The issues horses used for racing in New Zealand face are the same as those in Australia, from confinement and isolation, to tongue ties, whips, two-year-old racing, jumps racing, deaths on track and more.
Just like in Australia, New Zealand thoroughbreds are routinely pushed well beyond their limits to make it first over the finish line, resulting in the injury and death of many horses on the racetrack – deaths the industry goes out of their way to hide from the general public as can be seen in this race replay edited by the industry.
Just like in Australia, New Zealand thoroughbreds are routinely pushed well beyond their limits to make it first over the finish line, resulting in the injury and death of many horses on the racetrack – deaths the industry goes out of their way to hide from the general public as can be seen in this race replay edited by the industry. This reality is highlighted perfectly in the article 'Three horse deaths in four days' written by our Whanganui team spokesperson and guest writer for The Spinoff, Sandra Kyle - availabe here.
Also, like Australia and around the world, a large percentage of horses vanish from the New Zealand racing industry each year, also known as ‘wastage’. Our report on New Zealand 'wastage' estimates can be read here.
Cruel jumps races also persists in New Zealand. The video below is a summary of the 2020 jumps racing season, which demonstrates how brutal this archaic "sport" is. Click here to see how you can get involved in our NZ 2023 Ban Jumps Racing campaign.
The good news is, the New Zealand horse racing industry has been struggling to grow and remain relevant for many years now. However, unfortunately the government continues to prop up this industry, one based on animal cruelty and gambling which is already on its knees, instead of redirecting tax payers money towards essential services and kind, innovative, relevant and sustainable industries and forms of entertainment.
Our petition demanding the NZ government withdraw their $72.5 million racing bailout package was signed by thousands and presented outside parliament in 200. More on that here.
The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses launched our New Zealand campaign in late 2018. Since this time we have established five satellite teams in Auckland, Wellington, Whanganui, Taranaki and Christchurch who have all been actively building their volunteer support, leading protests at local racetracks and engaging in educational outreach.
In just a few short months our New Zealand campaign attracted the attention of the media and continues to do so, putting horse racing cruelty firmly on the agenda.
We have also been successful in seeing companies publicly boycott the industry through highlighting their sponsorship of animal cruelty. More here.
We look forward to seeing our New Zealand campaign go from strength to strength and invite anyone who cares about horses, and would like to help us end horse racing cruelty in New Zealand, to please get in touch by filling out our volunteer form or by sending us an email at [email protected]
