CPR has received animal welfare incident reports from Meramist slaughterhouse in Caboolture QLD through a Right to Information inquiry made by Meet Our Horse Meat. Whilst we recognise the obscurity in (unintentionally) implying a place that exists to kill horses and other animals somehow has their welfare as a consideration, these stories give a snapshot into their lives before being sent to the slaughterhouse, during transport and/or on arrival.

Help horses by:

1. Demanding the National Horse Traceability Register be designed to achieve its intended purpose https://horseracingkills.com/nhtr/

2. Signing the petition directed at the EU Commission to end their import of Australian horse meat https://bit.ly/2LWvb1m

3. Watch and share ‘The Final Race’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp-ALoBRW20

Incident 7/5/2019 (no incident number).

The Meramist On-Plant Vet was performing an ante-mortem exam on the horses due for slaughter that day. At 6.50am they discovered a brown gelding who was blind in both eyes in a pen with 35 other horses. All horses had been delivered the previous morning. The vet noticed he had his head down and extensive swelling involving soft tissue around the right eye. The surface of his left eye was cloudy with no menace response indicating blindness in that eye. The right eye was subsequently checked with the peri-orbital swelling being at least 24 hours old. Again, no menace response and bi lateral blindness was confirmed when the gelding was noticed walking into the perimeter fence of the yard. The vet declared the horse ‘unfit to load’.

Another staff member agreed he was blind and led him up the race for “priority slaughter”.

The gelding was reported to be a thoroughbred type and 20+ years old. He had a body score of 3/5 and was depressed and lethargic.

The truck the gelding arrived in carried 35 other horses over two trailers.

His eyes were extracted after slaughter and locked securely in DAWR freezer.

There were eight photos accompanying the report which the Queensland Government did not provide.

Previous incidents from the same horse trader:

16/4/2019 – horse with open dislocation of left hind fetlock on truck

3/1/2018 – three horses down in truck, one fractured skull, one broken leg, one dead.

26/9/2017 – use of cattle prod on brumbies while unloading.

There are other incidents at Meramist that we are aware of from this same horse trader that are not mentioned in the above summary.

It is highly likely the brown gelding was the stock horse pictured – sold at Echuca sales 11 days prior to the same person who delivered this and thirty-five other horses to Meramist. He was advertised as “quiet in the yard and blind in one eye”.

The vet said the horse had extensive swelling around the right eye and that it was at least 24 hours old so why wasn’t this picked up the day before and the horse euthanased then? He was blind in a pen (and likely in a cramped truck) with 35 other horses and entirely at their mercy.

There are so many related incidents to this vendor, yet he was allowed to continue supplying horses to Meramist.

Whilst over 50% of horses killed at Meramist are racehorses (as our 2019 investigation exposed), many of the horses in these incident reports that we will be sharing with you over the coming months are not. Even so, we feel a deep responsibility to tell their stories, to keep exposing the devastating reality of a world that trades in horses (and so many other animals) as objects for our use as we see fit. In these cases- it is the end of the line, when all other uses have been exhausted. The last remaining thing to exploit them for is their very own flesh, to be served up as a meal for humans in Europe and Asia.

To keep across future Meramist story posts on social media search #MeramistStories #UrgentNationalRegister

26 May 2022

Attn: Nathalie Chaze

European Commission Director General for Health and Food Safety

By email: [email protected]

Copy to:
EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety
Stella Kyriakides
[email protected]

A further request for the immediate suspension of horsemeat products from Australia

Dear Nathalie Chaze,

Thank you for your letter dated 1st March 2022 on the above-mentioned subject. We would like to share with you new evidence which demonstrates the disregard of the Australian horse traders with EU rules regarding horse traceability and the safety of Australian meat for consumers.

We have statutory declarations from witnesses who have seen, first-hand, the fraudulent activities of the horse traders with regard to Horse Vendor Declarations (HVDs). By law, HVDs are to be completed and signed by the vendors the horse traders buy from. This has been proven to not always happen. These HVD numbers are then listed on the HVDs that the horse traders complete, and they accompany the horses to the Meramist abattoir. This is a system that does not work.

The statutory declarations provide proof that fraudulent HVDs are common. They are annexed to this letter in full detail but, in brief, relate to the following:

• Statutory declaration from witness 1 who personally witnessed horses known to have drugs in their system, and horses not fit for transport, being taken to, and accepted by, Meramist abattoir. The witness was employed by xxxxxxxx (name redacted) at the time, a sub vendor for Peter Klan – both horse traders who provide horses to Meramist. She witnessed HVDs being completed by people other than the vendor of the horses. She heard the horse trader say that the On Plant Vet at Meramist turns a blind eye to many of the unfit horses sent to Meramist. What she witnessed is proof that EU traceability requirements are not met.
• Statutory declaration from witness 2 who attended the Echuca horse sale on 26^th April 2019 and witnessed sale staff completing the HVDs rather than the vendor of the horses. This is a breach of EU traceability requirements.
• Statutory declaration from witness 3 who attended the Camden horse sale on 4^th December 2019 and witnessed two mares being bought and loaded by xxxxxx (name redacted), a horse trader and supplier to Meramist. A further statutory declaration from witness 2 regarding the same sale and same mares. The sale auctioneer stated to the witness that no HVDs were handed out that day. That being the case, it means they were completed fraudulently by, or on behalf of, the horse trader. This is also a breach of EU traceability requirements.

