ABC’s 7:30 program ‘The Final Race’, exposing the systemic and brutal slaughter of racehorses, aired one week prior to Tabcorp’s 2019 AGM. The companies Chairman at the time, Paula Dwyer, said the following in her address:
“This brings me to the issue of animal welfare as highlighted on the ABC last week. Although Australian racing bodies have made progress in prioritising animal welfare, the vision of horses being mistreated at a Queensland abattoir was shocking and unacceptable to us. In response, we have resolved to use our industry leadership position and our voice to play a more meaningful role with our racing industry partners to ensure animal welfare is immediately prioritised and protection mechanisms strengthened and enforced. As a participant in the industry, we require a zero tolerance approach to animal cruelty.” Full address available here.
In June the following year, the company also released a position statement on animal welfare, once again reinforcing their zero-tolerance stance to cruelty to animals in racing and in society in general. This outlined 11 requirements Tabcorp placed on the industry – available here.
The industry is systemically failing in all eleven areas outlined in the statement, yet Tabcorp of course continues to support, endorse, facilitate and profit from the industry. CPR raised this with Tabcorp in a meeting in July 2020. The statement now appears to have been removed from the Tabcorp website, intentionally or inadvertenly we cannot say.
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