Golden Gates is one of the most prominent equestrian racetracks in the US. However, the track has been facing a heavy backlash from animal rights activists due to the frequent deaths of horses. There were eight fatalities reported only at the beginning of this year. Henceforth, Golden Gates officially announced the suspension of its services on Sunday. According to the racetrack owners, they are closing their Berkley-based place to focus on their other racing arenas in Southern California.

Even though the owner of the track is claiming that they are closing to focus on the other tracks, for the past few years, the track has been under scrutiny by animal rights activists.

Equestrian track bid adieu after protests broke out against them

As reported by World Animal News, Golden Gates was opened in 1941, and since then they have been a part of some historic races. The track will be closing its doors after the final race meet at the end of this year. Activists have advocated its closure because horses like My Penache, Desert Fog, and Honey Doo died on the track in 2022. As if these deaths were not enough, eight horses lost their lives in the first half of 2023. “Direct Action Everywhere (DxE),” a Berkley-based animal rights group, has been trying to shut down the place permanently with the help of the government. A statement in DxE stated, “This closure is a win for horses and for vulnerable humans who are taken advantage of by the gambling industry.”

Four of the group members chained themselves together around the racetrack to protest against the race in 2021. For which the group was sued by the Golden Gates group. Residents of Berkley and local politicians have come out in support of the group. In the most recent events, Kate Harrison, a council member of DxE, launched an ordinance to address the horse abuse in the Golden Gate Fields. The initiative was sponsored by a local advocacy group called “Stop Blood Sports.” Not only this, they are also working to stop concentrated animal feeding operations.

The group has some big plans against animal cruelty

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) is an initiative to ban the confinement of horses for more than 10 hours. It would also work to support the allotment of an open space to the horses to support their liberty. CAFO will also work against the use of whips and bits that are used by jockeys to hit the horses to make them run faster while racing.

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This will also extract the use of drugs that are given to the horses forcefully. All these measures will be applied in Berkely including the Golden Gate Fields. Even though Golden Gates have denied that these protests have nothing to do with the enclosure of the track, but still this is the win-win situation for the Direct Action Everywhere group.

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