Summary:

Name	Where	Date	Issue	Breach of EU Traceability
Witness 1	Peter Klan’s sub vendor	2020, 2021	Horses delivered to Meramist with drugs in system   Fraudulent HVDs	Yes
Witness 3	Camden Horse Sale	4.12.19	xxxxxxx (name redacted) bought horses with no HVD
Witness 2	Phone contact	Dec 2019	Horses delivered to Meramist	Yes
Witness 2	Echuca Horse sale	26.4.19	Staff not vendor filling out HVD	yes

Further to the statutory declarations, we have evidence that errors regarding the identity of horses can and do happen. An investigation by Biosecurity Queensland into an incident on 16^th April 2019, did not make mention of an inaccuracy on the HVD the horse trader completed, even though it concerned one of the horses involved in the incident. The description of the horse on the HVD did not match the horse with that tag number. This is further proof that the HVDs should not and cannot be relied upon. The details of this incident are also annexed.

Through Right to Information we have received reports that involve horrific animal welfare breaches that resulted in the suffering, or even death, of numerous horses during long haul transport. Many of these horses were not fit to be transported and suffered for extended periods of time. Some involved horses that were very aged and a horse who was blind. These incidents break Australian law.

In your letter dated 1^st March, you indicate that due to the low number of residues-related RASFF notifications for horsemeat from Australia, there is no real food safety risk for consumers. In this context, we would be interested to know how many horsemeat samples were tested at EU border inspection posts in the last three years (2019-21) from Australia, and how many of these samples showed positive results of drug residues.

In our opinion, the potential food safety risk appears to be considerable, especially considering more than 50 % of the slaughtered horses come from the racing industry, and where there is no reliable system of traceability in place.

Based on this new and also previously supplied evidence relating to food safety and horse welfare breaches to EU requirements, we urgently ask for an immediate suspension of all horse meat products from Australia.

We appreciate the time taken to read the annexed documents and await your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Elio Celotto

Campaign Director
Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses

Previous letters sent to the EU regarding breaches to their Australian horse meat import requirements available here and here.

To sign the petition calling on a suspension of horse meat imports from third countries to the EU, click here.

Jet’s story is an all too common one. It is a devastating one and a clear reflection of an industry and a system that continues to fail animals.

Jet was raced for less than three years – the average for a thoroughbred racehorse. He won over $40,000 for his owners across NSW country racetracks including Muswellbrook, Gosford, Bathurst, Tamworth, Wyong and Scone.

Once his owners and trainer were done with him he was officially ‘retired’ from racing and rehomed – at which point the racing authority, his trainer and his owners absolved themselves of any ongoing responsibility or concern for his life and his care.

Between 2013 and 2020 he had three different owners. We don’t know how Jet was treated throughout this time or what his life was like, until he was passed to a fourth owner in mid 2020. By March 2021 the RSPCA had stepped in due to Jet’s poor condition and placed the then sixteen year old on a monitoring system and feeding regime.

One year later, Jet was rescued by Hunter Horse Haven. The images they took tell the story of just how well the RSPCA monitoring system worked for Jet. He was starving, was eating his own faeces and had even eaten parts of a fence.

Over fifteen long days and nights Jet was given round the clock monitoring, tests, veterinary guidance, small three hourly feeds, and an abundance and love and care. His carers slept by his side in his barn every night. But it was not enough to reverse the damage that was done. Jet’s heart gave out on the morning of May 1, 2022 and he was put to rest.

Jet’s last owner failed him. The RSPCA failed him. And the racing industry failed him.

Whilst Jet may have been ‘retired’ from the racing industry some years ago, this does not negate them of responsibility. Racing breeds approximately 13,000 thoroughbreds each year and expects the Australian public to take responsibility for almost all of them once racing has used them up and spat them out. Jet made over $40,000 for his owners and still, his life ended as a starved horse, who was only a shadow of himself. So long as the racing industry’s business model is one of breed, use, abuse and discard we will continue to see such suffering. It’s just not good enough.

Thoroughbred racing turned over $29 billion in wagering alone last year. Over $800 million was paid out in prizemoney. Yet thousands of horses still end up either killed or neglected. Meanwhile, the National Horse Traceability Register that Australians were promised has turned into an absolute farce (more on that soon).

Please TAKE ACTION now, for Jet and so many others in five easy steps:

1. Take the pledge to never bet on or attend a horse race again here.

2. Demand an Independent Office of Animal Protection that can adequately address animal suffering – something the RSPCA have proven time and time again they cannot. Sign here.

3. Send your love and gratitude to Hunter Horse Haven Inc. Rehabilitation, Rehoming & Sanctuary by making a donation to their work for horses here.

4. We need politicians who care about animals above the profits of animal abuse industries. Remember this at the polling booth.

5. Share his story

Supporters may recall, back in November 2020, we published an article titled “Racing Tasmania Admits Racehorses are Routinely Shot in the Head” – available here.

Within the article, we drew attention to an interview with the then General Manager of the Office of Racing Integrity (ORI) and Director of Racing John King, who admitted on ABC Morning Radio that a “significant” number of two, three and four year old racehorses are shot in the head due to simply not being fast enough – referring to the issue as “an unfortunate truth”.

So, we crunched some numbers and found that on average, 299 horses vanish from Tasmania’s thoroughbred racing industry every year.

Mr King did shed some light on where some had gone, when he stated that 59 Tasmanian thoroughbred horses had been euthanised due to injury or illness that racing year.

This figure raised serious red flags, as according to our research of stewards reports for that racing year, 2019/20, not a single horse was reported to have been killed due to injury – at least on race day. Could all 59 injuries resulting in euthanasia have really occurred away from the racetrack?
   
Our article led to us having a discussion with the office of Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie, who too was appalled and outspoken when he heard the ABC interview.

Mr Wilkie subsequently put forward some questions to Tasmania’s Minister for Racing at the time, Jane Howlett, regarding:
– Mr King’s comments;
– our findings on the number of horses vanishing from racing each year;
– auditing procedures to claims horses are “retired” and,
– breeding incentive programs.

