A huge billboard on a major Melbourne road depicting an image of a dead horse has been slammed as ‘distasteful’ and ‘highly inappropriate’ by racing officials.
The advertisement, on CityLink near Footscray Road, was launched by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses to raise awareness about animal welfare ahead of the Spring Racing Carnival.
The 22-metre billboard features a slogan ‘Is the Party really worth it?’ alongside the graphic image of the dead animal, as part of the Horse Racing Kills campaign.
But Racing Victoria chief executive Bernard Saundry labelled the sign ‘offensive’ and ‘distasteful’.
“To put a dead animal – be it a horse, a dog or a cat – on a billboard is highly inappropriate and distasteful,” Mr Saundry told the ABC.
“The billboard is offensive both to the 70,000 participants within the Victorian thoroughbred racing industry who love and care for their animals and indeed to the wider community who are travelling past this distasteful image.”
Animal welfare activists have called for a ban on whips and jumps racing, claiming these practices are among the causes of horse deaths every racing season.
Coalition spokesman Ward Young also raised concerns about the treatment of horses rejected from the racing industry.
“Horses are still being sent to slaughter when they’re no longer profitable,” he told the ABC.
“The race industry rejected a straightforward proposal to re-home all of these horses.”
Claims rejected by the racing industry as ‘misleading’ and a disproportionate representation of the truth.
“The inference that horse racing kills its equine athletes is misleading and very disappointing for the many people within our industry who have spent the best part of a lifetime caring for horses,” he said.
“The average fatality rate in Victorian thoroughbred racing is the lowest in world racing and we are working hard to reduce it even further through stricter medication controls, significant investments in improving tracks and training facilities and the funding of major research studies.”
News Break – October 7