On the 4th of November 2014 during the Melbourne Cup, two racehorses died. The first was Admire Rahkti, a Japanese trained and bred horse, tipped to win the Melbourne Cup and the second Araldo, a horse put down after being breaking his leg. Just last year in 2013, another racehorse by the name Verema shared a parallel fate to that of Araldo. 

This is unacceptable. The culture and tradition of the Melbourne Cup must be stopped. It is an event fuelled by greed and money-minded imbeciles. I myself bet $100 on the now deceased horse Admire thinking it was a harmless and amusing way to try and win some money. I was utterly wrong and am ashamed to have done so. However that money was not wasted, it opened my eyes to what was really happening here.  

According to an article by Alice Dickman, referencing Healey, J. (2011), 18,000 horses are bred in Australia every year for the sole purpose of becoming a racehorse with approximately 12,600 of these being brutally discarded. Ward Young from the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses also claims that. 125 horses lost their lives on Australian racetracks from Aug 2013 - July 2014.

I am requesting the Victorian government initiate a ban on all horse racing. This will send a strong message to the rest of Australia’s state parliaments to pass similar laws. I plead that anyone who has a good heart and does not believe animals should be treated like this, sign this petition. If you would like more eye-opening information, follow the link provided. 

Thank you,
Rahil Chadha – Law Student at Monash University