The number of horses deaths at Parx Racing in Bensalem continues unabated.

Thirty-one horses died at Parx during the first six months of the year, according to data released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. That figure, if matched in the last half of 2021, would put Parx on pace to surpass the 59 horse fatalities that occurred at its facilities in 2019.

“This does not surprise me in the least,” said Patrick Battuello, an activist who runs the New York state-based website HorseRacingWrongs.org. “The killing is built into the system.”

“Drugs are part of the problem,” Battuello said, but “this is mainly about how horses are bred…”