Help End Jumps Racing in Victoria

Five horses have died in the first two months of the Victorian jumps racing season. Help us call for an end to this unnecessary suffering.

Another horse was fatally injured during a jumps race in Melbourne this past week. That brings the full count to five healthy horses who have died during the the first two months of the Victorian jumps racing season. That means that one in every 50 horses that have started in a jumps race in Victoria this year have died!

In jumps racing horses are forced to jump a series of metre high fences at fast speeds. This type of racing is 10 to 20 times more dangerous for horses than flat racing, and many of the injuries sustained during jumps races can be quite horrific.

Victoria and South Australia are the only two states where jumps racing continues. Please help us call on Rob Hulls, the Victorian minister for racing, and Joe Helper, the Victorian minister responsible for animal welfare, to prevent any more unnecessary deaths by ending jumps racing in Victoria.

The Honourable Rob Hulls MP

rob.hulls@parliament.vic.gov.au

The Honourable Joe Helper MP
joe.helper@parliament.vic.gov.au
Parliament House
Spring Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000

Here are a few ideas for points to include. If you use any of these, please rewrite them in your own words.

Inform the ministers that you are writing in response to the death of the horse, Force Nine, at the Sandown jumps races on 04/05/08.
Jumps racing is irresponsible and cruel, as it places horses at very high risk of injury and these injuries can often be fatal.
Even the Senate Select Committee on Animal Welfare recommended that jumps racing be phased out by 1994. Why, after more than a decade, has this cruelty been allowed to continue?
Tell them that Victoria is one of only two states in Australia where jumps racing continues, and his government should follow the lead of other states in banning jumps races.
If Mr Hulls and Mr Helper do not ban jumps races they are acting irresponsibly and are not fulfilling their ministerial roles.
There have been two deaths due to jumps races within the last week. Urge Mr Hulls and Mr Helper to ban jumps racing before any more horses' deaths are on their hands.

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