Should we ban the grand national due to animal cruelty?

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Very funny. Round of applause.

But anyway, no point in arguing. Horse racing won't change, the grand national and all other races with huge jumps will always be. Even if there are little tweaks to the course, horses will inevitably fall and die. So animal rights activists aren't actually going to do anything bar waste their own time.

Reply 61

WhatTheFunk

if you going to ban this, than should we ban all working horses while we are at it? police and army horses
without sounding evil with no heart
racing itself kills about 200 a year, alot more die due to being working horses

some don't make it as racers, but they get looked after the level of care they get is next to nothing, a shame we have seen what can go wrong and the media have jumped on it

but most people eat meat, some of those animals are poorly treated, than killed how can you support that still but be against a sport that looks after its animals

that may be confusing and i am be coming across very evil hearted, i'm no :p:

Reply 62

username547863

The horses that race in the ng are worth more than you will make working 10 years!

Reply 63

username521600

Obviously they should make it as realistically safe if possible, but it shouldn't be banned. The Grand National has been going on for years and years. It is part of our tradition and everyone loves a little flutter. Anyway, the risks are known before hand, and even the jockey's put their lives at risk. And they choose to take that risk, so let them.

Reply 64

yesioo

If you revise the course i.e. make the fences lower then it's like almost all the other races of the year. The reason this is a big one is because it has the highest fences, and is the most difficult. Horses always race an Aintree, the only differences is the jumps.

It'll be revised in the end. I'm not saying I agree with severe revision i.e lowering the jumps but some jumps such as fence 3 do need to be altered.

Reply 65

Aramiss18

I voted for a ban because I dont think it should be allowed to continue in its current format. Less horses and smaller fences (Becher's Brooke is a death trap) then I'm all for it.

Reply 66

username533239

You don't ban wars because people die do you?

Reply 67

Antonia87

Yes. I hate the ****ing Grand National. Horses die every year or suffer terrible injuries they can never recover from, its disgusting.

Reply 68

george-liverpool94

Jog the **** on I won 3 ton this year

Reply 69

george-liverpool94

Original post by Antonia87

Yes. I hate the ****ing Grand National. Horses die every year or suffer terrible injuries they can never recover from, its disgusting.

wrong if the horse suffers terrible injuries they'll kill it there and then.

Reply 70

username196545

Original post by beccac94

I don't understand how it can be considered cruel because often when jockeys fall off the horses carry on running often till the end of the race. This is out of their free will they know that the jockey is off of them but yet they still decide to carry on running because they love to.

Christ, are you really that stupid?

Reply 71

secret_smile

The grand national is by far the cruelest the horse race.
It is just one of "the big betting events" of the year when people who have absolute no betting knowledge decide to have a punt. Thats the only reason why it maintains it's popularity.
Anyone who knows horse racing properly would never put their money on it. The fences are excessively high, too many horses run it, the best horses don't run it etc.
A lot of people who don't generally object to animals in sports object to the Grand national just because it is excessively cruel.

Eventually it just comes down to the fact that the jockeys and the owners have the choice to participant in such a race. The animals don't. And the animals are the ones who end up dead, just for our entertainment.

I don't see how anyone can try to morally justify it.

Reply 72

The Patriot

Original post by Arcanine

that's what they said about women getting the vote, black people getting the vote, the ban on fox hunting and the abolition of slavery and the slave trade amongst other things.

Reply 73

Aphotic Cosmos

Err, more than a quarter of a billion pounds was bet on the National.

It's not going to disappear.

Frankly Aintree's a ****hole, the people who go there are generally scum and the National itself is dull. We have so many great horse races in this country but the one everyone focuses on is rubbish.

Go watch the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 74

The Patriot

Original post by siwelmail

You don't ban wars because people die do you?

how is this even remotely like a war?

this is done for so called 'entertainment'.

Reply 75

The Patriot

Original post by Samwest1992

Argument from tradition. Holds no weight I'm afraid.

Original post by Samwest1992

Anyway, the risks are known before hand, and even the jockey's put their lives at risk. And they choose to take that risk, so let them.

Who is a tiny Irish bloke to decide that a horse should risk it's life for 'a little flutter'? Yes he can risk his own life, but he shouldn't presume he has the right to gamble (excuse the pun) with an innocent animal's life.

Reply 76

honoris

Original post by juliewho

This! some of the fences on racecourses are excessively high. In normal horse-riding, you're always advised not to go above a certain pace when jumping, so massive fences + excess speed = is just never ever a recipe for success.

is for the winner

Reply 77

secret_smile

Original post by Arcanine

What horse ****....

No but seriously, the grand national and any other major horse race will never be banned. And besides, it's just a ****ing horse. Worse things happen to humans yet these protesters don't care about that. Bunch of morons. Members of animal rights groups and anyone who thinks it should be banned is a deluded, naive ******* who needs to shut the **** up about horses when humans are treated worse in other countries.

Edit: To anyone saying the course should be revised, why? I'd rather see the horses and jockeys trying to jump monumental jumps.
And to the people who are against horse racing or the grand national, do you eat meat? If yes, are you kidding me?

Your lack of compassion is actually quite sad I think.

Why should animals be forced to risk their lives in the name of entertainment?

It may not get banned but at the very least it should be revised so less horses die, surely? I don't see how anyone can argue against making it safer for all involved.

Reply 78

Shan<3

I don't think its ever going to end. I'm a horse rider myself and own an ex-racehorse and I can't speak for the rest of them, but he certainly loves to run! If there was no racing, none of these horses would even exist and if they banned it, millions would have to be slaughtered.
The deaths are awful, but its only because its such a widely publicised race that there is so much uproar about it. If you look at equine sports such as eventing, theres also a significant amout of equine deaths in that, yet nobody talks of banning it.
If your working with horses, theres always going to be a huge risk to both horse and rider when dealing in competitive sports.

Reply 79

Arcanine

Original post by secret_smile

So are you suggesting that any race with tall jumps should be changed? A lot of the excitement the grand national gets is because of the big jumps. If the race was changed a lot of publicity would go and this would mean less money coming in, which is what it all boils down to at the end of the day. And to your first question, these horses have brilliant lives where they're treated brilliantly and you're moaning because some fall and die?

And how can you say you cannot see how anyone can argue against making it "safer" when more people want it the way it is than changed. I just think that people against it are oversensitive and that really annoys me. I mean, go and try to change a situation where humans are treated like crap instead of moaning over a few horses.

Edit: Also look above, where someone who has rode horses. All of her points are valid.