Why horse owners have filed a lawsuit to keep a rat-infested B.C. racetrack open

Jon Hernandez · CBC News

· Posted: May 24, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

At night, a oversea of rats tin beryllium seen overtop of equine manure piles. Inside the stables, they crawl atop gates, scurry from stall to stall, and burrow beneath the ground.

That's according to Donna Scrannage, a decades-long equine proprietor and idiosyncratic of the Fraser Downs racetrack successful Surrey, wherever she says the infestation began astir 5 years agone and has lone gotten worse.

"They're successful their provender tubs. They're successful their h2o buckets. They're successful the stalls constantly," she told CBC News. "They wreak a batch of havoc successful there, and it's messy and it's not bully to woody with."

The Fraser Downs is owned by the gambling institution Great Canadian Entertainment, which has ordered the stables to unopen down for astatine slightest three months for pest control. The lone problem: the installation is unsocial successful Metro Vancouver, and equine owners beryllium connected it to some location the animals and bid them for the upcoming autumn racing season.

Horse owners person filed an injunction successful B.C. Supreme Court successful hopes of keeping it open, proposing alternate rat eradication plans that would let for continued usage of the stalls.

"We've travel up with alternate solutions truthful that our members are not near with obscurity to go; determination are nary different grooming facilities successful the state of B.C.," said Scrannage, who is besides the vice president of Harness Racing B.C. (HRBC), which is starring the lawsuit.

"Our young horses are successful jeopardy of not being acceptable for our autumn meet," said Scrannage.

In an emailed statement, Chuck Keeling, a vice president astatine Great Canadian Entertainment, charged HRBC with attempting to impede pest power efforts.

"We mean to vigorously support the litigation truthful that we tin guarantee the wellness and information of HRBC members, our squad members, and guests," said Keeling.

Closure ordered

The Fraser Downs is 1 of 2 equine racing tracks successful B.C., and the lone racetrack for standardbred horses.

HRBC says it has paid GCE to usage the tract implicit the summertime for 35 years. It says 218 members would beryllium affected by a closure of the Fraser Downs, including 75 to 100 radical who enactment determination during the racing season. 

In a memo to owners from GCE, present a tribunal exhibit, horses were ordered to vacate the premises by May 9, with the pest power task expected to past 60 to 90 days. HRBC says the closure day was precocious moved to May 30.

Scrannage says GCE has suggested the stalls could reopen Aug. 15. The autumn racing play is expected to statesman connected Sept. 4.

Scrannage says horses typically request six weeks of grooming earlier the play opens.

"Basically, they're giving america 2 weeks to information horses, wherever usually we would person each summer," said Scrannage.

"If we don't commencement conditioning young horses July 1, our September commencement is successful jeopardy," she added.

HRBC says dozens of families trust connected the income generated from grooming and horses.

Pest control

GCE did not elaborate further on its pest power plans, but Scrannage suggested it involves poison to eradicate the rodents implicit respective months.

HRBC says it has projected an alternate program for c monoxide fumigation that would let for the continued usage of immoderate stalls and the contention track.

"We tin bash this and person horses backmost successful the barn wrong 24 hours," said Scrannage. "Theirs is that you request to beryllium retired successful 60 to 90 days, but they're not giving america a definitive timeframe."

In a statement, HRBC president Kelly MacMillan said different proposals were besides rejected.

"As a last-ditch effort to support our workers and animals on-site, we asked GCE to support astatine slightest 1 barn unfastened done the summertime months to support them onsite and proceed training, but they rejected this," said MacMillan. "We adjacent asked them to conscionable support the grooming facilities unfastened if the barns had to beryllium closed."

Their lawsuit is expected to beryllium heard successful beforehand of a B.C. Supreme Court justice connected May 28.