For Immediate Release, Monday 2 January 2023 

ACTIVISTS CALLING FOR MORE STRINGENT TESTING OF HORSES BEFORE RACING

After yet another tragedy, this time in the Perth Cup where five year old mare Chili Is Hot was killed after a fall, the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) is calling for across the board testing of horses at every racetrack in the country similar to the mandatory testing during the Melbourne Spring Carnival.
 
Quotes attributable to Campaign Director for CPR, Elio Celotto 

“The fact that the stringent testing of racehorses only occurs in a handful of key races during the Spring Carnival demonstrates that this industry doesn’t care at all about its horses. It only cares about its image and its social license that they are quickly losing. If the tests were in place at Ascot yesterday, Chili Is Hot may have been scratched from the race and still alive today.”
 
“This was no accident – these are incidents just waiting to happen. A horse is killed on Australian racetracks, on average, every 2.5 days.”

“Chili Is Hot is the tenth horse to be injured and killed in just over 12 months at Perth’s Ascot track alone. The other deaths didn’t event get a mention because, just like most other horse deaths, they didn’t occur in a high-profile industry racing event like the Perth Cup.”
 
“Stringent testing won’t save them all but at least if injuries are picked up early, horses can be given the time required to fully recover. The problem is, they want the horses on the racetrack as much as possible to give their connections the best possible chance of making a dollar.” 
 
“If they really want to reduce injuries and fatalities, they also need to get rid of all the instruments used to force horses into compliance like the whip, tongue ties, spurs and even bits”
 
“This is business as usual for the racing industry that treats the horses they rely upon to exist as disposable objects. Their only real concern when a horse comes to grief is the negative publicity which they know turns more people away.”

Ends

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9990/

For Immediate Release, Saturday 14 January 2023 

ANIMAL PROTECTION ADVOCATES PROTEST OUTSIDE THE CRUEL MAGIC MILLIONS RACEDAY

When: TODAY Saturday 14 January 10:30am – 1:30pm
Where: Gold Coast Turf Club, Racecourse Drv, Bundall, QLD – main entrance 

After a week of exposing the dire financial reality of racehorse investment to potential buyers at the Gold Coast Magic Millions Sales (report here), the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR), joined by Animal Liberation QLD and Coast to Coast Animal Friends will turn their attention to the inherent cruelty of horse racing outside the Magic Millions Raceday.

This is a particularly cruel and insidious racing event. From the get-go the cruelty is clear, with the 2 Year Old Classic, where undeveloped horses will be whipped and terrified to get across the finish line first. Pain, suffering and injuries are guaranteed.

This event offers huge bonuses to female owned horses and now has a race specific to horses belonging to syndicates of twenty or more. Both initiatives aimed at luring more people into this morally bankrupt industry.

Hosts are asking attnedees to dress as if they are going to the races if possible. 

Quotes attributable to CPR Campaign Director Elio Celotto

“After a week of exposing the dire financial reality of purchasing a racehorse to potential buyers, we now bring the focus back to those who suffer most and have no choice in the matter, the horses”.

“The Magic Millions Raceday is a cruel spectacle. There is no magic, it’s tragic. It’s not only the racehorse owners who pay the price, the horses eventually pay with their lives, whether that be today on the track, or when they are whisked away injured to be killed behind the scenes, or in a short time once it is clear their costs outweigh their profit potential”.

“The Magic Millions is a sham for everyone, but especially the horses”. 
 
Ends

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9988/

For Immediate Release, 6 November 2022 

DISMAL ATTENDANCES AND RECORD-LOW TV RATINGS SHOW THE SPRING CARNIVAL HAS RUN ITS RACE

Plummeting track attendances, poor TV ratings and a celebrity drought at this year’s Melbourne Cup Carnival have revealed an inconvenient truth for the racing industry: horse racing is out of fashion with celebrities and the community alike who will no longer turn a blind eye to the death toll and cruelty.
 
The sharp decline in crowds at Flemington saw only 45,000 attend Oaks Day, which once surpassed Melbourne Cup day itself in attendances and was spruiked as the carnival’s day of fashion. This was a significant drop from the pre-Covid 2019 crowd of 57,296 and the lowest Oaks Day attendance since 1986. Overall, there’s been a drop in attendance of around 10% to all the major race days in Melbourne since the Caulfield Cup.
 
“The Melbourne Cup is now a cruel reminder to the public of the eight racehorses that died at the event over the past decade,” said the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) campaign director, Elio Celotto.
 
