Today is the start of the pheasant killing season
From today, millions of mass-produced, often factory-farmed, pheasants will be targets for shooters.
Posted 01 Oct 2024
Posted on the 21st October 2011
By giving in to the petulant complaints by jockeys about the new whip rules, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has again demonstrated that it doesn’t have the courage, competence or strategic intelligence to act as the regulator for British horseracing.
Animal Aid, in keeping with the majority of the British public (57 per cent), wanted to see an outright ban of the whip. But the new regulations, introduced on 10 October, did at least represent a significant step forward by toughening up both the rules on how the whip can be used and the penalties for breaching them. With nearly 900 breaches of the old regulations in 2010, it is clear that the key to enforcement is effective sanctions. By announcing today that it has fundamentally weakened the penalties that were introduced on 10 October, the BHA has also removed any semblance of an effective deterrent.
As from today, offending jockeys will no longer lose their riding fees and they will be able to hit a horse more often before their prize money is withheld. The BHA has even ordered that many riders who breached the new rules before the regulator backtracked, will have their prize money and riding fees reinstated and their suspensions rescinded. In addition, serious repeat offenders will face reduced penalties.
For more then 10 years, Animal Aid has campaigned for an outright ban on the whip – a position now supported by the general public. We were disappointed that the BHA fell short of introducing a prohibition but recognised that the new regime was a significant improvement over the previous system. By succumbing to jockeys’ pressure, racing has put itself at an even greater distance from the public on whom it depends for its future. But the ultimate argument for banning the whip is that it is a device to bully and intimidate animals to run to their physical limit, and sometimes beyond it.
Ever since the 10 October rules came into force, whip proponents have repeatedly claimed that the recently introduced cushioned whip does not hurt horses. In fact, use of the so-called cushioned whip, according to the BHA’s own data on rule breaches, can cause horses to come out in weals. In 2010, the regulator recorded 17 such cases. While the whip has a padded area at the end, it also has a longer hard handle that frequently and painfully comes into contact with the horse. For an example, see the end of this sequence: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/horse_racing/13781063.stm.
Says Animal Aid’s Director, Andrew Tyler:
‘Until now, jockeys have been able to thrash horses in public without facing any meaningful sanction. When the BHA moved to introduce genuine penalties, jockeys whined, sulked and foot-stamped, and the BHA, predictably, caved in. This demonstrates the fundamentally cruel and exploitative nature of horse racing, as well as the inability of the BHA to act as the regulator on matters of horse welfare. Fifty seven per cent of the public (68 per cent of women) support an outright ban on the use of the whip in racing, according to a new poll commissioned by the BHA itself. Instead of backtracking on its attempt to limit the amount that horses are thrashed in public, the BHA should be moving swiftly to a total prohibition of the whip.’
From today, millions of mass-produced, often factory-farmed, pheasants will be targets for shooters.
Posted 01 Oct 2024
Posted 24 Sep 2024