A Sell Out To Cruelty: Why The Horse Racing Ad Should Be Stopped In Its Tracks
The public are rightly outraged over the decision of the NSW government to allow horse racing advertisements on the sails of the Sydney Opera House.
What’s next – booze ads on the walls of hospitals? Betting odds displayed on ATM screens?
The architect who drew up the Opera House’s recent plan to preserve its identity warned that going ahead with the proposal was akin to “throwing garbage” at the Australian landmark. Garbage indeed – horse racing is a vile industry, in which on average one horse dies on Australian racetracks every three days.
Horses are raced too young and too hard and their bones are not up to the immense impact and stress. They routinely suffer from injuries, lameness, and exhaustion. Horses are whipped and forced to run at break neck speeds. To keep them running when they should be recuperating, they may be given painkillers, muscle relaxants, and anti-inflammatory drugs. All this often leads to broken legs and death.
We should not be promoting this cruelty and violence anywhere, let alone all over Australia’s most iconic building.