THE British Horseracing Authority have been left fuming with ITV after being left out of a debate over Grand National protests.
The Animal Rising group have revealed their intentions to disrupt the famous Aintree event on Saturday.
The TimesAintree could see some disruption with Animal Rising claiming they have 300 protestors ready to disrupt the event[/caption]
They object to using horses for entertainment and sport and were invited onto popular ITV breakfast programme Good Morning Britain (GMB) to air their views.
But the BHA were not impressed at being unable to defend themselves in the debate and hit out at ITV.
A statement from the group read: “British racing was not offered the opportunity to put up a spokesperson for this debate. We have contacted producers at GMB to request that an opportunity is provided to redress the balance.
“Everyone involved in British racing is rightly proud of our sport and the role it plays in providing an unparalleled quality of life for horses bred for racing. Love and respect for horses underpins the work of everybody in the sport.
“It is recognised by the Government as one of Britain’s best regulated animal activities, and the use of horses in sport when correct welfare standards are in place is endorsed by genuine welfare charities.
“While we respect the rights of anyone to protest safely and legally, we condemn any action which is illegal, especially if it puts at risk the safety of horses, jockeys, officials or the thousands of fans who rightly want to enjoy one of the greatest sporting events in the world.”
The group adds that any “potentially dangerous stunt” which could harm horses was “clearly wrong.”
Animal Rising volunteer Orla Coghlan was the group’s representative who spoke on GMB.
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She said: “We’re trying to do two main things by disrupting this race. We care very much about animals and we’re trying to protect those horses by being there on the tracks.
“Secondly we want to have this public conversation – I’m sure million families are having these conversations around breakfast – so I think it is quite an effective way to protest.
“Also since, I think the year 2000, 50 horses have died at Aintree alone. We’re going to be turning up outside the gates at Aintree at 9.30am on Saturday and we’d encourage any other animal lovers to be there with us.”
She adds that they group had “around 300 people” involved in the protest.
The Grand National remains arguably the biggest horse race in the world and attracts huge audiences every year from across the country.
The event has been running since 1839 and around a third of the UK population is forecast to put at least one bet on this year’s race.