For Immediate Release, Monday 21 September 2020 Breaking! 116 Horses Killed On Australian Racetracks – Deathwatch 2020 Report Reveals The 2020 Deathwatch Report by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) has been released and its findings expose the dark reality of suffering horses endure on Australian racetracks. The report can be read here and the just released Deathwatch 2020 video can be viewed here. “Once again, the Australian racing industry has lived up to its standard of killing one horse on its racetracks every three days” said Campaign Director Elio Celotto. “And these are just the deaths caused by on-track injuries that make it into the stewards reports” he added. CPR collates all their data for the annual Deathwatch Report from official racing industry stewards’ reports. “Once an injured horse is taken away from the racetrack to be killed, there is no requirement for stewards to report on their death” said Mr Celotto. “There is also no requirement for deaths that occur in training and trials to be recorded, so the sad reality is, the real number of horses killed each year from racing injuries would be far greater”. A video, soon to be released by the group, demonstrates just how easy it is for deaths caused by injuries to go unreported and can be viewed here. The reports key findings highlight that, at the very least: 116 horses were killed on Australian racetracks in the 2019/20 racing year (or soon after racing), most commonly from catastrophic front limb injury On average, one horse will die on an Australian race track every three days Other causes of death include: cardiac causes, massive bleeds, catastrophic hind limb injury, pelvis injury and head trauma. Nine horses were two-years-old when they died The most lethal track in Australia was Warrnambool in Victoria with five reported deaths In highlighting issues of transparency, the report found there to be a countless number of horses still listed by Racing Australia as ‘active’, ‘spelled’ or ‘retired’ who have simply vanished. “Racing Australia must be more proactive in following up horses who never return to the track and publicly disclose the reasons.” Mr Celotto said. The report features case studies of individual horses who lost their lives and as a new addition in 2020, CPR has also collated data on the number of horses reported to have suffered bleeding of the lungs or EIPH (Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Haemorrhage) finding 483 horses in Australia suffered the condition to such an extreme level they bleed through their nose. “The majority of bleeds go undetected as they are mostly internal, but 483 horses were pushed so far beyond their limits on race day they bled through their nose” Mr Celotto said. Failure to upload replays of races where horses were killed has also been highlighted and the final new addition to the 2020 Deathwatch Report exposes the names of the companies who sponsored races where horses were killed. “Horse racing is on the nose. As more and more people turn against horse racing, businesses need to consider whether sponsoring animal abuse is not only out of step with their company values, but whether it actually makes good business sense.” Mr Celotto said. CPR’s document titled ’10 Reasons Why Your Brand Should Not Be Associated With Horse Racing’ has been sent out to over 400 race sponsors and can be read here. ENDS For More information: horseracingkills.com |
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