TEN GOOD REASONS WHY THE NATION'S GREATEST RACE SHOULD BE CONSIGNED TO HISTORY . . .
(Text reproduced courtesy of Animal Aid)
Visit their website at www.animalaid.org.uk
1.
The three-day
Grand National meet is designed to push horses to their limits - and beyond.
The Grand National itself is run over an extreme distance of 4.5 miles and
confronts horses with a bewildering combination of 30 punishing jumps. Deaths
at the three day event are routine. The death toll in recent years is as
follows: 2000, five deaths; 1999, four; 1998, five; 1997, eight.
2. Every year, around 300 horses are raced to death in
3. Very few horses make it to events like the Grand National - half the
8,000 foals bred each year never even see the starter's flag before they are
put down. These include the 'hot-headed', the weak, the accident-prone and the
deformed.
4. Racehorses are stabled for up to 20 hours a day, causing frustration
and stress. Horses are social animals who are meant to
be continuously grazing and moving.
5. During a race such as the Grand National, the heartbeat of a horse can
increase tenfold - leading to potential collapse and heart attack.
6. The majority of horses suffer stress-related lung haemorrhages
during a race. And a veterinary study found that ulcerated stomachs were
universal amongst racing horses.
7. There are strong links between fox hunting and horseracing. Many older
animals take a break from racing and are made to hunt in order 'to sweeten them
up'. The hunting fraternity also holds its own race meetings, known as
point-to-points. Horses can 'graduate' from these to recognised
racecourses such as Aintree - and take part in
'prime' events like the Martell Fox Hunters' Chase, which is staged during the
three-day Grand National meet. In 1999, the British Horse Racing Board gave
financial support to the campaign to preserve hunting.
8. The horseracing industry invests around £1 million each year in
painful experiments that are intended to keep their investments profitable.
Many of the experiments have involved infecting low-value Welsh mountain ponies
with potentially lethal viruses. Symptoms suffered have included paralysis and
abortion.
9. In an effort to keep injured horses racing, hundreds are subjected
each year to painful surgical mutilations such as pinfiring.
First used 100 years ago, this procedure involves inserting red-hot needles
through the skin to burn the leg tendons.
10. 5,000 racehorses end their careers every year. Few enjoy a decent
retirement. Many go into a wretched downward spiral, passed from owner to
owner. Some end up as pet food, or go into the human food chain.