Fighting the Fight Across the Pond

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The Guardian recently ran a piece on horseracing in Britain. Dene Stansall from our international ally Animal Aid expertly presented the end-racing argument:

“What you’re seeing is a human invention. That is not a natural horse.

“We whip them, we put gear on the heads, hoods, bits in the mouths, nosebands that confine them, tongue ties. We’ve seen 200 horses die in a year on racecourses [Britain has less racing than the U.S.]. We see horses going to the slaughterhouse. We see overbreeding, unregulated breeding.

“This is a major animal welfare issue that’s been long overdue for being addressed.”

Of course the other side was afforded ample time to spew their usual lies and distractions, but Dene did a great job and I thank him.

8 Comments

  2. Let us not forget the barbaric Steeplechase. The UK runs that type of race consistently. Just think of the rain soaked ground and a 1000 pound beautiful horse fly through the air to have his foot caught in the hurdle or in the mud and land on his head, shoulder, back.

    • Steeplechasers carry more weight than horses in flat track racing and they must run and jump carrying that extra weight for a distance of two and a half miles, which is farther than flat track races. The speeds might be slower than flat track racing but most of them are still whipped to run faster and to keep going. It’s all unnatural and barbaric any way you look at it.

  4. This is a very well produced & thought out well documentary. The documentary discusses many issues with the many bad effects of an industry based on gamboling.

  5. Interesting how no matter where horse racing takes place it still has the same elements of abuse and killing. Could it actually be something inherently wrong with the “sport” itself and not the weather, the track, the planets’ alignment, or any of the other excuses this industry typically uses? Nah, what are the odds of that.

    • I agree, Rebecca.
      The same type of psychos are in charge of racing regardless of where it’s happening and unless and until they’re removed, nothing is going to change, unfortunately. The love of money and perceived power is the only thing these bastards care about.

  6. The spewing of the usual lies and distractions from the racing representatives was nothing new – been going on for decades.

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