Call for Public Boycott at Doncaster Racecourse Posted 14 December 2009

Animal Aid, Europe’s largest animal rights organisation, is demanding immediate action after three horses were left dead during this weekend’s racing at Town Moor, Doncaster.

The campaign group is calling for the British Horseracing Authority to commission a thorough and genuinely independent inquiry into the deaths of 10-year-old mare Allegedly Red, 4-year-old Kinetic Art and 5-year-old Spanish Conquest.

Earlier this year, Arrayou and Grandage were both killed at Doncaster races on the same day and, at an earlier meeting, Gaelic Gift was a fatality.

Six horses have now been killed in just eight days of jump racing at Doncaster during 2009. Says Animal Aid’s Horse Racing Consultant Dene Stansall:

The shocking death toll at Doncaster raises serious questions about the state of the ground at the racecourse. It is essential that a full, independent investigation is carried out and that the findings are made public. These fatalities cannot be passed off as mere accidents. We are calling for the public to boycott all future racing at Doncaster until action is taken to address the horse deaths at Town Moor.

More information

* For full background and interviews, contact Animal Aid on 01732 364546 * ISDN line available for broadcast-quality interviews. Notes to editors

* More than 18,000 foals are born into the closely-related British and Irish racing industries each year, yet only around 40% go on to race. Those horses who do not make the grade may be slaughtered for meat or repeatedly change hands in a downward spiral of neglect. * More than 7,500 horses leave British racing every year - the same number who enter it. Only a comparatively small proportion of the animals are properly provided for.

www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/pr_horse//2242//