“The public also now knows of the horrific fate that lies ahead for many racehorses who are injured or not deemed profitable and will be prematurely killed out of expediency.”
 
“No major celebrity in 2022 wants to align themselves with animal cruelty and that is what the horse racing industry now represents,” he said.
 
While the racing industry might attempt to blame the weather for this year’s dismal crowds, the Melbourne Cup’s television ratings also nosedived this year drawing the lowest viewership since records began 20 years ago.

A Lonergan Research poll commissioned by the Greens found that 59 per cent surveyed thought horse racing was cruel while 54 per cent believed horses should not be raced for gambling and entertainment.
 
Despite governments and the racing industry continuing to prop up the Melbourne Cup while ignoring the industry’s death toll of at least 139 horses killed on track over the past year, the event has lost its social licence with the community and a growing number of celebrities who are publicly expressing their opposition to horse racing.
 
The dearth of international celebrities at this year’s carnival shows they no longer wish to risk any backlash from being associated with an event mired by animal cruelty and death. This trend follows pop star Taylor Swift’s cancellation of her scheduled performance at the Melbourne Cup in 2019 after social media criticism.
 
During this year’s Melbourne Cup Day, the #NupToTheCup hashtag was one of the top trending topics on Twitter with thousands condemning the industry’s animal welfare record while talkback radio was swamped with callers asking why the event is still run.
 
Radio host Abie Chatfield reportedly turned down a significant appearance fee to attend the races and chastised other celebrities for attending the event on social media. TV host and singer David Campbell and writer Phillip Adams were also among the diversity of voices saying “Nup To The Cup” on social media.
 
“The huge success of Nup To The Cup events across Australia this week has shown that Australians can still celebrate on the day without having to condone a so-called sport that kills animals,” Mr Celotto said.
 
“We are more enlightened as a society these days than to celebrate cruelty out of tradition,” he said. “The Melbourne Cup – and horse racing as a sport – has run its race.
 
“The racing industry has tried to overturn growing opposition by introducing some token safety measures but it doesn’t go anywhere near fixing the cruelty of racing or addressing the massive numbers of horses killed every year just because they no longer bring in profits for their owners.”
 
“Australians are appalled and furious that at least one horse died on average on an Australian racetrack every 2.5 days over the past year.”

Ends

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9986/

For Immediate Release, Monday 31 October, 2022 

Photos: Dinosaur Dash at Flemington to Protest Melbourne Cup

Melbourne – Dinosaurs converged on Flemington today as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) joined forces to protest Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup with a t-rex race.

Photos and videos of the event are available here.

Running (and sometimes stumbling) toward a giant breakaway banner that reads “Finish The Cruel, Prehistoric Melbourne Cup Now”, activists  donned inflatable Tyrannosaurus rex costumes and carried signs reading “Horse Racing Is Prehistoric”. The entertaining event was fun, but the message was serious: cruel and archaic  horse racing should be relegated to pre-history.

“The Melbourne Cup – and all events that drive senseless horse deaths and catastrophic injuries in the name of greed – deserve to go extinct” said PETA’s Emily Rice. “Today’s dinosaur dash proves you can have fun by cheering on willing participants who enjoy themselves. No one needs to be harmed for you to be entertained”.

“We are inviting people to boycott horse racing by saying Nup to the Cup and joining one of these many events taking place across the country” said CPR Campaign Director Elio Celotto. “We’ll be just up the road from Flemington holding an amazing party, with music, dancing and some wild and whacky human races. Everyone is welcome to join us”.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that animals are not ours to use for entertainment, while CPR reports that 139 racehorses died on Australian tracks in the past racing year, in addition to the thousands of horses who die every year off the track from racing-related injuries, or those who killed for simply not being profitable.
 
For more information, please visit PETA.org.au and horseracingkills.com.

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9984/

For Immediate Release, Thursday 27 October 2022 

Animal Advocates to Protest Derby Day as Attendance Figures Plummet 

When: Saturday 29 October 2022
Time: 10.30am start (media opportunities from 11am)
Where: Flemington Racecourse Main Entrance
 
The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) will be protesting Derby Day on the back of plummeting attendance figures at both the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate.
 
Elio Celotto, Campaign Director for CPR said today, “We’ve seen a steady decline in attendance at the Spring Carnival for a number of years now and this year’s figures so far are certainly a sign that people are heeding the call to not attend what is essentially animal cruelty dressed up as entertainment.
 
