Campaigners call for better horse racing safety
Posted 3rd September 2020
Campaigners on Cheltenham High Street today called for improvements in race horse welfare and highlighted the animal cruelty and deaths associated with horse racing and the Cheltenham Festival.
Staff and volunteers from the League Against Cruel Sports and Gloucestershire Outreach Advocacy Team have been speaking to members of the public ahead of the first day of the festival to highlight the issue.
They will be back again on Friday, Gold Cup day, along with a headstone commemorating the horses that have died at the festival in recent years.
Chris Luffingham, director of campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, said:
“One death is too many. With horses regularly dying on racetracks, and Cheltenham among the worst offenders, it’s clear that the racing industry needs to take animal welfare more seriously.
“We urge the government to set up an independent regulatory body with horse welfare as its only concern.
“The League is calling for a ban on the whipping of horses as it encourages a horse to go beyond what it can comfortably do and result in injuries and stress.”
The Cheltenham Festival in 2019 saw the tragic deaths of Invitation Only, Sir Eric and Ballyward. A total of 67 horses have lost their lives at the Festival since 2000.
According to Animal Aid’s Race Horse Death Watch, in 2018 Cheltenham recorded the second highest number of fatalities on racecourses across the UK, with10 horses dying. Six horses died at the racecourse in 2019, and one has already died on the course in 2020.
Gordy Tye, a spokesperson for Gloucestershire Outreach Advocacy Team, said:
“Most people attending or betting on races have little to no knowledge of what their participation is funding. Many regard horse racing as a harmless sport in which the horses are willing participants. We expose the truth behind horse racing – not only the many visible and harrowing deaths that occur at the track but the thousands of horses that are disregarded and killed by the racing industry.
“We hope to continue with the great work we have done in previous years – people who normally have a 'harmless flutter' have left us saying they no longer want to be a complicit part in such a cruel 'sport'.”
Figures released by the British Horse Racing Authority showed that 173 horses lost their lives during competitive races in 2019.
Campaigners will be out again on Cheltenham High Street from 11.30pm on Friday, March 13th handing out leaflets and raising awareness about the welfare issues surrounding horse racing.
ENDS