There are no words to express our disgust that yet another horse has been killed at the Cheltenham Festival.
We are supposed to be a civilised society, one which safeguards the vulnerable and moves towards progression and compassion. Instead, the government is standing by as innocent animals are exploited and abused on an unprecedented scale – all to the tune of ‘gambling’ and ‘entertainment’.
214 horses were killed on British racecourses in 2024, 598 horses with racing industry passports were sent to slaughter, there were 557 abuses of whip regulations. Horses getting injured, dying, being publicly beaten with a whip and then shipped off to a slaughterhouse, killed by a knackerman or sold from person to person in a downwards spiral of neglect is the true heart of this shameful industry.
It’s time for this sorry excuse for a sport to be consigned to the history books, where it belongs.
Notes for Editors
- Read our newly published report – Victims of Abuse in British Horse Racing
- Read more about Animal Aid’s campaign to Ban Jump Racing here – Ban Jump Racing – Animal Aid
- Visit Animal Aid’s Race Horse Death Watch site
- Read our 2014 report Why more horses die at Cheltenham than at any other British racecourse.
- For more information, contact Animal Aid Horse Racing Consultant Dene Stansall on 07780 756 957