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Original poster

Anyone watching the Grand National?

640 replies

PinkLemonadee · 15/04/2023 17:06

Just put it on to see protesters being dragged off the track. Feel bad for the horses in the ring, it looks warm and there's so many people about.

OP posts:
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FranksOcean · 15/04/2023 20:09

Florenz · 15/04/2023 18:46

What would happen to all the horses if horse racing was banned?

Get rescued like greyhounds I would expect and get to live out their days happily grazing in a field well in an ideal world

CremeEggThief · 15/04/2023 20:13

RosewaterBlues, it would be very sad, but IMO, better to let the breed go extinct naturally than continue racing: in answer to what would happen to all of the racehorses if we stopped racing immediately.

I doubt it will ever happen though, as it really is all about the money. 😥

pussycatinfluffyslippers · 15/04/2023 20:13

@Florenz Fewer would be bred. Fewer would be badly bred, more importantly.

foxlover47 · 15/04/2023 20:15

@Florenz ate you seriously believing that crap 😅

foxlover47 · 15/04/2023 20:15

are you

TooOldForThisNonsense · 15/04/2023 20:15

I used to have a flutter on it but not any more. I do think it’s quite cruel

foxlover47 · 15/04/2023 20:17

@twistyizzy 🙌to your post , absolutely agree

dephlogisticated · 15/04/2023 20:18

Enfys1982 · 15/04/2023 17:16

Two horses have already died this week at Aintree. One only this afternoon. It’s fucking cruel and people need to wake up. The irony of worrying about the horses in the paddock but being forced over Beachers Brook is laughable.

Exactly this, but people don't want to hear it, any more than they want to stop eating meat, it's easier to live in denial!

SomethingInTheOrange · 15/04/2023 20:19

dephlogisticated · 15/04/2023 20:18

Exactly this, but people don't want to hear it, any more than they want to stop eating meat, it's easier to live in denial!

Show quote history

This.

viques · 15/04/2023 20:23

Why aren’t they out protesting about puppy farms? Poorly bred animals being sold on Gumtree? People dumping unwanted animals in plastic bags? Untrained dogs attacking people in parks? Kittens abandoned on the sides of roads, in back gardens, outside vets? I bet if they put their minds and money towards it tried they could help eliminate a lot of the real cruelty that animals are subjected to.

ShowUs · 15/04/2023 20:23

but they will never be risk free and as a result horses will die as a direct result. I am OK with that.

Of course you are.

Your life must be pretty boring if the only way they can get their kicks is by getting animals to compete in dangerous sport.

Isleoftights · 15/04/2023 20:24

FranksOcean · Today 20:09
Florenz · Today 18:46

What would happen to all the horses if horse racing was banned?
Get rescued like greyhounds I would expect and get to live out their days happily grazing in a field well in an ideal world.

You haven't seen the TV documentary then, which exposed the shooting of ex-racehorses to be turned into dogfood; and you're not aware of the Sunday Times expose of the shooting of thousands of 'retired' greyhounds, over many years - even now the number of 'rescued' greyhounds is nowhere near the number of 'retired' greyhounds, so what happens to the rest ?

ShowUs · 15/04/2023 20:24

viques · 15/04/2023 20:23

Why aren’t they out protesting about puppy farms? Poorly bred animals being sold on Gumtree? People dumping unwanted animals in plastic bags? Untrained dogs attacking people in parks? Kittens abandoned on the sides of roads, in back gardens, outside vets? I bet if they put their minds and money towards it tried they could help eliminate a lot of the real cruelty that animals are subjected to.

There are always protests about these things and laws have changed around them.

twistyizzy · 15/04/2023 20:25

viques · 15/04/2023 20:23

Why aren’t they out protesting about puppy farms? Poorly bred animals being sold on Gumtree? People dumping unwanted animals in plastic bags? Untrained dogs attacking people in parks? Kittens abandoned on the sides of roads, in back gardens, outside vets? I bet if they put their minds and money towards it tried they could help eliminate a lot of the real cruelty that animals are subjected to.

