Pursuit of dead racehorse compensation meets hurdle

The owner of a 4-year-old racehorse has sued a Beijing vet for 800,000 yuan ($126,960), accusing him of killing the thoroughbred with his treatment.　

The horse, called Jinsha Zhizun and valued at over 1 million yuan, died on January 23 after the vet, surnamed Zhang, diagnosed it as suffering from a parasitic disease. Zhang gave the horse two injections, according to the press release from Daxing district court.

Zhu Ran, a court publicity official, said a trial date had not yet been set, and this is the first case of its type the court will try.　

"Jinsha Zhizun was killed while in his prime to win races, and I expected he would be an excellent studhorse who would produce champions," said Jia in the press release.

He bought the horse in October, 2009 for 610,000 yuan from an equestrian club. Jia insists the vet should take the blame for his misdiagnosis.

"His breath suddenly became heavy and my poor Jinsha Zhizun dropped down dead after the injections," said Jia.

"If the malpractice is backed up by evidence, the court probably will rule for the plaintiff, and award compensation based on how much the owner paid for the horse, plus other costs like training fees, so 800,000 could be a fairly accurate estimate," said Sun Mingde, a lawyer from Guolian Law Firm.

"Our country still lacks a professional veterinary service, especially for imported racehorses which could be easily value over several million yuan," said La Cuifang, office director of China Horse Industry Association.

According to Yu Peng, from the veterinarian administration of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture, only vets who treat domestic pets need to be licensed, and racehorse vets are not covered by national veterinary regulations.

"Vets in pet clinics must be licensed, but usually vets for racehorses are hired by individual equestrian clubs, and we have no idea if they are can provide a professional service or not," said Yu.