Animal Aid holds peaceful demo at Epsom Ladies’ Day

In recent weeks, we have been sharing information via social media regarding the lives of female horses in the racing industry. The exploitation of mother horses (dams) and their babies is brutal, and yet this issue remains largely hidden from the public. Thankfully, we have seen increased awareness about the exploitation of female animals such as dairy cows and egg laying hens in recent years, and we hope to bring the abuse of female race horses into this dialogue.

At the demonstration at Epson Racecourse, we played on the idea of ‘Ladies’ Day’ with the theme ‘Tea, Cake, Liberate’. We stood with our placards opposite the Entrance pavilion, handed out over 100 bags of vegan sweets with a link to a ‘Ladies Day’ fact-file, and celebrated what it means to live with kindness. Living cruelty-free doesn’t mean living fun-free!

Vitally, we hope to expose the dark reality of the racing industry by bringing it into the light for all to see. This is a ruthless industry with the pursuit of profit, not horse wellbeing, at its heart. Thousands of horses are brought into the world by the industry each year, only to be broken, suppressed, beaten, pushed, controlled, wrung for every penny that can be made, and then discarded. This is not a ‘sport to be proud of’; this is animal cruelty. And together, we can bring it to an end.

Take action for race horses

• Order leaflets by e-mailing nina@animalaid.org.uk or a Horse Action Pack
• Share our social media images
• Find out more about the cruelty of the racing industry here