Paul Byron Shoes is being urged to stop sponsoring horse racing.

The call follows the confirmed death of 7-year-old horse General Hubble who unseated jockey Jack Kennedy in the "Paul Byron Shoes Handicap Chase" race at Roscommon racecourse on 5 August 2025.

View footage of the race showing horses being whipped towards the finishing line
https://youtu.be/O9IpOrO6ZcE?t=365

In an appeal to the company, we pointed out that horse racing is responsible for much suffering and death. 

Further to a parliamentary question from Paul Murphy TD to the Minister for Agriculture, Horse Racing Ireland released statistics showing that over 1,300 horses have lost their lives at racecourses and point to point races in Ireland since 2012. Horse Racing Ireland previously revealed the method of killing to be either lethal injection or a bullet in the head.

The national death figures do not include the horses injured at racecourses, taken away and later killed elsewhere or the horses killed behind the scenes because they are not fast enough to win races.

Many race horses are killed in slaughterhouses. Between 2016 and 2023, 15,658 thoroughbred horses were slaughtered at “Department-approved slaughter facilities” in Ireland.

In 2024, 919 horses were slaughtered in Ireland (including 647 thoroughbred racehorses), 782 Irish horses were slaughtered in the UK (including 538 thoroughbred racehorses) and 256 Irish horses were exported to France and slaughtered.

Paul Byron management is being urged to watch the documentary "RTE Investigates: Horses - Making a Killing" https://youtube.com/watch?v=ymm0xh3gp7o which shocked the nation with its horrifying scenes of horses being hit, punched, prodded with a pitchfork and terrorised at a slaughterhouse in Kildare. Most of the horses slaughtered at this hellhole were thoroughbreds discarded by the racing industry.

Companies may believe that associating with horse racing benefits a brand. However, the reality is that with more and more revelations about cruelty, doping and killing in racing, this association is more likely to damage a brand. 

ACTION ALERT

Join us in urging Paul Byron Shoes to end its sponsorship of horse racing.

Paul Byron Shoes 
Golf Links Road,
Roscommon,

Tel: 090 662 7270
Email: support@paulbyronshoes.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulbyronshoes/