" Cruelty " Exposed !

This is the height of the horse racing season. The weekend saw the running of the Caufield Cup in Melbourne and in Sydney the Everest breaks new ground when it is billed as the richest race in the world - on turf.  On the first Tuesday in November the nation will stop to watch the running of the Melbourne cup.

The winning horses in these events become celebrities.  If asked, ordinary Australians can usually rattle off the names of a dozen Melbourne cup winners going back over many decades and starting with Phar Lap.   In fact, past winners are usually paraded in the Melbourne street event that precedes the running of that famous race.

Unfortunately, not every horse is destined to become a celebrity.  Some show early promise and then fade away as the competition stiffens and even winners age and are withdrawn from racing.  Viewers got a sharp shock when an ABC investigation went to air with scenes of almost unbelievable cruelty as terrified horses were being beaten and kicked by workers at Meramist abattoir in Queensland.

It is simply a fact of life that the death of most old hoses comes to an end in an abattoir or a knackery where their hides are used in the leather trade and their residue becomes an ingredient in the pet food industry.  Very little is wasted  and they feature heavily in the glue preparation industry.

We like to think that the magnificent animals we watch on the race track are put out to pasture when they age.  We picture them in a new identity, perhaps as riding horses for children, but at least given the peace to crop grass in a pleasant paddock on a farm somewhere.   That Queensland abattoir is known to receive more than four thousand  race horses for processing each year and there are similar operations present in other states.

Unfortunately, Australia has a horse problem.  We call them " Brumbies " but they are wild horses that escaped when their species was brought to Australia and now great herds are wrecking the high country by transferring weed growth and caving in the banks of streams.  Some are in very poor condition because the feed can not sustain their numbers and yet methods of culling are subjected to laws that prevent a sensible action programme.  Many will face an agonising death from malnutrition unless a number reduction solution is found.

That ABC disclosure of cruelty to horses brought a strong public reaction.  Legendary trainer Gai Waterhouse proposes that we need what is really a " superannuation plan " for race horses.   She suggests that one percent of prize money be set aside to provide comfortable retirement when a horse retires from the race track.   Unfortunately, that would only apply to a very few horses who achieve fame and would do nothing for the many destined to never win a race in their lifetime., nor would it be applicable to those " Brumbies".

It is quite possible to handle horses - and in fact all manner of animals - through abattoirs without the cruelty shown in that ABC disclosure.  Perhaps it needs the presence of an animals ombudsman at such facilities to oversee the methods used and to arbitrate on standards that are applicable.   It seems that we humans have a tendency to treat whatever we dominate harshly unless a code of conduct is imposed.

That does underline the need for a free press to bring such matter to public disclosure.  That cruelty to horses would go unchecked without a journalist recording the event and his or her employers having the courage to air it in the public domain.  That is a form of freedom that some wish to curb.  Where ever that has been allowed to happen, personal freedom in its other forms is usually quick to face restrictions.