The answers to these questions came from Mr King’s replacement at the ORI, Tony Latham in June 2021. NB: Mr Latham has since been removed from his role and placed under investigation for misconduct for other matters.

Question 1
How many of those (59) deaths were caused by injuries that were sustained or likely sustained as a result of racing, trials and/or training? 

ORI Mr Latham’s answer:

36 horses were euthanised from injury – The majority of those euthanised was training related with a few injuries sustained whilst spelling. There were no racetrack deaths in 2018/2019 or 2019/2020 financial year.

7 Horses were euthanised from illness.

16 horses were euthanised by the owner’s request due to not suitable for rehoming or behavioural issues.

So, most of the 36 life-taking injuries were sustained during training (not racing) in Tasmania alone, a tiny industry comparative to other states. This is a sobering statistic when you consider our Deathwatch Report finding of one horse being killed due to racing-related injuries every 2.5 days Australia-wide is made up almost entirely of injuries sustained on race day. If deaths caused from training and trials were required to be reported across the country, it is horrifying to imagine how many actual horses are being killed due to racing related injuries each year. Having said this, considering the high number of horses who leave the racetrack injured/lame, it is highly unrealistic that none of those horses would have been euthanised from those race day injuries once being taken from the track.

Question 2
Based on figures obtained from the Racing Australia Fact Book, an average of 299 thoroughbred horses have vanished from racing in Tasmania each year over the past seven years – see Table 1 below. This is approximately 30% of the horses registered to race in Tasmania – a figure similar to that of the country average. Mr King acknowledged that a “significant” number of two, three and four-year-old racehorses are shot in the head due to simply not being fast enough. How many of the horses taken out of racing each year suffer such a fate?

ORI Mr Latham’s answer:

Regarding your comments about horses ‘vanishing’ over the past seven years is not the case, and comments regarding a significant number of two, three- and four-year-old horses destroyed due to not being fast enough is incorrect. The data provided by Racing Australia reveals that between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020, sixteen (16) four-year-old named horses were retired from the racing industry. Three (3) were euthanised due to injury, two (2) were retired for breeding, eleven (11) were retired for either equestrian / pleasure / working / companion horse / breeding (non-racing).

So, is Mr Latham stating that the Racing Australia Fact Book figures on the numbers of horses being bred and raced each year (where our figures come from) is incorrect? Is he also stating that his predecessor Mr King lied in his ABC interview or that he was ill informed? As to the data provided by Racing Australia on four-year-olds – well, that accounts for 16 of the several hundred to have vanished from racing that year, and whether accurate is questionable considering the data comes from owners claims on a form.

Mr Latham went on to state:

In 2018/2019 financial year there were 742 named horses notified of being retired, deceased/euthanised or retired as breeding

In 2019/2020 financial year there were 537 named horses notified of being retired, deceased/euthanised or retired as breeding.

Of all the claims made by racing authorities, this had to be one of the most absurd. The figures we calculated in Table 1 demonstrate that on average 299 horses vanish each year from Tasmania racing. Our figures are based on information provided in the Racing Australia Fact Book, which  indicates in the 18/19 racing year 241 named horses vanished from racing in Tasmania. The ORI claims that 742 were retired/deceased/euthanised/breeding. Is the ORI saying the problem is over three times greater than what we found?

Even more absurd, according to the Fact Book, there were only 847 horses in total at the beginning of the 2018/19 racing season in Tasmania. To lose 742 is a single year from racing to retirement/death/breeding is essentially to lose almost every single registered horse from racing and replace them. Mr Latham’s claim of 537 named horses notified as retired/deceased/euthanised/breeding the following year represents a similarly strange scenario.

Such figures make absolutely no sense, unless of course the situation in Tasmania is even worse than our findings suggest.

Finally, some light was shed on these claims once Tasmania’s own 2021 Annual Report was published – available here.

On page 19 they mention a “data clean-up and reconciliation of old records” under their retirement data chart.

Adding the “data audit records” to their chart figures adds up to the numbers Mr Latham provided in his response to Mr Wilkie. For example: in the 2018/19 racing year, according to the chart above, 264 horses were retired/deceased/euthanised plus 478 came from audit record clean ups – total 742, as claimed originally by Mr Latham.  

So, there are two options here – either TasRacing are just making up figures to cover for the ORI’s very odd and concerning original claims, or they are actually cleaning up shop as they claim in the above chart (on gathering retirement data at least). If the latter is in fact the truth, then why did Mr Latham not mention this in his response? It appears to us that it never even registered to him that he was providing a figure that demonstrated that almost every single horse in racing was being taken out of racing each year due to death, ‘retirement’ or for breeding and replaced. If he acknowledged how large this figure was, would he not have explained it was due to a ‘data clean up and reconciliation of old records’ as now being claimed in the chart above?

It must also be noted that 2021 is the first time in the history of the TasRacing Annual Report, that they have published thoroughbred and standardbred horse retirement figures. This is a clear indication that increased pressure on TasRacing by animal welfare groups, some politicians and the general public has forced them to demonstrate at least some form of accountability. Previously, the term ‘retirement’ more frequently appears when discussing board members and pension benefits.
 
Of particular note in the TasRacing chart above:

Euthanised refers to thoroughbreds that have been euthanised due to an injury or illness, unsafe to be rehomed or unable to be placed in a home. It includes euthanasia via veterinary surgeon and knackery/abattoir persons.

Euthanasia is when a horses suffering cannot be addressed to give quality of life – not convenience killing, and should never be done in the terrifying horrors of a knackery or slaughterhouse. There also appears to be no requirement for the owner to prove they made any rehoming attempts at all, nor proof that a horse is dangerous.

