By Bren O'Brien
Racing Victoria has ramped up its Equine Welfare Strategic Plan with a $25 million commitment to the welfare of retired racehorses, while it has confirmed it is already engaging with breeders on how to reduce the quantity and improve the quality of the current thoroughbred foal crop.
The welfare of retired racehorses has been brought into sharp focus after the ABC's 7:30 recently screened a report which depicted a number of horses ending up at knackeries and abattoirs and highlighted incidents of mistreatment.
There have been a number of initiatives put forward by the thoroughbred industry to safeguard the ongoing welfare of racehorses and Racing Victoria has confirmed it will accelerate and expand its Equine Welfare Strategic Plan.
The $25 million plan involves an increased investment from RV along with an increase in the existing industry contribution from prizemoney from one per cent to two per cent.
“Victoria’s vision is to be a leader in equine welfare practices,” RV Chairman Brian Kruger said. “Whilst the industry has achieved many great outcomes over recent years and has a clear pathway for the future, it is clear we need to step up and do more.
“Victoria’s vision is to be a leader in equine welfare practices... it is clear we need to step up and do more. " - Brian Kruger
“The horses are the stars of our sport and no one will argue that they must be treated as such. The events and stories of the past 10 days have galvanised both public and industry opinion and have created an opportunity to fast track initiatives already planned."
Racing Victoria has called for a national approach towards equine welfare and will support Racing Australia 'to drive a national agenda which provides for world-leading equine welfare outcomes for Australian thoroughbreds'.”
RV's own ramped-up commitment will include a statewide re-homing program, an expanded Off The Track (OTT) Program to create more career opportunities for thoroughbreds who have retired from racing, a new database to register retiring Victorian thoroughbreds to (at least) their first post-racing home, and equine welfare taskforce and a statewide foster program.
There will also be support for a new humane ‘on farm’ euthanasia program administered by registered veterinarians and support for a national responsible breeding campaign.
"There are many challenges to overcome, particularly when the racing industry has no jurisdiction or oversight of retired racehorses, however we are committed to making important steps in the interests of our equine stars and the sport more broadly," Kruger said.
"There are many challenges to overcome, particularly when the racing industry has no jurisdiction or oversight of retired racehorses." - Brian Kruger
“This is not a job that can be done on our own. It requires industry commitment and ongoing support from Government and to that end we again implore the Federal Government to work with its state counterparts to fast track the introduction of a National Horse Traceability Register to assist our efforts."
Reduction of foal crop on agenda
The responsible breeding aspect will see support for a campaign led by Racing Australia to reduce the number of thoroughbreds that end up with no options. Kruger expanded on this in an interview with RSN on Monday.
Kruger said he expects full support from the broader thoroughbred industry for any measures put in place regarding foal crops
"There's been a lot of work done recently with the breeding sector over recent years to look at how we can reduce and improve the foal crop," Kruger said. "We and the breeders understand there is more that can be done to improve the opportunities for every foal that is born and give it the most likelihood to get to the racetrack and race successfully.
"I think we will be aiming for a further reduction in that foal crop. We need to do some work with the breeders to understand exactly what targets and metrics we need to set around that. "
"We need to do some work with the breeders to understand exactly what targets and metrics we need to set around that. " - Brian Kruger
Kruger said he expects full support from the broader thoroughbred industry for any measures put in place.
"I would have to say my discussions with breeders and representatives of the breeding industry over the last week or so, they absolutely understand they have a role to play here in managing the supply of racehorses so that ultimately those that are born have a better prospect of a successful career," he said.
Kruger confirmed that Racing Australia will determine a recommended framework for the funding of equine welfare measures by breeders, owners and sales companies.
However, he did concede that in the short to medium term, horses will still end up at abattoirs.
"One thing we are looking at doing is ensuring those that are responsible for running those abattoirs and those responsible for regulating those abattoirs are doing their jobs and doing them in a way which shows horses are being treated in humane fashion," he said.
VRC starts equine fund
The announcement was made on the same day that the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) confirmed it will raise $1 million to kick-start an equine welfare fund on behalf of the club, beginning with the Melbourne Cup Carnival which starts on Saturday.
The VRC confirmed that 10 per cent of all public ticket sales and five per cent of VRC annual membership fees will be re-directed to the VRC Equine Wellbeing Fund for the care of racehorses.
The VRC confirmed that 10 per cent of all public ticket sales and five per cent of VRC annual membership fees will be re-directed to the VRC Equine Wellbeing Fund
"We want everyone to know that we are absolutely committed to the wellbeing of racehorses both on and off the track," VRC chairman Amanda Elliott said.
"We fully endorse and commend the announcement made today by Racing Victoria of the investment of $25 million to support the fast-tracking of the industry’s off-the-track initiatives.
"’We are pleased to support the industry with our own substantial fund."
