives Matter" won his first race at Louisiana Downs.
They recently provided a heartbreaking update on Instagram that "BLM" had died after a standard visit to the veterinary.
According to the Hatleys, the prize-winning horse was left unresponsive and lying still in a stall when the family went to pick him up from an equestrian veterinary clinic in Texas.
“We took our horse BLM an hour away for a VET for a short, simple procedure that will collect sperm for future breeding and also have him castrated so that he can perform without overactive hormones and have better success during the race,” Keeundra Hatley-Smith wrote on Instagram. “We left him healthy! But when we returned to pick him up he didn’t respond.”
Hatley-Smith suggested the horse's death may be racially charged.
“There is no proof of post-op care and documentation. We are so hurt! We need answers and we want justice!” she wrote on IG. “This is proof that Black people AND THEIR PETS are neglected in all aspects of the medical fields. My children loved him and knew exactly what his name stood for. Now it’s gone!”
"BLM" last raced on April 30 when he won the Sam Houston Derby, earning the Hatleys a $15,000 purse.
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