Racing authorities and participants have expressed their horror at vision of horses being slaughtered at a Queensland abattoir and say everyone must continue to work together to re-home and re-train retired racing stock.
But they also say the portrayal by the ABC’s 7.30 report is misleading and does not reflect efforts made to combat the problem.
The program’s investigation was aired on Thursday night ahead of Saturday’s showcase Caulfield Cup meeting in Melbourne and the Everest in Sydney.
Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys said the state was the only one with a rule in place to bar people sending horses to be slaughtered and anyone found doing so would be prosecuted.
He joined Racing Australia’s chief executive Barry O’Farrell in calling for a national register of retired horses so all could be tracked from birth to death.
“NSW is the only state in Australia that has a rule of racing that prohibits horses from being sent to a knackery or abattoir if they have been predominantly domiciled in the NSW thoroughbred racing industry,” V’landys said.
The jurisdiction of racing’s regulators ceases when horses are moved on more than once after retirement.
V’landys took issue with some of the ABC’s assertions and said parts of the program were misleading.
“Despite repeated requests from Racing NSW, the ABC has not returned Racing NSW calls so that Racing NSW could correct some of the incorrect facts that were subsequently aired and to provide any evidence so that Racing NSW can successfully investigate and prosecute breaches of the Rules of Racing,” he said.
“This information included evidence that one horse the ABC claimed was destroyed in a knackery was alive and well and that the ABC was aware of such.”
Racing NSW was given a list of names of 14 horses by the ABC and V’landys said they identified 12 of them were last domiciled in other states or had been sold as pleasure horses, putting them outside the jurisdiction of his organisation.
He maintained 10,000 NSW racehorses had been retired in the past three years and the majority successfully re-homed.
Since 2016, Racing NSW has dedicated one per cent of all prize money, equating to about $2.5 million, to a thoroughbred welfare fund and has purchased over 2500 acres of NSW property for its re-homing program.
Racing Victoria, which runs a program called Off The Track for retired horses, also called for a national registry to facilitate the tracking of horses between the states.
“Equine welfare is a non-negotiable for the Australian racing industry and the goal of ensuring a home for every healthy thoroughbred as it exits the racing industry must remain a priority for all,” RV chief executive Giles Thompson said.
His comments were echoed by Racing Queensland’s Brendan Parnell.
“The inhumane treatment of horses – be it horoughbreds, standardbreds or otherwise – is abhorrent and should not be happening under any circumstance,” Parnell said.
“As an industry, we have a horses collective responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of our horses.”
Thoroughbred auctioneer Inglis said it was a financial supporter of programs to retrain racehorses for equestrian pursuits and also called for more humane practices at abattoirs.
“We believe abattoirs and similar operations need to be more diligently regulated by government to ensure they operate humanely in relation to all animals,” an Inglis statement said .
“The conduct of the alleged staff working in these facilities shown on The 7.30 Report is totally unacceptable.”