@viques you aren't only limited to being against 1 thing you know 🙄 people who advocate for animal welfare tend to be against all types of abuse but this post is about the Grand National, not about abuse of puppies.

viques · 15/04/2023 20:25

FranksOcean · 15/04/2023 20:09

Get rescued like greyhounds I would expect and get to live out their days happily grazing in a field well in an ideal world

Show quote history

You do realise that horses need a bit more effort than being turned out to graze in a field?

CremeEggThief · 15/04/2023 20:25

Some of them are, Viques, but this doesn't make the news in the same way as such a high-profile event.

SomethingInTheOrange · 15/04/2023 20:25

viques · 15/04/2023 20:23

Why aren’t they out protesting about puppy farms? Poorly bred animals being sold on Gumtree? People dumping unwanted animals in plastic bags? Untrained dogs attacking people in parks? Kittens abandoned on the sides of roads, in back gardens, outside vets? I bet if they put their minds and money towards it tried they could help eliminate a lot of the real cruelty that animals are subjected to.

They most likely do. Do you not do different things on different days in your life? 🙄

ThankmelaterOkay · 15/04/2023 20:26

Florenz · 15/04/2023 18:51

I got 7th in the work sweepstake. It was more popular than ever this year, they had to run 2 separate sweeps so that everyone could get a go. I don't see horseracing going away anytime soon. A lot of younger colleagues are into it which wasn't the case 10 or 20 years ago.

Havent done it where I work for a few years.

glad I don’t have to dodge it - saying you’d not agree with horse racing makes you a cunt apparently.

Radi0noise · 15/04/2023 20:30

I used to be a hunt saboteur. Some people really hated us. I also was part of the road protests. But it worked.

ShowUs · 15/04/2023 20:31

Horse racing exists because rich white men enjoy it.

1 female jockey is a joke.

The entire sport is an absolute farce made to make rich people richer off of the ill treatment of animals.

You can guarantee that most of those that take part in/support horse racing also support other animal sports like hunting.

CremeEggThief · 15/04/2023 20:31

ThankMeLater, they all seemed a bit perplexed when I told them I couldn't because it was against my beliefs, in the one and only time I was invited to take part in a Grand National sweepstake in 2000! Hope they were just rolling my eyes at me and not thinking I'm a cunt though! 😆

ShowUs · 15/04/2023 20:31

They could make it instantly more humane by having fewer horses in each race, having lower jumps and by banning the whip.

But they don’t because their interest isn’t in the horses welfare.

sparklefresh · 15/04/2023 20:31

It's absolutely fucking disgusting and should be banned. One in thirteen of the horses who started the race today died. It's totally barbaric.

ThisIsNotAmerican · 15/04/2023 20:37

I suspect the Grand National will be banned eventually. Jump racing will be banned by Keir Starmer's government. That is a dead certainty and he is sure to come to power by Christmas 2024.

Labour banned fox-hunting. I hope they bring back some form of licence for all pets, including cats and dogs. So many of those are bred just for leisure purposes and then dumped - look at what happened as Covid subsided. No person should have an animal to exploit for entertainment and I put pet-owning fads in the same category.

All animals should be licenced and the UK should lead the way. Brexit has given us the opportunity to introduce new legislation in this arena. The rest of mainland Europe, Ireland, North America and Australia can continue hunting under their rules but we have a real chance now of standing out above the rest of the world on animal welfare.

We can then start to pick the other countries off one by one and shame them. The UK has some of the best animal welfare in the world and it is time to export our skills to hunting, donkey-labouring, cheese-eating surrender-monkey countries.

FranksOcean · 15/04/2023 20:38

Isleoftights · 15/04/2023 20:24

FranksOcean · Today 20:09
Florenz · Today 18:46

What would happen to all the horses if horse racing was banned?
Get rescued like greyhounds I would expect and get to live out their days happily grazing in a field well in an ideal world.

You haven't seen the TV documentary then, which exposed the shooting of ex-racehorses to be turned into dogfood; and you're not aware of the Sunday Times expose of the shooting of thousands of 'retired' greyhounds, over many years - even now the number of 'rescued' greyhounds is nowhere near the number of 'retired' greyhounds, so what happens to the rest ?

Like I said in an ideal world! Why are you coming at me in that shitty tone