RIP Anthony van Dyck: Killed for Flemington “Entertainment”
Another Melbourne Cup, another dead horse. Anthony van Dyck has been killed after fracturing his fetlock during the race at Flemington.
PETA is calling for an immediate investigation into the death of Anthony van Dyck, and has written to Racing Victoria to ask that the fatality report being prepared by the Racing Victoria Integrity Services team, including the full results of the necropsy conducted by the University of Melbourne Veterinary Clinic & Hospital, be released to the public.
The letter also questions why Racing Victoria did not conduct CT imaging on all horses before the race, as was done in 2019.
While the industry focuses on the money made from animal suffering, glossing over the bleeding lungs, broken bones, and death, the reality of the abusive racing industry is that horses are made to run to the detriment of their health.
Before they’ve even finished maturing, these 500-kilogram animals – supported on ankles as small as those of humans – are pushed past their limits, forced to race at breakneck speeds to the finishing line while being whipped.
Anthony van Dyck’s death is no isolated incident. In 2018, 5-year-old Irish Thoroughbred The Cliffsofmoher fell badly, breaking his shoulder. He was killed shortly thereafter. Other casualties include Verema in 2013, Admire Rakti and Araldo in 2014, Red Cadeaux in 2015, and Regal Monarch in 2017.
Of course, horses die at lower-profile racing events all the time: 116 were pronounced dead on Australian tracks between August 2019 and July 2020 – that’s one animal every three days.
How many more deaths will it take before we call time on this disgraceful demonstration of national senselessness?
Please join us in writing to sponsors of the Melbourne Cup to let them know that aligning their brands with this cruel race is simply unacceptable:
Animals Are Suffering in Laboratories – Help Save Them Now