The chart also claims the majority (over 60%) of thoroughbred horses are rehomed. Yet, it also states: Data is self-reporting and has not been independently verified.

Completing retirement forms is now compulsory, and the address to which a horse is being rehomed must be provided. However, these are not fact checked by the authority. A person retiring a racehorse can say anything they like on the form. Why would one admit they are killing horses once they no longer want them when they don’t have to? And why would John King, as the General Manager of the ORI, have stated in 2020 that a “significant” number of two, three and four-year-old racehorses are shot in the head due to simply not being fast enough? Of course, ‘not being fast enough’ is not one of the descriptions of what being ‘euthanised’ (killed) refers to in the chart above.

There is no way of knowing if the rehomed figures claimed by TasRacing are accurate, but history and the known difficulty of rehoming racehorses makes it a safe bet to assume they are not. At the very least, the figures provided by the ORI in the various stages of this brief inquiry about “retired” horses, gives the public virtually no confidence in the accuracy of their record keeping.

As a final note on the above chart: there is interestingly one very obvious statistic missing. Trainers and owners constantly profess their absolute love for the horses they use. Yet, there is no category for a trainer or owner who has kept their horse after ‘retirement’. According to TasRacing figures, every single horse used to race over the past three years either died, was put into breeding, was sent to a livestock sale, or was rehomed. It is of course entirely possible that some owners/trainers may have kept a horse in their care after racing, but the fact that this is not even a category suggests they would of course be the exception to the rule. Funny that.  

Our final question to the Tasmanian Minister for Racing
The Tasmanian government has allocated $1.54 million toward the Tasbred incentives scheme designed to encourage Tasmanians to not only breed more thoroughbreds but to also race them as early as two, three and four years old. Considering there is a “significant” number of horses being killed each year for simply not being fast enough and the fact that racing horses before their skeletons are fully formed increases the chance of early injury and therefore death, is it not therefore against the industry’s and governments claims of taking animal welfare very seriously, to be encouraging bringing more horses into an industry only to be injured and/or killed at an age that is a fraction of their natural lifespan?

ORI Mr Latham’s answer:

The Tasmanian Government financial contribution to the TASBRED scheme strengthens the Tasmanian Racing Industry, providing incentives to increase breeding of racehorses in Tasmania, creating new jobs within breeding, racing, and associated primary industries. The TASBRED scheme in my opinion will not lead to an increase in animal cruelty as the horse population remains at a consistent level and the number of races held has not increased.

The TASBRED scheme will promote breeding in Tasmania which will strengthen the Tasmania thoroughbred population and in the longer term, this will decrease the number of imported horses coming into the state from the mainland.

This $1.54 million has now increased to $2 million for 2022. Even though retirement data, now officially published, shows approximately 300 thoroughbred horses alone (approx. 450 when horses from Tas harness racing are including), are in need of good homes each year, just in Tasmania, the Tasmanian Government doesn’t see incentivising more breeding to be a problem. Of course, these are just the numbers of horses who are retired after making it to the track in the first place. Plenty more who are bred do not. A horse’s natural lifespan is roughly 25 years. Where does TasRacing and the Tasmanian Government expect all of these horses to go? Sadly, we know the answer.

Cover image: Sneaky – a Brightside Farm Sanctuary resident, rescued from a Tasmanian racehorse trainer who was selling him for pet meat.

Dear Supporter,   We are well into the new year and summer has come to a close, so we thought it was time to send out an update on just some of the things that took place over the hottest months of the racing year. We know our e-news letters can be a bit grisly due to the cruelty in horse racing knowing no bounds, so we are glad to say we are going to kick off and finish off with some more hopeful news for animals in this edition. In this newsletter: Sweden bans whips in racing Racing calls parents ‘woke’ now they are no longer able to bribe schools Racing WA goes from bad to worse Sir Mark Todd whipping causes international outrage Tragedy in the barriers Happy Winner treated like a used car Thoroughbreds at sales CPR NZ annual injury and death stats Racing NSW to capitalise on Melbourne Cup deaths Vets who sponsor animal abuse Nup to the Launceston Cup NSW Greens announce animal sentience bill Booze to boycott Upcoming protests The tennis is the new races  SWEDEN BANS WHIPS IN RACING “The use of the whip in Sweden has been discussed for years,” said Helena Gartner, project manager of the Scandinavian Racing Regulations Committee. “The regulations have changed gradually and the foam-padded sticks were introduced some years ago, but now it is time to ban the use of the whip completely. Whip use in horse racing simply does not belong in 2022.” Unfortunately jockeys will still be allowed to carry a whip which they claim can only be used to prevent accidents. More here. Neighbouring Norway made changes to whip rules way back in 1986. By 2009 they banned the use of whips in almost all races. Former Norweigan Jockey Club director Hans Petter Eriksen has made it clear that there have been no accidents resulting from jockeys not being able to carry a whip and steward Helge Byrgin has stated that anecdotal evidence suggests that there have been “fewer serious injuries to horses during the races than there were before.” Whilst whips are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to horse racing cruelty, ending their use will without a doubt reduce horse injuries, torment and suffering. It is beyond time Australia followed suit. TAKE ACTION to #ditchthewhip here.

TOUGH TIMES WHEN RACING CAN NO LONGER BRIBE SCHOOLS 
 Earlier this week, Racing Victoria boss, Giles Thompson made no friends when he blamed ‘woke’ parents for keeping racing out of schools.

From the article:
… he admitted the industry had little luck trying to get into schools to promote all things good about racing, saying 95 per cent of schools had knocked back Racing Victoria initiatives, such as free educational incursions in schools, visits from horses or jockeys and excursions to racetracks.

