United for horses

Following the publication of terrible images showing top trainer Gordon Elliott and jockey Rob James sitting on recently deceased horses, the question to be answered by the racing industry is: How many horses die during training?

The groups have come together to write to the racing authorities in Britain and Ireland to demand answers to this question as well as more details regarding the ages and the reasons why the horses died in training.

The groups that have joined together are:

Animal Aid, Animal Interfaith Alliance, FOUR PAWS UK, League Against Cruel Sports, Mahavir Trust, Naturewatch Foundation, Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary, The Retreat Animal Rescue and Wild Welfare, and Animal Welfare Consultant, Dr Helen Lambert (née Proctor) BSc Hons, MSc, PhD.

Says Iain Green, Animal Aid’s Director:

“For all the hype about openness and horse welfare, the racing industry is notoriously silent regarding the death rate of horses in training. The images of recently deceased race horses being shown such disrespect will stay in the public’s consciousness for a long time, not least because of the paltry and ineffective penalties handed out to Gordon Elliott and Rob James. If they are to make any sort of amends, then the regulators should be upfront and honest about how frequently horses are being killed by their training regimes.”