Andrea Dawkins MP | Greens' Animal Welfare spokesperson
The Greens commend the RSPCA for their position to ban whips in horse racing industry, as a matter of priority. Banning the whip is a solid first step to making the industry more humane.
We hope the State’s Racing Minister, Jeremy Rockliff, who is also responsible for the welfare of our animals, will listen to the RSPCA and ban whips in Tasmania.
On Melbourne Cup Day, we need to acknowledge the ‘race that stops a nation’ is currently laced with open cruelty, just like all others. Festivities shouldn’t come at the expense of animal welfare.
There are many people who are deeply uncomfortable celebrating Cup Day because of the open cruelty of the whip during the race.
Whipping animals is disgusting and should not be an accepted part of any entertainment industry.
There are heightened public expectations around animal welfare and that should be reflected in law.
In November last year, the Greens called for whips to be banned on Tasmanian pacing tracks. We believe a whip ban should apply to both codes, and is the first step to reforming the racing industry.
The Greens will always be a voice in State Parliament standing up for the animals at the centre of the industry and calling for welfare reform in all forms of racing.
Animal welfare is of great concern to many Tasmanians, and practices like whipping are no longer considered acceptable. We hope the Liberals heed the RSPCA’s call to ban the whipping. It’s well past time.