October
DecemberLimited attention span
I am just a tad confused.
Has Racing Victoria Limited a short memory? It was not that long ago that there were hundreds of people outside the RVL office protesting for the continuation of jump racing. May I add that on this day there were lucky to be a dozen marching against jump racing!
I believe the RSPCA is for the prevention of cruelty to animals — all animals.
So why are they picking on jumps racing?
These horses are well looked after in every possible way. They lead a healthy, happy life. If by chance (God forbid) they are injured they either have the best vet treatment available or are put down humanely — very little suffering.
Is their fixation on racing just because it is on a large stage in the face of the public? Are they looking for accolades? Do they gain any money whatsoever from any racing body? Please tell us!
On the other hand, my heart breaks driving past the many battery hen establishments in my area. These poor birds (thousands of them) are housed in appalling conditions with no freedom whatsoever. I purchased some of the hens one day, let them loose in my chook pen and watched sadly as they had no idea how to move around. These hens lead miserable, long lives with no joy. My hens took months to return to anywhere near normal life.
I feel these groups are so hypocritical when I walk down the aisle at the local supermarket and see the RSPCA-approved eggs sitting alongside the battery-hen eggs! What planet are you on? How sincere is that?
This whole thing is a joke, and the joke is on the RVL and us!
Take the export of live sheep. What are these groups that are transfixed on racing doing about them? Bloody nothing!
How can they say that live export is not cruel? Thousands of sheep are left to suffer in appalling conditions on these ships in terrible heat. Those that are not dead on arrival are half dead. All from weeks of suffering.
Call this acceptable? I think not. Yet less than one percent of horses are killed through jumps racing and this is unacceptable! C’mon, who are you trying to kid?
The people at RVL need to take a good look at themselves and start to represent their own. The protesters in SA were not allowed to take the first step. They were escorted from the course as soon as they were noticed, yet at Flemington they were given space.
Guys, where is your backbone?
And to the RSPCA, go and do what you are there for and protect the truly suffering animal.
Personally, jumps racing ending will not affect me very much. By writing I am just doing what I believe in. Why? Because this is a democratic society and not a dictatorship!
And just for the record, I am a stakeholder in the industry. Why? Because I have grown up with ponies, and loved horses with a great passion all my life, long before I trained.
I became a trainer through the love of horses and count my blessings every day that I am privileged enough to be involved at this level. Never would I condone cruelty to any animal, let alone a horse!
Cranbourne (Vic)