On February 23rd, in Tel Aviv, Hakol Chai launched a hard-hitting, witty viral video in Israel, Whipping Hurts, that exposes one of the many cruelties of the horse racing industry. The film, produced by Animal Aid, proves that despite racing industry claims to the contrary, whipping hurts horses and must be banned. The film is being issued simultaneously in many countries as part of a campaign by a new international coalition of NGOs formed to work toward a total ban on whipping race horses.
The international coalition was formed in response to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA)’s action this week to retract its four month’s old agreement to strengthen rules for using the whip. Made up of animal advocacy groups in all countries with a strong racing industry, including the U.K., Australia, France, Germany and Ireland, the coalition will work toward a total ban.
At an April 2010 conference in Australia, Louis Romanet, former Director-General of France’s racing oversight body, predicted that within the next five years, major racing nations would ban jockeys from using the whip to bully horses to run faster or to punish them.
A study conducted by the University of Sydney concluded that the use of the whip does not improve a horse’s chance of winning and British jockeys do not use it when competing in Norway, where the whip is banned.
Whips commonly used in British racing have a padded area at the end, but they also have a long hard handle that frequently and painfully comes into physical contact with the horse on the hind quarters and down the neck. The BHA’s own records reflect 17 incidents in 2010 in which horses were hit so hard with the so-called ‘welfare-friendly’ whip that welts were raised on their bodies.
Said Hakol Chai spokesperson, Tal Sahar, “The new alliance has one sole objective: the whip hurts; ban it.
LINK TO THE VIDEO:
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/f/CAMPAIGNS/blog//4//?be_id=357
Or on YouTube: http://youtu.be/SAD5O0ZYbuA