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Dear Supporter,
In true horse racing style, it has been a tragic and controversial first part of the year. The use of electric shock devices on horses was finally brought into the spotlight, the jumps racing season gets off to another horror start and Winx runs her last race while the deaths of two others at the same meet are ignored. But, there has been some good news. A Senate inquiry into the need and feasibility of a National Horse Traceability Register has been established, our newly formed New Zealand satellite teams get off to a flying start, and although the Oakbank Carnival of Cruelty again went ahead, attendance numbers continue to decline.
HORSE DEATHS ON-TRACK SKYROCKET
Our 2019 Deathwatch report is looking set to surpass previous figures as the beginning months of Autumn saw a shocking number of deaths on track. In the month of March alone horse racing killed 14 innocent individuals across the country. April claimed 10 more in two states alone. The circumstances of these deaths are always horrific for the horses who lose their lives due to being exploited by human pursuits of profit. It is important to note that these are just the on-track deaths we learn of. Many are not reported and of course, thousands are slaughtered behind the scenes. Read our report on recent racetrack carnage here.
Persan & War Baron crash to the turf at Randwick - Image Source ABC News
WINX - WHAT DOES HER FUTURE HOLD?
Winx - Image source Getty Images
At Randwick, on April 13 Winx ran her last race as punters cheered from the sidelines. Winx is no doubt an outstanding horse who has amassed over 26 million dollars in prize money alone. She will however not benefit from her winnings. Instead, she will be given what is considered to be ‘the very best care’- but what does that mean?
Winx will now be considered a broodmare. That is, she will be used for breeding purposes so that she can make even more money for her connections. She is about to be entered into repeated breeding cycles where she will be treated as a breeding machine. Her life moving forward will be one of forced mating, love and loss. Read more here.
RIP TARKA & BYE BYE BELLE
 We can’t speak of Winx last race without acknowledging the death of two others at the same meet. Just minutes before punters and connections were rubbing their hands together in anticipation of her last race, Bye Bye Belle’s lifeless body was discreetly and very inconveniently being dragged from the course – cameras turned away to not ruin the excitement and expose the reality of horse racing. Bye Bye Belle collapsed and died in Race 6 at the 300m and no one cared. Beautiful Tarka (pictured) became very ill just 1 hour before he was to be forced to race, was rushed to the vet and died. Both Tarka and Bye Bye Belle were only 3 years old.
ELECTRIC SHOCK DEVICES
After repeated stays granted for leading trainer Ben Currie allowing him to continue to operate his Toowoomba-based business whilst facing 42 allegations, he was finally suspended from racing on May 10. Currie was found guilty of "engaging in an improper action" after an investigation into text messages exposed he had intended to use illegal electric shock devices. He has now been banned from the industry for 4 years. This comes just months after Ballarat-based trainer Darren Weir was also banned for 4 years for his use of electric shock devices on horses.
CPR is calling for a lifetime ban for Weir and Currie and for all related jockeys to also be investigated considering they too must be complicit for the jiggers to have the desired effect. We also call for a national inquiry into the racing industry and an independent governing body to oversee every aspect of horse racing. Anything less is just damage control.
Read more on jiggers here.
SURPRISE SURPRISE......
JUMPS OFF TO A HORROR START
The lives of three innocents have already been claimed in this 2019 jumps season. Monarch Chimes was killed in trials at Cranbourne making him the seasons first casualty (that we know of). Details of his death were never released. And true to form, the Bool’ Autumn Carnival claimed yet another life with Blues Breaker taking a horror fall over the last jump on Day 2 in the steeplechase. See the fall that took his life here.
As happened the previous year with Now And Zen, track staff played down his fall and the next day he was dead. When horses are taken away from the track after being injured their deaths are not required to be recorded in stewards reports indicating the jumps and the general death toll is no doubt much
RIP Big Bad Baz
higher than we report each year. Jumps racing has taken the lives of 93 horses to horrific on-track injuries since 2007, 24 of which have been from jumps races at the Warrnambool track.
Just last Sunday it was Big Bad Baz who joined the death tally. The 4-year-old quite literally fell over the ninth jump, landing headfirst and rolling over on his neck. The injury was gently described as “a serious racing industry”. We have no doubt it would have been excruciating for him. See his fall here.
Among this horror, there is a touch of good news. Although cruel jumps continue in Victoria and South Australia, numbers were down by approx. 2,000 this year compared to last at the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival which is overall down by 75% from a decade ago. Oakbank simply refuses to give up the ghost, but how long can they hold out? Huge thanks to our team in South Australia who show up every single year and will continue to do so until this shocking display of animal abuse and cruelty is banned once and for all. Check below for details on our upcoming jumps protests.