“On the contrary, we’ve seen unprecedented interest in people wanting to attend and hold their own ‘Nup to the Cup’ events around the country as people continue to want to have a good time but not at the expense of animals”
 
Attendance Figures
 
Caulfield Cup 2019    28000     2022   24289     % drop 13%
Cox Plate 2019           24648     2022   19000     % drop 22%
Source Austadiums.com
 
Aggregate Melbourne Cup Carnival Attendance Figures
Derby Day, Melbourne Cup, Oaks Day & Stakes Day
 
2008  396046    (The year CPR started campaigning)
2019  276186    (last year before Covid-19)
Overall drop of 30% in 11 years
Source https://www.vrc.com.au/racing/track-records-and-attendances/
 
“Nup to the Cup is not just about people getting together and having a good time. It’s about standing as one with all animals and being their voice, when their own is ignored. It’s also an opportunity to raise money for the many charities doing great work around the country that desperately need funding.
 
“If you’re an animal lover, instead of having a punt on a horse that is likely to be killed in a few short years, attend a NTTC event and know that your money is helping animals- not harming them.”

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9982/

For Immediate Release, 5 October 2022 

YOU ARE INVITED FOR DRINKS THIS FRIDAY AT THE GERTRUDE HOTEL FITZROY

When: Friday 7 October 2022
6pm – Media launch (media only)
6:30pm – Ticketed event commences (media are invited to stay for the celebrations)
9pm Nup To The Cup song launch

Where: The Gertrude Hotel, 148 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy VIC

---

MEDIA RELEASE
5 October 2022

‘NUP TO THE CUP’ CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES A SPRING CARNIVAL OF KINDNESS

As the “Nup To The Cup” movement continues to gather steam while attendances decline at the Melbourne Cup Carnival, organisers are this week launching an alternative racing-free season of celebration to give anti-racing revellers their own calendar of events.

The “Nup To the Cup” campaign organisers plan to reclaim Melbourne Cup Day for the animals by hosting cruelty-free celebrations throughout the Spring Carnival and by encouraging the community to host their own events through a new website, nuptothecup.org

This year’s Nup To the Cup media campaign launch at the Gertrude Hotel on Friday will include the live launch of a new “Nup To The Cup” song for those seeking a different tune to traditional racing hype and the unveiling of artworks which feature in the campaign by internationally acclaimed artist Anthony Breslin.

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) Deathwatch 2022 Report has just been released (available here), highlighting 139 horses were killed on racetracks across Australia in the last racing year, while thousands more disappeared from the industry after sustaining injuries.

CPR’s campaign director Elio Celotto said that awareness of the cruelty of horse racing and opposition to racing events had gained huge momentum over the past decade since the “Nup to The Cup” movement emerged in 2010.

“We want to channel that support into a celebration of animals and give people a social alternative to racing industry events that exploit, maim and kill horses,” he said. “Victorians can still have fun on Cup Day without condoning the brutality of horse racing,” Mr Celotto said.

“The best way to back a winner on Cup Day is by celebrating without harming animals rather than supporting a cruel industry in which horses are always the losers.

“It is our vision that in the not-too-distant future more people will choose to attend Nup To The Cup events or organise their own racing-free parties than attend the Melbourne Cup at Flemington.

“Melbourne Cup Day was once a fun day when everybody thought the horses were OK but the public now knows that’s just not the case and it never was,” he said.
 

ENDS

For more information on Friday’s media launch, the media release or to obtain images, please email [email protected] or phone:

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9979/

For Immediate Release, Friday 23 September 2022 

Channel 7’s Puff Piece Shows the Racing Industry Has Learnt Nothing 

Opinion Piece by Kristin Leigh 
Communications Director
Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses

Racing Victoria has spent this week raving about ‘Here for the Horses’, a Channel 7 puff piece being framed as a documentary. I can only apologise to every sorry sod who had to sit through this excruciating 51 minutes – an insult to the intelligence of us all.

Conveniently timed to go to air in the lead up to the most controversial day on the racing calendar, The Melbourne Cup, ‘Here for the Horses’ provides a narrow view of the racing industry, coming only from a select few of those within. There is no delving into the issues that have long plagued the industry and no balance. The “documentary” provides not a single comment from an anti-racing campaigner, an uncompromised veterinarian, behavioural expert or even the most conservative of animal welfare advocates.

