CPR’s founder and fearless animal rights activist Elio Celotto has been nominated for the Peter Singer Lifetime Achievement award 2024. The Animal Justice Awards will be presented at the annual Animal Rights Forum in Melbourne on 24th-25th February.
We at CPR are so proud that our very own founder and Campaign Director Elio Celotto is nominated for the Peter Singer Lifetime Achievement Award 2024. And how very suiting, since reading Peter Singer’s book Animal Liberation was what triggered Elio’s tireless dedication to defend animals of all kinds now almost four decades ago.
Elio first became aware of the systematic destruction of ex-racehorses when he and his teammates from Animal Liberation was called out to investigate a knackery in Victoria in 2005. The pens were filled with branded racehorses waiting to be killed and fed as dog food.
“I would have expected the horses to be somewhat timid. But they were not at all. They were so trusting, all coming straight over to us to have a scratch. I realised then, that no one was doing anything to help these racehorses,” Elio said.
The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses was founded three years later in 2008 after Elio had collected a solid amount of evidence on the lives and deaths of the horses owned by the racing industry. The first focused campaign in Australia to end the cruelty of the horseracing industry had begun.
Years of Elio’s fearless undercover investigations and research culminated in 2019 when ABC 7:30 aired the documentary “The Final Race” on the evening of the Melbourne Cup Racing Carnival.
The national exposure of the slaughter and mistreatment of thousands of racehorses caused an instant public outcry and immediately forced the racing industry to announce welfare funds for racehorses and instigated a Queensland Government investigation into the Meramist abattoir featured in the ABC 7:30 documentary.
Today, the racing industry’s public licence to operate continues to diminish. Even though the racing industry is still allowed to regulate themselves, and that they continue to cling onto every politician who’s willing to be swung by their financial power, times are changing. The public will no longer accept animals to be used and disposed of as mere commodities.
To this day, Elio is still at the forefront of CPR research and investigations. He’s still holding banners together with his team at race day protests. He’s still out with his camera exposing the cruelty that happens behind the scenes in the racing industry. His dedication to protecting the voiceless victims of the horseracing industry is relentless.
We at CPR couldn’t be any prouder to stand side by side with Elio working towards a future that sees the inherently cruel racing industry in the past. We thank you, Elio, for all that you do for the animals and for inspiring us with motivation to never give up.
If you want to join us at the awards ceremony, tickets for the Animal Rights Forum 2024 are still available. Also, a huge thank you to the other amazing animal rights advocates nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award – together we are strong.
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