Virvacity, an hour before falling to his death at Oakbank on Easter Saturday 2012
“In New South Wales jumps racing is a crime” (RSPCA media release, Jotilla Dies in First Jumps Race of the Victorian Season.)
One might question, then, how horses are different, or deserving of less treatment, in Victoria or South Australia.
Charlie’s Angels is perplexed as to why there is ongoing debate about jumps racing when there is decades of evidence that exists (formed by official bodies much bigger, wiser and more powerful than us) as to why it needs to stop, so much so that Racing Victoria at one point agreed the events should end.
Putting jumps racing in perspective, we need to look back over many decades of official inquiries and research conducted by these large, professional bodies, including senate inquiries. Over and over again, conclusions are made that there is no way to make jumps racing safer and it should be banned.
This is not a radical notion and not re-inventing the wheel. Queensland, Tasmania and New South Wales already ended the events. Yet jumps racing continues in Victoria and South Australia despite the toll on equine life.
“The 1991 Senate Inquiry into Aspects of Animal Welfare in the Racing Industry studied this issue extensively many, many decades ago. It found that, in relation to jumps racing, fatality and injury rates were unacceptably high. It recommended the following:
Based on evidence received during the inquiry the Committee has serious concerns about the welfare of horses participating in jumps races. These concerns are based on the significant probability of a horse suffering serious injury or even death as a result of participating in these events and, in particular, steeplechasing. This concern is exacerbated by evidence suggesting that even with improvements to the height and placing of jumps, training and education the fatality rate would remain constant. The Committee, therefore, can only conclude that there is an inherent conflict between these activities and animal welfare. Accordingly, the Committee is of the view that relevant state governments should phase out jumps racing over the next three years.” (From SA Hansard records.)
In 2008, Judge David Jones again conducted an inquiry and produced the Jumps Racing Review, from which Racing Victoria adopted all the essential safety recommendations in an attempt to make jumps racing safer. But horses continued to die. Racing Victoria then announced in 2010 that they would end jumps racing. Racing Victoria Chairman, Michael Duffy, said that:
“Despite the implementation of all the safety recommendations of the Jones report conducted in 2008 the incidence of falls and fatalities has continued to increase.” And that “The recommendation of six previous reviews had been implemented without any sustained reduction in incidents.” (From the Sydney Morning Herald)
Sadly, after initially recognising that jumps racing should indeed cease, Racing Victoria then changed their mind and we continue to see the result of this decision each season with more horses dying in horrific accidents.
To take action: visit the Victorian RSPCA’s website to see how you can help or the Animals Australia website.
UPDATE: ‘Art Success’ is another fatality, who died after a fall that broke his pelvis on Easter Monday.
This month we’re pleased to introduce you to a wonderful family in the US who run Rolling Dog Farm (previously Rolling Dog Ranch), which rescues and shelters disabled animals. As part of their work, they come across a lot of blind horses, so much so that they created a separate website just to talk about the loving care and protection of horses who are blind at www.blindhorses.org.
