Melbourne Cup Day is Australia’s most famous horse racing event, taking place every first Tuesday of November and designated as an annual public holiday in the state of Victoria and is fittingly nicknamed ‘the race that stops the country.‘ The excitement builds as the 7th of November approaches, but for many, it is accompanied by concern and tension over this highly anticipated race day.
A group of Auckland locals walked to the streets of the central business area to express their worries over local eateries marketing the Melbourne Cup in a passionate display of people’s values.
Protest against Melbourne Cup promotion in Auckland
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Protesters marched along Auckland’s Viaduct area, holding placards and amplifying their voices with megaphones. According to Animal Justice Party campaigner Nicholas Hancock, their major aim was to take action against the restaurants in the area promoting the Melbourne Cup. “We know that 169 horses have died in Australia on the track, either due to injuries or being euthanized,” Hancock said, emphasizing his worries about the normalization of animal cruelty and compulsive gambling, “This is a grim reality we cannot ignore.”
via Imago
Aya Oba, the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses’ Auckland spokesman, chimed in on the debate, noting the underlying ethical quandary. While these restaurants may offer an “extravagant and memorable” race day experience for patrons, they also engage in “forcing animals to perform for human entertainment.” Oba further expressed her concern about the escalating number of Australian horse deaths on tracks during the past racing year, dubbing it “the worst year on record since CPR started tracking racing-related injuries in 2014.” Despite this dreadful figure, Victoria Racing vets stated that all starters in this year’s Melbourne Cup race survived, triggering a heated discussion over the ethics and consequences of promoting such events. However, this is not the first time that people have come together to condemn animal abuse.
Protest disrupts horse racing events
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On 12 April this year, over 100 animal rights activists were arrested for disrupting the Grand National race, causing a 15-minute delay. Protesters from Animal Rising breached course boundaries, with some attempting to attach themselves to fences. Dickon White, who runs Aintree Racecourse, said, ?Hill Sixteen was immediately attended by expert veterinary professionals during the Grand National, but sadly sustained a fatal injury. Our heartfelt condolences are with his connections.? They just want the end to animal suffering as three horses died during the event. Merseyside police said in a statement after the race: ?Just after 5pm a large number of protesters attempted to gain entry on to the course. The majority were prevented from breaching the boundary fencing but nine individuals who managed to enter the course were later arrested by officers.? Earlier, about 150 animal rights activists were arrested.
Read More: Can the Newly Launched Horse Racing Safety Rules Truly Minimize Athlete Injuries?
On June 4, six protesters from Animal Rebellion disrupted the Epsom Derby by demanding an end to horse racing. They wore sashes with “Animal Justice” and referenced the 220 animal deaths on UK racecourses last year, advocating for an end to animal exploitation.”Horse racing took the lives of 220 animals on race courses in the UK last year and this is just the tip of the iceberg. In this country over a billion land animals are killed for food each year,” Orla Coghlan, who was at Epsom, said in a statement to Animal Rebellion. The protest coincided with the anniversary of suffragette Emily Davison’s famous horse-related protest. Surrey Police arrested the six women for trespassing and the race proceeded as scheduled.
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Watch this story:?World Championship Stallion Withdrawn From Major Equestrian Event After Medical Condition Surfaces.
