HORSE RACING KILLS: RALLY TO BAN JUMPS RACING IN VICTORIA

JUMPS TRAINERS -

JUST TAKE A LOOK AT YERSELVES

AUGUST 30 RALLY TO BAN JUMPS RACING IN VICTORIA The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses is in its third year of campaigning for the banning of jumps racing and there is one date this year that we can make it happen - 30th August 2009. After 3 reviews in 8 years (and another one due for the end of the year), the safety changes are not working and will never work because of the inherent danger of jumping and racing. With the statistics for 2009 so far the worst in 35 years, jumps racing has been in the forefront of mainstream media. With 12 deaths already this year, we have managed to ensure their deaths have not been in vain and have received extensive media coverage. Now it is time to drive the message home that we will not give up until jumps racing is banned. We need your help! A rally is going to be held at Sandown Racecourse (only 35 minutes from Melbourne) on the last feature jumps race day for the season to show the Victorian Government that most people want jumps racing banned. We're aiming to have more than 200 people in attendance. This will be the Grand Finale of the jumps racing season, and hopefully the Grand Finale of jumps racing forever! Where: Sandown Racecourse (See Map) When: 11am Sunday the 30th of August, 2009 Why: This issue is so important because it's not just about the treatment of horses, but is a reflection on how society treats animals. We must send a strong message that animal cruelty will not be tolerated in any form. Dress Code: Please dress smart casual and please wear black. Black "Ban Jumps Racing" T-shirts will be available for $12 on the day. Transport: Sandown is only 35 minutes drive from Melbourne, or if you are taking public transport take the Pakenham line to Sandown Park Railway Station from Flinders St Station, Melbourne CBD... Sandown train station is a 2 minute walk to Sandown Racecourse. Other: You must RSVP for this rally at BanJumps.com. An email with final details will be sent to you one week before the demonstration. If you live interstate, there are currently cheap flights with some of the airline carriers, both on the day and the day before the rally. We strongly urge all supporters to attend this event if possible. Everything will be provided on the day. Please try to bring at least 1 friend, family member or colleague. Please download the rally flyer and post it in your workplace, school, noticeboard or anywhere that it can be seen. Feel free to forward the email to your address book this is the time for the Victorian public to take a stand against animal cruelty and provide a loud voice for the voiceless animals. If you are unable to attend the rally, you can still help to bring this sport to an end. You can send a protest email to the Racing Minister at Ban Jumps.com. Some background information: 12 horses have died on the race track in jumps racing and trials this year. The current state of jumps racing presents the worst statistics on record since record keeping began 35 years ago. So far this year there has been 60 races resulting in 35 falls and 10 deaths in Victoria... 2 further horses died in South Australia. Three-quarters of the horses that raced in 2008 have not reappeared on the racetrack in 2009 and are presumed dead. The Racing Industry want people to think that jumps racing is a big industry when it is not. There are less than 35 jockeys in Victoria that ride jumps horses; of the 120 jumps horse trainers, 108 are considered to be hobby trainers as they do not train enough jumps horses to earn a wage. The remaining 12 trainers also trained flat horses none of which were reliant on jumps racing to sustain their livelihoods. With the highest death rate since 1994 and a fall rate twice as high as 2008, the safety changes have failed the horses yet again. It's now time to get down and protest.

Recap On Recent Actions:

Recent weeks have been a worrying time for the jumps racing fraternity as they witnessed another 3 horses die while they make futile claims that jumps racing is safe. Here is a recap on what happened over those weeks:

25th July: Demonstrators held a protest outside Moonee Valley Racecourse and organised for sky writing to take place over a major race on the day. Unfortunately, another horse died on this occasion. We managed to capture the death of Geeorb on video and it aired on most news channels that night, and created much discussion in coming days.

28th of July: In memory of Geeorb, we held a demonstration outside the Racing Minister's office with a tombstone for each horse that has been killed in 2009. At the exact time this demonstration was being held, Dark Disguise was killed at Warrnambool and was omitted from the trial report.

30th of July: After finding out about Dark Disguise at 5.20pm on 29/7/09 due to the deceiving trial report, protesters confronted the Racing Minister during parliament in front of the media and his colleagues. The action was well publicised, receiving the top news story on CH10 and coverage on other news stations.

2nd of August: Racing Victoria held a children's birthday party at Federation Square for racehorse Sub Zero who is 25 years old, so we decided to show our persistence and held a 'child-oriented' peaceful protest to jumps racing. We handed out "Ban Jumps Racing" balloons to excited children which really annoyed RVL so much that they took the balloons off the children in place of their balloons. As we held our protest, yet another horse was killed at Warrnambool.

3rd of August: In memory of Rough Night, another protest was held at the Racing Minister's doorstep to remind him that animal cruelty will not be tolerated.

8th of August: Our dedicated activists in South Australia, pictured below, (who have been holding continuous demonstrations this year) held a very successful demonstration outside Morphettville Racecourse with 41 people in attendance and lots of media. 1 horse fell (Frenzillian) and is believed to be injured. He will not be racing again this year.

9th August 2009: At Coleraine in Race 2, one horse crashed through the wing of a hurdle and did not finish the race. In Race 3, 2 horses fell and another horse lost his rider. One of the jockeys has a suspected fractured wrist. We have been told the horses are OK but we've been told that before.

Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, PO Box 163 South Melbourne 3205, www.horseracingkills.com enquiries@horseracingkills.com