NATIONAL HORSE TRACEABILITY REGISTER
The Federal Government has established a committee to investigate the feasibility of what we know is a much-needed National Horse Traceability Register. Many individuals and organisations including CPR made submissions to the inquiry which are currently being reviewed.
If approved, it will mean the racing industry will be made accountable for the thousands of horses that disappear every year and won’t be able to hide behind their retirement form data that currently claims less than 1% of racehorses are sent to slaughter.
We are hopeful that the committee will recognise what is blatantly obvious to so many others and make the sensible decision to establish the register a soon as possible.
Our and other submissions can be viewed here.
CAN YOU HELP IN NEW ZEALAND OR AUSTRALIA?
As reported in our last E-News, we are very pleased to have recently spread our wings across the Tasman Sea to launch campaigns in both Auckland and Wellington. Although a much smaller industry, New Zealand horses face the same abuses as they do here in Australia. Their lives are subjected to the same regimes of confinement, isolation and concentrated diets. They are beaten and pushed beyond their limits, resulting in on-track injuries and death and although no longer killed for human consumption in their own country, New Zealand horses no longer wanted by the racing industry are horrifically slaughtered and turned into pet food by numbers into the thousands each year.
To educate the public on these issues and place pressure on the industry, our satellite teams have already hosted 7 race day rallies and been successful in achieving mainstream media. But, there are many roles yet to be filled. The CPR team back home also has many exciting opportunities to get involved to help end horse cruelty inflicted by the racing industry.
 If any of the below roles are of interest and you have the skills, dedication, and availability required, please complete our volunteer application form here or email us here.
Campaigns Assistant
Ban Jumps Racing Campaign Manager
Writers' Group Coordinator
Research and Content Writer
Social Media Assistant
Video Editors
Fundraising Team Member
Race Day Photographers/Videographers
RUN YOUR OWN NUP TO THE CUP!
Winter is not far away and before we know it the grey cold days will have passed and spring will be upon us. Sadly, with that, of course, brings the Spring Racing Carnival where seemingly good people get caught up in well-funded marketing campaigns of glamour and riches - all a façade covering an industry that revolves around gambling and cruelty subjected on vulnerable horses.
Last year saw a record number of Nup to the Cup! events hosted throughout the country where people openly boycotted horse cruelty and made the first Tuesday of November a party FOR the animals. #NupToTheCup trended all day on Twitter and Australia’s hearts broke once again as they saw The Cliffsofmoher become the latest Melbourne Cup Day victim. Now is the time to start planning your Nup To The Cup event. Register here and we can help you to promote your event or business offering. For inspiration, check out what others have done over previous years here and get cracking.
UPCOMING RALLIES AUS & NZ- ALL WELCOME
Rally at the Autumn Races Punters Day (NZ)
When: Saturday 25 May 2019
Where: Wellington Racing Club - 10 Racecourse Road, Wellington NZ
Time: 10:20am - 12:30pm
What to bring: Refreshments, umbrella, and sunscreen if required/desired
Dress: Neat casual or if you can semi-formal (as if you were going to the races)
More Info and RSVP (not essential): Facebook, our website or via email at enquiries@horseracingkills.com
Protest at Auckland's Irish Raceday
When: Saturday 25 May 2019
Where: Ellerslie Racecourse - 80 Ascot Ave, Remuera NZ
Time: 11am - 1pm
What to bring: Refreshments, umbrella, and sunscreen if required/desired
Dress: Neat casual or if you can semi-formal (as if you were going to the races)
More Info and RSVP (not essential): Facebook, our website or via email at enquiries@horseracingkills.com
Jumps Racing Protest
When: Sunday 4 August 2019
Where: Ladbrokes Park - 591 - 659 Princes Hwy, Springvale, Vic
Time: 11am - 1:30pm
What to bring: Refreshments, umbrella, and sunscreen if required/desired
Dress: Neat casual or if you can semi-formal (as if you were going to the races)
More Info and RSVP (not essential): Facebook, our website or via email at enquiries@horseracingkills.com
Protest at Ballarat's Grand National Steeplechase Day
When: Sunday 25 August 2019
Where: Ballarat Turf Club - 240 Kennedy's Road Ballarat, Vic
Time: 12pm - 2pm
What to bring: Refreshments, umbrella, and sunscreen if required/desired
Dress: Neat casual or if you can semi-formal (as if you were going to the races)
More Info and RSVP (not essential): Facebook, our website or via email at enquiries@horseracingkills.com
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