Presumably funded by Racing Victoria, ‘Here for the Horses’ focuses in on and exacerbates the miniscule positive changes industry participants claim have been made, whilst entirely ignoring the horrific and systemic cruelty, abuse and suffering that remains for the majority of these horses from birth to death.

New Racing Victoria CEO Andrew Jones, using the single ex racing horse he and his wife love is some kind of bizarre attempt to prove thousands of others have the same outcome.

Equally, showcasing the few horses who end up in equine therapy each year without talking about where the remainder of the 13,000 exiting racing and breeding go is embarrassing at best. As is talking up new pre-race screening measures to prevent horse deaths on track whilst failing to acknowledge that such measures only exist in the highest of high-profile races during the Spring Racing Carnival – meanwhile horses are started in races almost 180,000 times across the country each year with no improved screening whatsoever.

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, Deathwatch 2022 Report is days away from being published. In contrast to ‘Here for the Horses’ it is based on facts, and its statistics demonstrate the number of horses injured and dying on track remain as bad as ever.

Confinement, isolation, the inability to socialise and graze with a herd, the breaking of spirit, pain and fear inflicting instruments of control, and learned helplessness are also overlooked. The puff piece proves it is business as usual at Racing HQ, where maintaining the façade of being ‘here for the horses’ trumps dealing with even the worst aspects of horse racing’s cold, harsh reality.  

The industry’s inability to look at itself and present itself honestly, is ironically the very reason this puff piece had to be produced, yet still, the same ignorance, denial and selective story telling remains.

Industry participants who feature make it clear they believe a horse is of no purpose unless providing something for the human – an ignorant position that assumes horses have no intrinsic value and exist solely to serve our needs. This flawed belief goes to the very heart of why horses do and will continue to suffer across the board.  

‘Here for the Horses’ makes one thing very clear – the racing industry is determined to continue with the same old ways, in a world that is ever increasingly becoming one in which maintaining the status quo simply no longer cuts it.

‘Here for the Horses’ provides a false narrative which aims to convince the viewer that all has been fixed and racing is now a kind ‘sport’, managed by those who have the horses’ best interests above all else.  The only question that remains is whether people are stupid enough to keep on buying it. We think not.

Kristin Leigh
Communications Director – Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9977/

For Immediate Release, Thursday July 7 2022

SA Jumps Ban Official: Now Victoria must end it!

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) is ecstatic to see jumps racing is now finally illegal in South Australia.

“This is undoubtedly great news and will place Racing Victoria under greater pressure to do the same because blatant animal cruelty is no longer acceptable” said Elio Celotto, Campaign Director for CPR.
 
“We’ve been campaigning with Animal Liberation SA for a ban on jumps racing for the last 13 years and finally we’ve seen our hard work vindicated. Now it’s only a matter of time before Racing Victoria also comes to its senses and rids itself of one of the ugliest spectacles in horse racing -that is jumps racing.”
 
“This has come to pass due to the work of so many individuals and organisations who have refused to accept this blatant animal abuse. We are grateful to each and every one of them – in particular those who took part in and supported our joint campaign with Animal Liberation SA for well over a decade”.

“We all knew we’d make it to this point – it was only a matter of when” Mr Celotto said.

Whilst Racing SA decided to discontinue programming jumps races, there was always a chance the old guard would be successful in their push to have it reinstated. This legislation will now make that impossible! 

“Victoria is now officially ON NOTICE! as the last state in this country to still support this horrid form of entertainment for gambling profits. How shameful for our state government and Racing Victoria” Mr Celotto said. 

CPR is calling on the public to take action by signing the petition to ban jump racing in Victoria here. 

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9975/

For Immediate Release, Thursday 2 June, 2022

Animal protection orgs unite to expose the sad joke the National Horse Traceability Register has become

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) has joined forces with ten animal protection organisations and individuals to try to get the shambles that is the National Horse Traceability Register back onto its intended course.

Animals Australia, Animal Liberation Queensland, Juliana Waugh AM, Humane Society International and Professor Paul McGreevy are among the collective who have co-signed a report highlighting the failings of the Working Group to make recommendations based on their own Terms of Reference. It also exposes the failings of Agriculture Victoria and Queensland as co-leaders of the Register. 

The Report titled ‘The National Horse Traceability Register has lost its way’ (available here) is calling on horse industries, the Working Group and the Victorian, Queensland and Federal governments to ensure this long awaited NHTR does not just become yet another pointless government exercise. 

