The UK animal rights organization Animal Rising made global news in April of 2023 when its members scaled fences and stormed the race track of The Grand National, England's most famous horse race. About 300 protesters took part and more than 100 of them were arrested, many violently tackled by police and physically hauled off. Animal Rising's message: end animal cruelty for entertainment! Animals are not here for our entertainment and have no say in whether they wish to partake in this dangerous and often deadly activity. “This horrific ‘sport’ continues to take lives right in front of our eyes. It’s time to BAN this horrific industry,” an Animal Rising spokesperson declared, pointing to the fact that 4 horses died during the three-day event. According to the BBC, "The Grand National, among the biggest occasions on the British sporting calendar, is regarded as one of the most dangerous horse races in the world because of the size of the fences." Animal Rising's Ben Newman told the BBC, "The real reason the horse was running the race was so that people could bet on the horse, the jockeys could make money and so people could have a fun day out, and that doesn't seem like a good enough reason to put an animal in harm's way. We disrupted the race for two reasons. One was to stop the race to stop a horse dying. Two, to have a conversation about our broken relationship back to animals."
To learn more, visit: https://www.animalrising.org