PUBLIC AGREE - HORSE RACING IS CRUEL
Animal Aid wins Countryfile debate
 Animal
Aid's Horse Racing Awareness Week is
launched March 27 - timed to coincide with the deliberately challenging and
exhausting Grand National at Aintree. This year's central feature will be an
important new report that meticulously analyses the use of the whip. The findings
are startling! Click here to read A Hiding
to Nothing.
Meanwhile, a recent debate on BBC TV's Countryfile - which posed the question:
Is horse racing cruel - has produced from the public a resounding 'yes'. 57%
of viewers who voted agreed that it is cruel, against 43% who supported racing.
The debate featured Animal Aid Director Andrew Tyler on one side. He pointed
to the hundreds of horses killed every year from injury and the even larger
number disposed of at the end of their careers or because they fail to make
the grade. He also highlighted the endemic levels of stress-related illness.
Arguing that racing is not cruel were a leading vet from the Jockey Club, and
Brough Scott, broadcaster, Racing Post editorial director and former jockey.
An RSPCA equine vet took a middle position.
The victory is particularly notable because the Racing Post had encouraged
its very large readership to watch the programme and vote.
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