“It only takes one parent to object to the headmaster or headmistress that you’re encouraging kids to gamble, and that will shut it down,” he said.
“When we could deliver [education programs], it was wildly successful. But you couldn’t get into the schools. Ninety-five per cent of schools would say, ‘we’re not interested,’ and you’d say, ‘why not?’ and they’d say, ‘the parents won’t put up with it’.

“It’s ‘wokeism’ if you like, of, it only takes one parent to kibosh it when 50 parents might be pro it.”
But Thompson said racing’s challenge when it came to engaging children wasn’t just gambling-related.

“If you think about what puts a school off racing, it’s the gambling, it’s the breakdowns of horses – horses breaking down in the Melbourne Cup is tragic for us in that environment – and it’s how we’re perceived,” he said.

“That’s a real challenge, and it certainly can’t be fixed overnight.”

Full article here.

RACING WA GOES FROM BAD TO WORSE 

Track Deaths
You may recall in our last e-news just before the holiday season, we alerted you to the fact that since October at least eight horses had been killed due to injuries sustained whilst being used to race on WA tracks – five of them at Ascot. Sadly that figure has now increased to twelve, with six of the discovered fatalities occurring at the same track – Ascot. 

Our calls to the Racing Minister Tony Buti to cancel the New Years Day Perth Cup and launch an investigation at the deadly track were denied. To demonstrate even more disregard, the Minister sent us a letter praising Racing and Wagering Western Australia for all its wonderful work in horse welfare.

Either Mr Buti knows nothing about the portfolio he carries or he is simply a tax payer funded industry mouthpiece.  

The sixth Ascot death we were unaware of at the time was beautiful Pocoyo (pictured). The four year old gelding was yet to even be raced when he was injured and killed in trackwork at the Ascot course.

Heat Illness
WA experienced some brutally hot weather over the summer period. Temperatures in Perth climbed to over 40 degrees for six consecutive days but that did not stop the races from going ahead. Many horses were reported to suffer exertional heat illness on racetracks across the state, with at least three horses suffering the illness on one race day alone. 

Exertional heat illness is a terrible condition to suffer. Symptoms vary depending on severity and include abnormal neurological function, disorientation, irritability, instability, collapse, convulsions, coma and even death. Stewards reports play down the severity with symptoms minimised or even not recorded in their reports. A milder version of the illness can be viewed here. 

Hot weather policies are very vague across Australian racetracks and allow much room to deviate from what is required to avoid horses suffering heat illness. Even when races are moved to less brutal times of the day, little if any consideration appears to be given to the fact that horses may have already endured extreme heat for several days prior to the meet and are often transported long distances in uninsulated floats without ventilation to reach the track.

Every which was you look at it there is suffering in horse racing and a lack of integrity among those bestowed to protect the horses welfare.  

WA Protests
Whilst the heat did not stop the races, it also didn’t stop our dedicated CPR team in Perth who came together to say Nup to the Perth Cup. Thank you so much to everyone who attended.

WOULD THE WORLD BE OUTRAGED IF HE AND THE HORSE WERE ON THE RACETRACK?  
Several weeks ago, footage emerged of Sir Mark Todd whipping a horse ten times with a stick to make them go through a water obstacle.

The knighted equestrian champion has been a licensed racehorse trainer in the UK since retiring from eventing three years ago.

Whilst we absolutely condemn this act of violence, we must highlight that such acts of aggression and abuse are standard practice in the racing industry. Beating a horse with a racing whip is not unlike what Mark Todd has been exposed carrying out in a cross-country training session, yet his behaviour in this scenario has outraged the world. This says a lot about how much people are willing to accept blatant animal abuse when it occurs in a scenario where they are used to seeing it. Watch the perfect example here.

Racing industry proponents were quick to go into damage control, using this incident to call on the British Racing Authority to change the name of the whip to something more palatable such as a “procush” or the “encourager” believing the public will not associate beating a horse with an object as a form of abuse if the object has a different name – see here.

As another example of this disconnect when it comes to horse racing, New Zealand horse Rocket Science didn’t want to go into the barriers so he was struck repeatedly with a buggy whip around his croup, flank and the back of his legs. Watch here. The four year old gelding was eventually scratched from the race but had he not been, he would have also been subjected to the standard industry practice of being beaten with a regular racing whip on the course. 

The abuse Mark Todd subjected this horse to was rightly condemned by the world. We are calling on the public to make the connection between the appalling abuse Sir Mark Todd subjected this innocent horse to and the standard industry practices that occur daily in horse racing. People must join the dots and see that such abuse should never be accepted simply because it occurs on a racetrack.

TAKE ACTION to #ditchthewhip here.

For more abuse behind the barriers, watch here and here. Captured at the New Plymouth racetrack by CPR New Zealand and Taranaki Animal Save

TRAGEDY IN THE BARRIERS
 “UNRULY”, “PLAYING UP”, “HOTHEADED”, “AWKWARD”, “A REAL PROBLEM”, “POOR BARRIER MANNERS”, “RELUCTANT TO PROCEED TO GATES”, “DIFFICULT TO LOAD”.

This is how Moonshine Lady has been described over the years by trainers and stewards for not wanting to be forced into the barriers to race. They repeatedly ignored her objections and this ultimately led to her death. Horses regularly become fractious and panicked inside the barriers with many dragged by the bit or hit with a buggy whip just to get them inside. For Moonshine Lady, her refusals were so great that she had been embargoed on five previous occasions.

At Randwick on February 12, the six year old mare once again panicked after being forced into the barriers. She reared and consequently became stuck, sustaining a catastrophic injury to her upper right forelimb. The veterinarian on duty decided her injury was so great that she had to be “euthanised”. The words now being said about Moonshine Lady in horse racing circles are “oh no”, “condolences to her connections”, “is she ok?”, “that looked horrible”, “has she survived?”, “that looked horrific”.
 
