50% of horses
are born into an industry where they are made to compete in a potentially high
risk, game of Russian roulette (a game of high risk, probabilities and chance).
By betting and investing in this barbaric inhumane sport, a high percentage of
the UK population are condemning one of the most beautiful creatures on earth
to a death of which could have been avoidable.
When running in
a steeplechase; horses are faced with a daunting task of running at full speed
and then having to clear obstacles at extreme heights at the delight of the
upper/elitist members of society. Due to horse fatigue sometimes these physical
demands are somewhat impossible for the horses, and to avoid serious injury (and
in some cases death) the horses must clear multiple obstacles with precision
even in a state of exhaustion. As David Thomas of the Mail explains “….we call
bull fighting a barbaric sport – why is racing any better?” This short comparative analogy / rhetorical
question is a quote from David Thomas’s article on the dangers of horse racing.
I completely agree with this quote. In
modern “civilised” times, society has deemed the practise of the traditional
Spanish sport / art of bull fighting as morally wrong as it is portrayed as
violent and inhumane. Yet many in modern society fail to differ between; bulls
killing themselves for the enjoyment of society and horses killing themselves
for the entertainment of the rich. Surely to the horse racing fans who may be
reading, watching a beautiful product of nature in agony on your T.V.
screens, waiting for a Vet to come and
put it out of its misery is truly horrific and leaves to strongest of people in
disarray. I believe that all meat eaters in society (including myself) should
acknowledge that the animals that we feast upon died in a much more humane and
dignifying way; compared to a horse being whipped to clear a gate on a race
track or a bull being taunted by a cruel torero (Bull fighter) holding up a
sheet of red cloth.
Unlike sheep,
cows, pigs and other animals battery bred for the kitchen, which have the
numerical population of Bill Gate’s bank account, horses are bred into an
industry where their only purpose is to race and jump hurdles to entertain
self-centred elitists and if they don’t
perform they’re sent to Tesco.
Even though the
horses are killed as an unintentional result of a race, no one wants them to perish.
But they do. And It is happening more too regularly with (according to animal
aid) more than “1000 on-course horse fatalities since 2007” and over 10 horses dying over the last calendar
year from the two most prestigious race tracks in Britain alone (Cheltenham and
Aintree). These figures are truly disgusting and calls for urgent attention. Underneath the glamorous front cover and
historical prowess that surrounds horse racing and bullfighting; it is a cruel industry which is given enormous financial backing for the hope of financial
gain by members of society from both ends of the social class spectrum. If this
cruelty is what we Brits call tradition and heritage we should be ashamed of
ourselves.
Take last month
and a protest that I attended outside of a Ladbrokes betting shop in West
London, I was confronted by an upper class, very patriotic and to a certain
extent arrogant older fellow who was leaving the betting shop, as I confronted
the man he began to preach to me and the other protestors that “... horse
racing is a traditional British sports and is held in high regard in British society
and is well documented for in British history...”.this simple segment of his
remarkably long ramble lead for me to believe that horse racing is not only
held by people as a form of escapism- as betting on a horses life (not to my
understanding) brings a source of hope, but also as they are indoctrinated into
believing that the abomination of an entire species should be held in high
esteem as part of the so called “British Heritage”. As I began to process my
thoughts after the analysis that I concluded, it was clear that not only we so
called “Brits” that use the killing of innocent animals as an acclaimed part of
our heritage, as previously mentioned, the Hispanic communities of the world,
falsely acclaim the killing and torment of bulls as a patriotic factor of
Spanish history. This brand of human altruism (patriotism) is indoctrinating
members British and Hispanic societies into believing that the corrupt killing
of innocent animals in sporting events to promote wealth and prestige are
morally and more importantly humanly correct.
Can we really,
as products of nature, claim the lives of other innocent creatures to support
national patriotism?
My answer is no.
This mentality of making horses, bulls, dogs and other animals compete in life
threatening sporting events where there is an obvious risk of death is out
right wrong. And yes there are a vast majority of people in modern society; who
have been politically socialised into believing that the death of animals in
sporting events can be considered justifiable if it is for the purpose of
rejuvenation for their national heritage. This is completely understandable and
in the eyes of a few, this makes death right?
How can
abomination of a species can is called heritage?
To put it simply
it can't and shouldn't, I find it rather audacious that those in society can and continue to do so, whilst beautiful
products of nature are being sent to a race track which can quite easily be
described as just another slaughter house.
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