Three horse deaths at yesterday's jump races in Ballarat have highlighted the inherent animal welfare issues with the activity and reinforced RSPCA Victoria's call for this jump season to be the last.
There have been nine confirmed horse deaths during jumps races or trials and an additional three horse deaths during training or following participation in a jumps event this year.
RSPCA Victoria CEO Dr Liz Walker said jumps racing has no place in Victoria.
"Victoria is now the only place in Australia where jumps racing occurs," Dr Walker said.
"The South Australian Government banned jumps racing two years ago, acknowledging it had fallen out of favour with the public who found the number of falls and deaths unacceptable[1].
"Despite attempts from the industry to improve horse welfare, the statistics tell a clear story; horses involved in jumps racing (both hurdles and steeple chase) are four times more likely to suffer trauma than horses involved in flats racing[2]," Dr Walker said.
"This season the injuries that we know about include falls, lacerations, fractures, tendon and ligament injuries, frequent instances of lameness, and exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (bleeding from the lungs).
"This raises another issue around transparency of data.
"There is an urgent need for greater clarity in the reporting of injuries and deaths and to make this reporting publicly available," she said.