Moonshine Lady’s fears and objections to racing were repeatedly ignored because she was seen as an object to make money from and it cost her her life.

Rest in Peace Moonshine Lady. We are so sorry.

Read our article on how common it is for horses to become stressed from being forced into the barriers here.

A USED CAR MAY HAVE BEEN GIVEN MORE CONSIDERATION   
In January, Racing NSW stewards found trainer Joanne Hardy guilty of actions which likely led to the death of three year old gelding, Happy Winner.

Happy Winner suffered an injury to his off-fore superficial digital flexor tendon and required a recovery period and rehabilitation program. Ms Hardy failed to disclose this information both when advertising him for sale and to the subsequent buyer – another industry trainer Brett Robb. Mr Robb put Happy Winner into a “work program” that was contrary to the recovery period and/or rehabilitation program he required before he suffered a catastrophic injury to both fore superficial digital flexor tendons and was euthanased.

Ms Hardy paid $15,000 for Happy Winner in March 2021. By April she was aware of the injury and by June he was listed for sale. She never made a cent from him before he was injured and presumably wanted to recuperate her costs. Happy Winner was treated more like a used car than a living being, which should never surprise in an industry that uses animals for profits.

Joanne Hardy has been suspended for eight months for her actions, plus an additional two months for providing misleading evidence to stewards. Full report available here.

THOROUGHBREDS CONTINUE TO BE BRED WHEN THERE SIMPLY ISN’T THE HOMES 
 Fifteen thoroughbred horses were listed for sale in the recent Andrew Wilson Online Sales. Twelve were ‘passed in’ – many not coming close to their reserve.

Several were still listed as ‘ACTIVE’ by the racing authority.
Some have never been raced.
Others have been raced as recently as December last year.
Two horses did not even have a reserve.
Several remain at serious risk of being purchased by kill buyers.
All, once sold, will end up in the hands of strangers, with the sellers having no idea or control as to what their lives will be like and their eventual fate will be.
A good life expectancy of a horses is 25+ years.
The average time a horse is used in racing is less than three years.

The racing industry continues to breed 13,000 horses a year knowing the vast majority of industry participants no longer have an interest in keeping them once they can no longer race them (that’s if they make it to the track at all) and that there is clearly not enough demand to find them post racing homes. 
 The racing industry just doesn’t add up. It never will.

CPR NEW ZEALAND RELEASES ANNUAL INJURY AND DEATH STATS 
New Zealand racehorses suffered tremendously across 2021.Sadly, twenty-five of them lost their lives on the racetrack – their average age just five years old. Deaths resulting from injuries sustained in trials, training and trackwork are not included in this figure as the industry does not report these deaths.
 306 injuries sustained whilst racing were recorded and some contribute to the 3,000 (approx) horses who vanish from NZ thoroughbred racing each year and remain unaccounted for. More on that here.

Rest in Peace 
Communique – 5 years old  
Fasong – 5 years old
Megavision – 3 years old
Truefalls – 5 years old
Gamester – 4 years old
Kaharau – 10 years old
No Dancing Today – 3 years old
Man oh Man – 5 years old
Woletthefoxout – 7 years old
Kool Power – 4 years old
Pablo Esk – 4 years old
Barry’s Choice – 3 years old
Our Cuzzie – 5 years old

Cutting up Rough – 8 years old, Speck Savers – 4 years old, Canadian Mountie – 3 years old, Oceana Lad – 5 years old, Falco Three – 4 years old, On Show – 4 years old, All Night Long – 5 years old, Wowwhata Haradasun – 3 years old, Altar Boy – 4 years old, Rock on Wood – 6 years old, Americo – 4 years old, Trickle Treat – 5 years old

RACING NSW TO CAPITALISE ON CUP DEATHS  
Racing NSW is working to capitalise on the demise of the Melbourne Cup event that has seen at least eight horses killed in nine years, by scheduling a new $2 million race event ‘The Big Dance’ at Royal Randwick on Melbourne Cup Day. Article here.

Whilst ‘The Big Dance’ aims to lure the younger generations who are turning their backs on horse racing to the track, they must be made aware that track deaths are not reserved to the Melbourne Cup. What’s worse – whilst the 2021 Melbourne Cup was spared another track death, on that same day six year old gelding The Grinder was killed at the very track where ‘The Big Dance’ will be held.

Wherever there is horse racing there will be horse suffering and horse deaths.

Say #NuptotheBigDance and #NuptotheCup.

VETS WHO SPONSOR ANIMAL ABUSE 
We recently observed some interesting comments regarding a registered veterinarian being implicated in the probe into race-fixing and cocaine trafficking last year.

We 100% agree that it is an absolute disgrace to learn a vet is allegedly involved in such a rort and felt this was a good opportunity to highlight something we have long found very disturbing.

It is not uncommon to see veterinary practices sponsoring horse racing. For example – the Bendigo-based clinic Apiam Animal Health has long been a supporter and sponsor of the Bendigo Jockey Club, and in 2020 became a major partner. In fact, Apiam Animal Health were direct sponsors of at least two races that resulted in the death of horses in the last racing year – six year olds Skilled Assassin, and later Super Girl, in the Bendigo Cup.
 
Southwest Equine Veterinary Group is another regular horse racing supporter. Perhaps even more shocking is they have been a long-time and frequent sponsor of jumps races at the Warrnambool track. In 2020 they directly sponsored the jumps race which caused the shocking fall of eight-year-old Unabashed and ultimately took his life.

