Photo courtesy Liss Ralston
The use of whips as a performance aid in horse racing is back in the spotlight following the release of a study which analysed race footage provided by the RSPCA and found evidence of the unacceptable use of whips and the inability of stewards to adequately police Australian whip rules.
Conducted by Veterinarian and Professor Paul McGreevy at the University of Sydney, the study reignites calls for the racing industry to review the use of whips in racing.
This study also builds on a previous study released in 2011 which found that whipping a horse does not increase the chance of a horse finishing first, second or third and that 98% of horses were being whipped without it influencing the race outcome.
The latest study revealed:
- An unacceptable number of apparent breaches of whip rules
- So-called padding of a whip is not effective in safeguarding horses from possible pain.
- The study found that 75% of whip strikes are on the abdomen (flank). The International Agreement on Breeding and Racing to which the Australian Racing Board is a signatory lists specific prohibitions for whip use, including using the whip on the flank.
- The results of the latest study indicate that Australian racing authorities are not meeting their obligations regarding this International Agreement.
- The so-called padded whip introduced by the Australian Racing Board, has failed to protect horses. Analysis in this study found that the unpadded section of the whip made contact on 64% of impacts, demonstrating that padding the whip does not necessarily safeguard a horse from possible pain. See www.rspca.org.au/whips to join the campaign.
The NSW Greens have joined the RSPCA in calling for the Australian Racing Board to review the use of whips in racing. I have tabled the following Motion in Parliament calling on the Australian Racing Board and NSW Racing to prohibit whip use. It is important to remove this animal cruelty concern from the sport. Horses and punters will still win races and bets when the sport is whip free.
Legislative Council Notice Paper No. 73—Thursday 29 March 2012
621. Ms Faehrmann to move—
1. That this House notes that:
(a) the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has launched a
campaign to end whips in horse racing,
(b) Professor Paul McGreevy, a veterinary scientist, and his colleagues from Sydney
University Veterinary Science and Law faculties have undertaken a study into the use of
whips in thoroughbred racing,
(c) the study viewed opportunistic high-speed footage of 15 race finishes frame by frame
over two days at the Gosford Racing Track north of Sydney,
(d) the study observed at least 28 examples in nine horses of breaches of the Australian
Rules of Racing whip rules, including 13 contacts with the head, one seam of the flap
contact with the horse and 14 arm actions that rose above the height of the shoulder,
(e) the breaches detected were not reported by the Racing NSW Stewards,
(f) the study observed that the whip caused visible indents on 83 per cent of impacts
recorded,
(g) the study observed that 75 per cent of whip strikes are on the abdomen,
(h) the study observed that the unpadded section of the whip made contact on 64 per cent of
impacts recorded which calls into question the adequacy of whip padding to prevent
possible pain,
(i) the RSPCA says the study shows evidence that the International Agreement on Breeding,
Racing and Wagering, to which Australia is a signatory, has clearly been contravened,
(j) Professor McGreevy commented to the ABC Lateline program in a story that aired on 20
March 2012 that if the whipping was ocurring to animals off the race track it would be
considered a prosecutable offence and an act of animal cruelty,
(k) horses and punters would still win races and bets if the horses were not subject to
whipping, and
(l) Norway prohibited whips in horse racing in 1982.
2. That this House calls on the Australian Racing Board and Racing NSW to prohibit whips in
horse racing.
(Notice given 28 March 2012—expires Notice Paper No. 92)
March 22nd, 2012 at 6:02 pm
ALL whips should be banned – including dressage and crops for Pony Club – but certainly for racehorses.
Good luck with the Motion; if you start a petition, I will sign it – along with many others.
Deni
March 23rd, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Thankyou Cate for this initiative. It’s now 133 years since Anna Sewell wrote the book Black Beauty, to draw attention to the cruelty suffered by horses. Haven’t we come a long way in the treatment of horses – we should be hanging our heads in utter shame! Patrick Smith the Australian Sports Journalist aluded to this in 2008 when he wrote: “it is cruelty on a massive scale and Australians should be ashamed that we have not ordered this barbarism to stop years ago.”
March 23rd, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Nice work, Cate. The racing industry consider the racetrack to be a worksite. If a jockey is said to be ‘working’ then surely, in a different manner, so is the horse. If it’s not acceptable to inflict punishment on a human (the jockey) then how can it be acceptable to inflict punishment on his mount? Can I thrash a person who works for me whenever I deem them not be trying hard enough?
It is not acceptable that a modern society allow punishment to be rendered to an animal to create entertainment.
March 24th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Hitting horses, or any animal for that matter, is unethical.
That it is part of a money making business makes it no less reprehensible.
Neither the science nor the ethics support the hitting of horses with whips as part of racing. End it.
Racing, ethical or not at all.
March 25th, 2012 at 10:06 pm
The whip must be banned in horse racing: due to the nature of the race there is a financial incentive to whip the horses, the cruelty is inevitable.
April 4th, 2012 at 7:01 pm
Good luck Cate. So glad that this is becoming a mainstream issue. The acceptance of racing amongst the community is more apathy than a desire for cruelty, I think. If we can get the discussion happening, and the facts out there, many people would be appalled at what goes on during a race, not to mention behind the scenes.
April 5th, 2012 at 3:16 am
Great to see attention on this issue – great work from the RSPCA to get the research done and fantastic Notice of Motion Cate. Please keep us posted as to how you go.
April 5th, 2012 at 11:47 am
I’m sick to death of pain inflicted on these and many other creatures. We are all a little more enlightened now. It’s not necessary. Greedy and callous to think more money can be won by beating the horses inappropriately and in often the wrong places. If no whips at all, horses are still going to win. Follow Norway, ban the whip even if it is 30 years later.
April 5th, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Well done Cate! This industry is still back in the nineteenth century along with bear and bull baiting.
No-one would whip an animal in the street- as apart from it being a hideous thing to do -they would instantly be accosted by unhappy members of the public and then had to face the law – so how is it so utterly different on a racetrack?
What is so special about the plot of land designated a racetrack that such cruelty is ok within that boundary?
– could a member of the public just pick up a whip within that boundary and start hitting animals?
No, the very idea is ridiculous – so it should have occurred to anyone with a modicum of common sense/compassion that treating horse racing as a law unto itself which allows whipping of certain animals ONLY by certain people ONLY -prohibited elsewhere – is a nonsensical idea whose time has well and truly gone!