Horse welfare, rider safety and biosecurity were the three main reasons given for the need of a NHTR. In September 2020, the Australian Government accepted the Committee’s recommendations for a register and stressed welfare and rider safety as the driving reason for its implementation. 

“The Australian Government agrees that a national horse traceability register could support some biosecurity activities, however, notes that this inquiry and the need for a register was driven by other concerns, including rider safety and horse welfare” (Australian Government, 2020, p. 1).

This was then reflected in the Terms of Reference set by Government Ministers for the National Horse Traceability Working Group which was established that same month to “provide advice on matters relating to the design and introduction of a traceability system for horses, donkeys and mules in Australia.”

Since this time the Working Group has failed to produce any advice that would lead to an effective register and its focus has been shifted off course towards recommendations for a NHTR that will focus solely on biosecurity. This will do nothing to address horse welfare and rider safety, and, as the most recent communication from the Working Group demonstrates will do little to reduce biosecurity risks.

If the new Albanese government actually does take animal welfare issues more seriously than the Coalition then they will ensure this register is put back on track. The newly appointed Minister for Agriculture, Murray Watt, must step up from the poor leadership of Littleproud and ensure the relevant state agriculture Ministers Mark Furner and Mary-Anne Thomas are actually doing what they were tasked to do. 

CPR is calling on all horse lovers across the country to sign their petition directed at the authorities to ensure Australia finally implements a traceability register the public has demanded and the horses need and deserve (available here). 

Quotes attributable to CPR Campaign Director Elio Celotto

“The Australian public was devastated and outraged as scenes of extreme and systemic suffering of racehorses caused at knackeries and slaughterhouses played out across the country’s television screens in October 2019.”

“The subsequent Martin Inquiry and the Thoroughbred Aftercare Welfare Working Group Report both stressed the importance of an effective NHTR as fundamental to addressing the horse welfare issues that have and continue to horrify Australians.”

“It has been over three years since the NHTR was first proposed to Parliament and almost two years since the Working Group was established. Yet all they have achieved to date is a set of proposed business rules which aim to slightly improve existing Property Identification Codes (PIC’s) for the sole purpose of responding to a biosecurity event. In other words, the Working Group has effectively achieved nothing in terms of recommending a NHTR that will achieve its intended purpose.”

“We’ve seen far too much suffering and have made many positive steps in response to address the issue of horse welfare and rider safety to let this slip away and turn into yet another meaningless government exercise.”

“As members of the Working Group, the racing industry must use their strong influence over decision making in high places to guarantee a robust NHTR, especially considering they themselves profess to be in support of such a register.”

ENDS

For More information: horseracingkills.com

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9973/

For Immediate Release, Thursday 6 May, 2022

Protest Against Racing’s Cruelest Carnival: 14 deaths in 17 years at the Bool May Carnival

What: Protest at the Warrnambool May Carnival
When: Thursday 6 May 2022 – media opportunities from 12pm 
Where: Warrnambool Racing Club, Main Entrance – Grafton Road, Warrnambool, Vic

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) are joining forces with the Animal Justice Party (AJP) Victoria and their elected member Andy Meddick in protest outside racing’s cruelest carnival to demand Victoria – the only state to still support cruel jumps races – to ban them once and for all.  

11-year-old Fulmineus was killed at last years event, making him the 14th horse to have been killed in jumps races at the Bool May Carnival alone in the past 17 years. 

We’ve already seen horror scenes at this years event with 10 year old Valac falling heavily over the second last hurdle in Tuesday’s steeplechase. He was unable to get himself up until assisted by track staff. We still hold grave concerns for his wellbeing. 

Watch the fall here. 
Available for download, edited and unedited here.

Quotes attributable to Andy Meddick MP of the Animal Justice Party

“It is deeply disappointing and distressing to me that the home of jumps racing is in my own electorate. The Warrnambool racecourse is the deadliest track in the country. It is nothing for our state to be proud of.”
 
“Jumps racing is a disgrace and a stain on so-called progressive Victoria. Every year, horses continue to pay the ultimate price with their life for the entertainment of a dwindling few.”
 
“Instead of being known as the home of cruelty for hosting high profile jumps races, Warrnambool could be a booming jobs centre in equine welfare and rehabilitation which is good for animals, local jobseekers and the economy.”