There are so many wonderful, dedicated and passionate vets out there who work tremendously hard and truly care about the wellbeing of animals. In becoming a vet, one must make a commitment to animal health and welfare and many suffer emotionally and physically from the heavy burden of the work.

It is possible to work as a vet to improve the health of all animals, including those who are used in racing, but to endorse the cruelty and suffering inflicted upon them as a registered veterinary practice, and use their suffering to promote your business is unacceptable and an absolute betrayal of the very animals whom they are supposed to protect.

NUP TO THE LAUNCESTON CUP 

Huge thanks to Direct Action Everywhere – DxE – Tasmania for saying Nup to the Launceston Cup last week. Racegoers could not ignore their message on the cruelty they were supporting as they entered the gates.

 Interestingly, the news article here quotes a Tasmanian government representative strongly defending the industry and stating:

“To improve transparency on animal welfare, Tasracing is providing information in their annual report on track injuries, euthanasia, retirement and re-homing statistics. The majority of industry participants provide great care to their animals.”

As far as we can tell, 2021 was the first annual report to record such statistics. Could this be in response to our damning article in late 2020 that exposed the number of horses vanishing from TasRacing each year? A finding that is supported by the Tasmanian governments own former Manager of the Office of Racing Integrity who admitted that Tasmanian racehorses are routinely shot in the head. More here.

In any case, the annual reports’ published statistic on the number of horses exiting racing each year is very close to our findings. What is farcical is the TasRacing breakdown on where those horses go. More on that shortly.

In the meantime, huge thanks again to DxE Tasmania for their presence at the track. If you’d like to do the same at your local track, please get in touch with us for guidance and support.  

A BIG STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR ALL ANIMALS 

On February 24, the NSW Greens gave notice of a Bill to change their animal welfare laws to explicitly recognise that animals are sentient beings.

Greens MP Abigail Boyd stated:“Is it any wonder that the law is failing animals when NSW’s animal welfare legislation is framed to view animals as a kind of property, failing to recognise the agency or capacity for emotions and awareness that animals have? My Bill will correct this major omission and lay the foundation upon which we can build better animal welfare standards in this state.”
 Huge thanks to Abigail Boyd and the NSW Greens for this important step towards creating a better world for all animals. Governments at all levels have for too long not only disregarded the sentience of animals, but have supported, defended and benefited from their abuse and exploitation. Their strong backing of the horse racing industry and refusal to implement any desperately needed legislative changes is a clear example of this.
 

ENJOY A DROP?    
Whatever your tipple, here is a list of the booze brands who have sponsored horse racing over the past few months across the country. Only some are featured in the below graphic.

Take your business elsewhere and add your name to our letter to ensure they know about it here.

Beer
Furphy Beer, James Squire, Coopers, Carlton & United Breweries, Guiness, Heineken Australia, Hahn Beer, Swan Draught, Emu Export, Iron Jack Australian Lagers, Great Northern Brewing Company, Byron Bay Brewery, Cascade Brewery, Tooheys

Wine
Seppelt Wines, Champagne MUMM, Debortoli Wines, Penfolds, Paxton Wines, DiGiorgio Family Wines, Leconfield Wines, Mr. Riggs Wine Co., Fox Creek Wines, Zonte’s Footstep, Barossa Wine Cartel, Belvidere Winery, Devil’s Lair, Orbis Wines, Brown Brothers Winery, Angove Family Winemakers, Chandon Australia, Moët & Chandon, Petaluma Wine, Buller Wines, Bleasdale Vineyards, Hungerford Hill Wines, Bremerton Wines, Lake Breeze Wines, Taylors Wines, Oatley Fine Wine Merchants, Jackrabbit Vineyard

Spirits
Maker’s Mark, Canadian Club, Suntory ROKU GIN, White Claw Hard Seltzer

Mixers
Schweppes

SAVE THE DATES – ADELAIDE CUP, JUMPS, ALL STAR MILE AND MORE..  
CPR will be protesting across Australia and New Zealand throughout the year. Some dates are confirmed with plenty more to come. 

Adelaide Cup – CPR is joining forces with Animal Justice Party South Australia and Animal Liberation SA to say Nup to the Adelaide Cup. Morphettville Racecourse SA – Monday 14 March 9:30am

All Star Mile – The All Star Mile is sponsored by Seppelt Wines. We will use this opportunity to encourage the public to boycott their products as we call them out for attempting to profit off the back of blatant animal cruelty. Flemington Racecourse VIC – Saturday 19 March 11:30am

The Championships – Joining AJP NSW, Animal Liberation and Sydney Animal Save, we will have a strong presence outside Royal Randwick. Saturday 9 April 10:30am

Warrnambool Grand Annual Steeplechase – Thursday 5 May, time tbc

Ballarat Grand National – Sunday 28 August, time tbc

For more details keep an eye on our Facebook events page here or our website here.

See you there!

AND THAT’S A WRAP 

But before we run, here is a promising article that appeared in a travel publication titled ‘THE TENNIS IS THE NEW RACES’

“Once upon a time, the Spring Racing Carnival was *the* social sporting event to attend in Melbourne. But the tide has turned.”
Ain’t that the truth!

For the list of just some of the great reasons why it’s a much better day out when you hit the courts not the track (with a splash of good humour) read the article here.

Thank you for reading and remember… speak up, always! 

Huge thanks to CPR New Zealand for protesting outside the recent Wellington Cup

CPR relies 100% on donations to fund our investigations and campaigns. Without the generosity of our supporters we would not exist. Thank you to all of our supporters who have donated recently. It is much appreciated and allows us to continue working toward justice for horses.  Click here to donate

Every couple of weeks across the eastern states there is at least one horse sale, whether it be online or at sale yards. Sales where vendors have no idea who is buying their horse or what sort of life their horse will have. Vendors who sell to whoever has the highest bid, the money more important than the future of their horse. Some sellers care enough to at least put a reserve on their horse – potentially keeping them out of the hands of kill buyers (for now at least) some don’t.

