Animal Aid Underground Posters Spell Out Lethal Reality of the Grand National Meeting

Campaign group Animal Aid has posted the notices in central London in the hope of dissuading potential punters from betting on the Grand National.

The posters feature a stark image of horses falling and the words:

‘Grand National Meeting
48 horses dead since 2000.
Don’t Bet on the Grand National’

The posters depict the death of a horse called Dooneys Gate, who broke his back at the notorious Becher’s Brook in 2011.

That image, however, was deemed to be too shocking for the public, and in order to run the posters, Animal Aid had to place the word ‘graphic’ over the stricken horse’s face.

The Grand National itself is a punishing and hazardous event. Of the forty horses who usually take part, fewer than half are likely to finish. Last year, six horses died at the Grand National Meeting. Four of the six victims perished on the Grand National Course; the worst total since before the year 2000. The two other victims died as a result of racing on Aintree’s Mildmay course.

The underground adverts are part of Animal Aid’s Horse Racing Awareness Week, which takes place each year in the days leading up to the Grand National. Supporters of Animal Aid will take their message to the streets, asking Grand National punters to withhold their betting money and attendance fees.

A mass protest is due to take place at the gates of the Aintree Racecourse on the day of the Grand National race (8 April).

A simultaneous London-based protest will take place outside ITV, which will be televising the Grand National Meeting.

 For more information, contact Dene Stansall, Fiona Pereira or Isobel Hutchinson on 01732 364546

Read our Grand National Briefing here.