Quotes attributable to Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses Campaign Director Elio Celotto

“Since 2005, jumps racing has killed at least 31 horses at the Warrnambool track alone, of which 14 lost their lives in this brutal May Carnival” 

“Statistically, a horse is more likely to be killed each year at this event than not. Yet for the people of Warrnambool and surrounds, this is a public holiday – a celebration in the name of animal abuse”.

“Racing South Australia ended hosting jumps racing last year, making Victoria the only state left in Australia to continue this barbaric practice. It is a great shame on this state that we force horses over obstacles at high speeds knowing there is a high chance they will crash and be injured and killed in the name of gambling profits and entertainment”. 

“Many horses who seemingly survive are never heard from again, with 47% of horses used in jumps races not returning to any kind of racing the following year.”

ENDS

For More information: horseracingkills.com

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9971/

For Immediate Release, Wednesday 27 April 2022 

Horrific images of neglected horse: RSPCA allegedly let horse starve for 12 months and eat own faeces

A horse at a property in Weston in the Hunter Region of New South Wales was allegedly left to starve for over 12 months and eat his own faeces in a shocking case of neglect that has sparked renewed calls for an overhaul of Australia’s animal protection system.

Images available here.

                          

Jet, a 17-year-old chestnut gelding, was allegedly assessed by the RSPCA NSW over 12 months ago as being underweight with a vet called to provide a health assessment in March 2021. At the time, Jet was diagnosed by the vet in the presence of RSPCA NSW as having a grade 5 heart murmur and in very poor condition. 

Jet was allegedly left on the property by RSPCA NSW under their monitoring system for over 12 months before being surrendered to charitable horse rescue Hunter Horse Haven Inc. last week, where an independent vet assessed him as having a body score of zero out of ten.

“The RSPCA considers zero “dead”, so I said it would have to be 0.1,” said Debbie Barber, who is working with other Hunter Horse Haven Inc. volunteers to save Jet’s life.

“He has someone with him 24 hours a day, but it’s still touch and go at the moment and will be for some time”, she said.

“He has multiple health concerns, with the most upsetting one that he has a grade 5-6 systolic heart murmur, with grade 6 being the very worst. In some chronically starved horses with a heart murmur we can provide some healing with weight but I sincerely doubt this one will.”

Ms Barber says Jet was so malnourished that even after being rescued, he continued to eat his own faeces.

“Chronically starved horses are sometimes known to eat their own droppings and Jet even tries to get it back from us as we collect it,” Ms Barber said. 

  

The Animal Justice Party NSW’s Lead Senate Candidate and Hunter local, Darren Brollo, has condemned the RSPCA for failing to protect Jet from unnecessary suffering. 

“The fact the RSPCA knew about Jet’s neglect for over 12 months and failed to intervene sufficiently to save the horse from severe emaciation is absolutely unacceptable,” Mr Brollo said.

“This wasn’t a one-off mistake, this was a year of inadequate responses by the RSPCA, and it has resulted in a horse suffering over 12 months of starvation, and years ahead of related health problems – and that’s only if he survives.”  

Mr Brollo says the RSPCA’s lack of action is representative of a systemic problem within Australia’s animal protection framework.
“The RSPCA is clearly not equipped to enforce animal cruelty laws,” Mr Brollo said.

“We know that the RSPCA currently successfully prosecutes less than one per cent of the complaints they receive, and that tells you everything you need to know about the effectiveness of having under-resourced charities enforce animal cruelty laws.”

Mr Brollo is calling on the Australian government to establish a national Independent Office of Animal Protection.

“Australians are tired of animal cruelty going unreported and unpunished,” he said. 

“If I’m elected I will make sure our government is pushed to overhaul how animal protection legislation is dealt with, and that starts with an Independent Office of Animal Protection.”

Along with Jet’s documentation, Hunter Horse Haven Inc. has documented similar neglect cases over several years, identifying other instances when the RSCPA’s monitoring system has failed horses like Jet resulting in seriously emaciated horses and needless deaths. 

“We know this happens every day, and time and time again we find that the RSPCA have failed to enforce adequate animal welfare under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to ensure horses are not starved to the point of no return, horses like Jet,” Ms Barber said.

Despite the RSPCA’s millions of dollars, in the end, it always comes down to us, the little rescues, who step up and save these poor horses’ lives,” she said.

“Why is the RSPCA not being held accountable for the state of the severe emaciation of Jet? Why are they escaping charges of cruelty and neglect when their monitoring of his condition was their responsibility?”