The horses listed are often thoroughbreds – horses that were bred only to make money. History proves that once thoroughbreds are no longer “earning their keep” most are discarded at sales or straight to dealers or doggers. Some get lucky and go on to have happy lives with people who value them for who they are, not what they can provide. Many don’t. With the racing industry breeding around 13,000 thoroughbreds every year there is just not enough homes for them all. A recent online sale, where most thoroughbreds did not sell, (many not coming close to their reserve), further proves this.

The sale had sixteen thoroughbreds listed, only three of whom sold. Two of those didn’t have a reserve – one of them was raced until he was nine years old, had won over $66,000 and all he was worth to someone was $445, the other unreserved horse hadn’t raced at all, obviously deemed not good enough. Two of the thoroughbred mares that were listed had the comment “last chance to find a person of her own”. They did have reserves which were not met so what is their future now that their “last chance” has been and gone? Five of those sixteen horses had been listed in previous sales, which is a common occurrence, listed over and over as their reserves get less or they end up unreserved and sold to anyone. One horse was withdrawn, his sale photos so horrific that his breeder bought him back, presumably to save face. Yet it still remains unclear what his future holds.

An unraced filly born in 2018, referred to as Dixie (with no registered racing name) was among those ‘passed in’. Coincidentally, her mother Appleholic was at the Echuca sales two years earlier, almost to the day. She was so emaciated that the RSPCA stepped in to ensure she not be purchased by anyone that would lead to her enduring the long trip to Meramist Slaughterhouse, Queensland in such condition. Appleholic gave birth to seven foals over the eleven years she was used for industry breeding, her final being Dixie, before being dumped at the sales sickly thin. She sold for $700 to an unknown buyer.

Her three year old filly Dixie didn’t reach half the reserve placed on her – her fate remains unknown.

At a saleyard last year, a group of unnamed thoroughbreds were destined for slaughter until members of the public bought them from the dogger, lining his pockets in the process. Those horses weren’t even in the sale to have a chance at finding a home, they were in a holding yard already wearing their death tags. Why were they bred? They were living proof of the consequences of overbreeding.

The racing industry is well aware that thoroughbreds showing up at sales, knackeries and slaughterhouses is a bad look, so are pulling out all stops to prevent that from happening. Sadly that does not mean pushing for national traceability, a ban on horse slaughter, reducing breeding or adequately funding life-long care. It means introducing ‘on-farm euthanasia’ programs, where owners and trainers are encouraged to kill their unwanted horses on-farm, after a token rehoming attempt is made. The industry will even cover the expense of the body disposal.

All horses should be valued and have good lives. We focus on racehorses because they are bred for one reason and one reason only, money. The average time a horse is used for racing is less than three years, whilst the life span for a horse is twenty-five years or more. If the owners of these horses loved them as much as they profess to, they would make sure that their futures were protected for life, that they would never end up in a sale or in a doggers yard, it’s that simple.

The racing industry continues to breed 13,000 horses a year knowing the vast majority of participants no longer have an interest in keeping them once they can no longer race them – and that’s if they make it to the track at all.

The racing industry just doesn’t add up. It never will.

Racing NSW stewards have found trainer Joanne Hardy guilty of actions which likely led to the death of three year old gelding, Happy Winner.

Happy Winner suffered an injury to his off fore superficial digital flexor tendon and required a recovery period and rehabilitation program. Ms Hardy failed to disclose this information both when advertising him for sale and to the subsequent buyer – another industry trainer Brett Robb. Mr Robb put Happy Winner into a “work program” that was contrary to the recovery period and/or rehabilitation program he required before he suffered a catastrophic injury to both fore superficial digital flexor tendons and was euthanased.

Ms Hardy paid $15,000 for Happy Winner in March 2021. By April she was aware of the injury and by June he was listed for sale. She never made a cent from him before he was injured and presumably wanted to recuperate her costs. Happy Winner was treated more like a used car than a living being, which should never surprise in an industry that uses animals for profits.

Joanne Hardy has been suspended for eight months for her actions, plus an additional two months for providing misleading evidence to stewards.

Full report available here.

Western Australia has been experiencing some brutal weather recently with temperatures in Perth climbing to over 40 degress for six consecutive days. Even being in the midst of this record breaking heat wave didn’t stop the races at Pinjarra going ahead last Thursday.

Many horses have been reported to suffer exertional heat illness on racetracks across the state, with at least three horses suffering the illness on one race day alone at the end of last month. The conditions that day were very similar to those at Pinjarra last Thursday, yet the races went ahead anyway and miraculously not one horse was reported to have been distressed or suffered heat illness or any other injury – something we strongly question the validity of. We also strongly question the integrity of the RWWA Stewards and vets who alllow meetings to go ahead in such extreme heat.

Exertional heat illness is a terrible condition to suffer. Symptoms vary depending on severity and include abnormal neurological function, disorientation, irritability, instability, collapse, convulsions, coma and even death. Stewards reports play down the severity with symptoms minimised or even not recorded in their reports.

Hot weather policies are very vague across Australian racetracks and allow much room to deviate from what is required to avoid horses suffering heat illness. Even when races are moved to less brutal times of the day, little if any consideration appears to be given to the fact that horses may have already endured extreme heat for several days prior to the meet and are often transported long distances in uninsulated floats without ventilation to reach the track.

Every which way you look at it there is suffering in horse racing and a lack of integrity among those bestowed to protect the horses welfare.