Ostrich hurt in race is put down

INDIO — An ostrich that fell during a race at the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival had to be euthanized, a fair official said Tuesday.

“The leg was broken beyond repair,” said Veronica Casper, the fair's marketing manager. “We're all pretty upset by it. It was just an unfortunate incident beyond our control.”

The ostrich fell while pulling a rider in a chariot Monday, she said. The rider wasn't hurt, and a veterinarian was called in to treat the bird.

The ostrich ran into a barrier at the center of the circular race track, said spectator Mary Allison, 45, of Palm Desert.

“He just went plowing straight into it and got tangled up in it,” she said. “He got confused or scared or what, I don't know.”

Allison said the injury upset many in the large crowd, including her 8-year-old daughter, Berkeley.

“My daughter had tears in her eyes, and everybody was pointing,” she said. “They kind of forgot about the race that was going on.”

Casper said the injury is a first for the ostrich's owner, who also brings animals for the fair's petting zoo and nursery barn.

“He's been doing this for 35 years, and it has never happened to him,” she said. “He's devastated.”

The owner wasn't immediately available by phone Tuesday.

The races already include safety precautions, which aren't being adjusted, Casper said. The fair's ostrich and camel races will continue as scheduled.

She said she had received some emails from concerned spectators and planned to tell them fair officials are also upset over the death.

Brian Indrelunas, digital reporter for The Desert Sun, can be reached at brian.indrelunas@thedesertsun.com, (760) 778-4619 or @BriNews. Follow @BriNews!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s);if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src='//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,'script','twitter-wjs');