Saturday 6 April 2013

Saw a dozen Nottingham activists stage a peaceful protest outside Ladbrokes betting shop in Nottingham city centre, to raise public awareness about the dark side of the Grand National, and also the wider horse and greyhound racing industries. The message was that there is no such thing as a harmless flutter, as if you bet on animal racing then you are literally betting with their lives.

Campaigners were out with banners, placards and visual displays to make sure that the message reached as many passers-by as possible. One activist was dressed in a dead horse costume splattered with blood, a very shocking image designed to have a real emotional impact on the public, and to help them make connections between the bets they place and the tragic consequences this can have for horses.

They say:

"The Grand National is a deliberately hazardous race for 'excitement' and entertainment value. 

Since 2000, 22 horses have died on the Grand National course and, over the course of the three-day meeting, 38 horses have been killed in that same period.This year two horses sadly died in the run-up to the big race, Battlefront and Little Josh, despite changes that were meant to improve the safety of the course.

Aside from the Grand National, hundreds of beautiful animals are raced to death on British tracks each year, die in training, or are killed because they are no longer profitable. Thousands more are killed on top of this because they don't make the grade. There is an awful lot of needless suffering and exploitation going on purely for human entertainment.

On the day of the demo the betting shop staff had little to say to protesters. The response from the public walking past the demo was incredibly positive. Hundreds of people stopped to sign a copy of Animal Aid's 'Ban the Grand National' petition and to offer support for the demo."

You bet, they die! Grand National demo

http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/5545

information about the dark side of the horse racing industry over on Animal Aid's website:

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/horse/

They also run a race horse death watch page, detailing the fatalities on British racetracks since 2007:

http://www.horsedeathwatch.com

Animal Aid

http://www.animalaid.org.uk

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ALAN LODGE 

Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham.  UK

Email:                 tash@indymedia.org

Web:                   http://digitaljournalist.eu

Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]

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"It is not enough to curse the darkness.

                                   It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"

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