Horses die again at this year’s Cheltenham Festival
Posted 16th March 2018
Today is the fourth and final day of the Cheltenham Festival and while it’s named as one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar, the only highlight this year again has been death. Two horses lost their lives on the very first day of racing and a shocking four were fatally injured today.
Chris Luffingham, Director of Campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports said:
“The fatalities this year are just a few out of literally hundreds occurring every year at race courses across the UK. Until animal welfare is given priority over profit at races like Cheltenham, we will continue to see unnecessary deaths like this in the name of a so-called fun day out.
“Horses are intelligent, social animals that shouldn’t pay with their lives so people can attend a social event with friends and maybe win a few pounds. All animals’ lives are worth far more than that.”
The League believes that if horses are to be raced, this should only be in races and events that are well within their capacity and that of their riders. We are calling for the number of horses in key races like Cheltenham to be reduced, fences made more manageable for tiring horses, and the length of the races shortened.