Campaign Director for the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, Elio Celotto, also chimed in after being made aware of the horrific condition the horse has been left in stating “Jet made over $40,000 for his owners and still this is how he ended up. This yet again highlights the use, abuse and discard business model of the racing industry who will wash their hands of any responsibility of Jet due to the horse now being registered as ‘retired’ by the authority. It’s just not good enough.”    

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9968/

For Immediate Release, Tuesday 26 April 2022 

RSPCA allegedly let horse starve for 12 months and eat own faeces

A horse at a property in Weston in the Hunter Region of New South Wales was allegedly left to starve for over 12 months and eat his own faeces in a shocking case of neglect that has sparked renewed calls for an overhaul of Australia’s animal protection system.

Jet, a 17-year-old chestnut gelding, was allegedly assessed by the RSPCA NSW over 12 months ago as being underweight with a vet called to provide a health assessment in March 2021. At the time, Jet was diagnosed by the vet in the presence of RSPCA NSW as having a grade 5 heart murmur and in very poor condition. 

Jet was allegedly left on the property by RSPCA NSW under their monitoring system for over 12 months before being surrendered to charitable horse rescue Hunter Horse Haven Inc. last week, where an independent vet assessed him as having a body score of zero out of ten.

“The RSPCA considers zero “dead”, so I said it would have to be 0.1,” said Debbie Barber, who is working with other Hunter Horse Haven Inc. volunteers to save Jet’s life.

“He has someone with him 24 hours a day, but it’s still touch and go at the moment and will be for some time”, she said.

“He has multiple health concerns, with the most upsetting one that he has a grade 5-6 systolic heart murmur, with grade 6 being the very worst. In some chronically starved horses with a heart murmur we can provide some healing with weight but I sincerely doubt this one will.”

Ms Barber says Jet was so malnourished that even after being rescued, he continued to eat his own faeces.

“Chronically starved horses are sometimes known to eat their own droppings and Jet even tries to get it back from us as we collect it,” Ms Barber said. 

The Animal Justice Party NSW’s Lead Senate Candidate and Hunter local, Darren Brollo, has condemned the RSPCA for failing to protect Jet from unnecessary suffering. 

“The fact the RSPCA knew about Jet’s neglect for over 12 months and failed to intervene sufficiently to save the horse from severe emaciation is absolutely unacceptable,” Mr Brollo said.

“This wasn’t a one-off mistake, this was a year of inadequate responses by the RSPCA, and it has resulted in a horse suffering over 12 months of starvation, and years ahead of related health problems – and that’s only if he survives.”  

Mr Brollo says the RSPCA’s lack of action is representative of a systemic problem within Australia’s animal protection framework.
“The RSPCA is clearly not equipped to enforce animal cruelty laws,” Mr Brollo said.

“We know that the RSPCA currently successfully prosecutes less than one per cent of the complaints they receive, and that tells you everything you need to know about the effectiveness of having under-resourced charities enforce animal cruelty laws.”

Mr Brollo is calling on the Australian government to establish a national Independent Office of Animal Protection.

“Australians are tired of animal cruelty going unreported and unpunished,” he said. 

“If I’m elected I will make sure our government is pushed to overhaul how animal protection legislation is dealt with, and that starts with an Independent Office of Animal Protection.”

Along with Jet’s documentation, Hunter Horse Haven Inc. has documented similar neglect cases over several years, identifying other instances when the RSCPA’s monitoring system has failed horses like Jet resulting in seriously emaciated horses and needless deaths. 

“We know this happens every day, and time and time again we find that the RSPCA have failed to enforce adequate animal welfare under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to ensure horses are not starved to the point of no return, horses like Jet,” Ms Barber said.

Despite the RSPCA’s millions of dollars, in the end, it always comes down to us, the little rescues, who step up and save these poor horses’ lives,” she said.

“Why is the RSPCA not being held accountable for the state of the severe emaciation of Jet? Why are they escaping charges of cruelty and neglect when their monitoring of his condition was their responsibility?”

Campaign Director for the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, Elio Celotto, also chimed in after being made aware of the horrific condition the horse has been left in stating “Jet made over $40,000 for his owners and still this is how he ended up. This yet again highlights the use, abuse and discard business model of the racing industry who will wash their hands of any responsibility of Jet due to the horse now being registered as ‘retired’ by the authority. It’s just not good enough.”    

https://horseracingkills.com/2023/02/24/9966/