I am posting today in response to some strong feelings I have regarding the Grand National. To me, all that the Grand National is and represents are quintessentially wrong. I posted how I felt in a short sentence on twitter and received comments from a number of people whose beliefs were quite the contrary to my own. I do respect that everyone is entitled to an opinion but struggle to understand some of the beliefs people come to have, in many cases I have found them to be quite contradictory and am bemused as to how they came to their conclusions. Many people believe there is nothing at all wrong with it and it is, and I quote 'All good fun'. I have however found most of those people don't acknowledge the cruelty aspect as thats easier to sweep under the carpet and forget about.
As an animal lover, I can't imagine putting my pets at risk. They are to me like members of my family, and I could not imagine purposely putting them in a position of danger. Not least for my own entertainment and potential monetary gain. I have friends who are absolutely devoted to their horses and some I would go as far as to say would most likely risk themselves before their animals. People who have responded to my tweet have commented on the love and care these animals receive prior to a race, saying that it is second to none. And that they have the best possible life. From my own perspective it seems an odd philosophy to think its okay to treat an animal well and respectfully before you essentially send it into the snake pit? Is this not a bit of a double standard? 'I love you, but I'll risk your life if it means I will gain from the small possibility of you winning'. To me, sending your horse out to race when you have said how much you love and care for it is a similar ideology to sending your 2 year old out to play with the traffic. Perhaps this is crudely put but an accurate analogy. If you love another being, you don't put them in harms way. Isn't this human instinct?
It is alleged that in the 2011 Grand National 3 horses died. Those are only those recorded on the actual track. The final count cannot be truly know as some died after leaving the track from their injuries, from which they were later shot. Two of these horses died instantly at a fall on the fourth gate from a fall to the neck. The second of which they tried to treat from behind a green screen to shield it from spectators views but were unfortunately unsuccessful. Do the onside spectators not appreciate the cruel spectacle they are watching unfold as a horse, that is so apparently 'dearly loved' falls to it's death? It's almost as if ''Its okay to watch while we all cheer but when a horse falls, please shield me from it as that is something I shouldn't have to acknowledge in the process''. Seemingly this is 'okay', because its all in the name of entertainment.
There are so many issues in my mind that make the 'sport', in my mind a 'blood sport' so very wrong. I could harp on all day about how this angers me but will most likely just drive any reader nuts. I appreciate my opinion differs to most but felt I wanted to highlight some of the contradictory theories I have had posed to me in favour of this event.
As an animal lover, I can't imagine putting my pets at risk. They are to me like members of my family, and I could not imagine purposely putting them in a position of danger. Not least for my own entertainment and potential monetary gain. I have friends who are absolutely devoted to their horses and some I would go as far as to say would most likely risk themselves before their animals. People who have responded to my tweet have commented on the love and care these animals receive prior to a race, saying that it is second to none. And that they have the best possible life. From my own perspective it seems an odd philosophy to think its okay to treat an animal well and respectfully before you essentially send it into the snake pit? Is this not a bit of a double standard? 'I love you, but I'll risk your life if it means I will gain from the small possibility of you winning'. To me, sending your horse out to race when you have said how much you love and care for it is a similar ideology to sending your 2 year old out to play with the traffic. Perhaps this is crudely put but an accurate analogy. If you love another being, you don't put them in harms way. Isn't this human instinct?
It is alleged that in the 2011 Grand National 3 horses died. Those are only those recorded on the actual track. The final count cannot be truly know as some died after leaving the track from their injuries, from which they were later shot. Two of these horses died instantly at a fall on the fourth gate from a fall to the neck. The second of which they tried to treat from behind a green screen to shield it from spectators views but were unfortunately unsuccessful. Do the onside spectators not appreciate the cruel spectacle they are watching unfold as a horse, that is so apparently 'dearly loved' falls to it's death? It's almost as if ''Its okay to watch while we all cheer but when a horse falls, please shield me from it as that is something I shouldn't have to acknowledge in the process''. Seemingly this is 'okay', because its all in the name of entertainment.
There are so many issues in my mind that make the 'sport', in my mind a 'blood sport' so very wrong. I could harp on all day about how this angers me but will most likely just drive any reader nuts. I appreciate my opinion differs to most but felt I wanted to highlight some of the contradictory theories I have had posed to me in favour of this event.
''I love you, now go and run''