Of Lambs and Racehorses: Where the Animal Rights Movement is Wrong

Last week my attention (and that of many other social media users) was drawn to a recent campaign by the animal rights charity PETA, which depicted a supposedly recently shorn lamb, covered in blood and held in the arms of a campaigner. The photo displayed the caption "Here's the rest of your wool coat."

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The problem is that PETA's photo is not of a freshly shorn lamb. Its not even a real lamb. It is a plastic replica. It does not even accurately display what a shorn sheep looks like... Unless something absolutely terrible happened. Even with no knowledge of the agricultural industry it would be logical to assume that cutting an animal when harvesting its wool is a bad idea, even looking purely at financial profit and considering the cost of removing bloodstains from wool.

I'm not going to pretend that the farming industry is perfect. It's not. Nothing is. Yes there are farmers out there who are pretty incompetent and would have been sacked if they were employed by someone else. There are those who make a loss every year not purely because of bad prices but because they lack animal husbandry skills, land management knowledge and business sense.

The UK farming industry has some of the best levels of animal welfare of any country in the world. Producers are tightly regulated to ensure that the housing and veterinary treatment of animals are exemplary. The UK pig industry has long suffered financially because the welfare restrictions posed on it were stricter than those in the rest of Europe, meaning that British producers could not compete with cheaper imports.

If PETA really want to challenge the farming industry then they need to look elsewhere. They could donate money to farmers in developing countries so that they are better educated in animal handling and can have access to medication and nutritional knowledge. They could campaign for better treatment of farm labourers. They could campaign to carry out more research into intensive farming, to reduce the incidence of infectious and potentially zoonotic disease and the animal welfare implications of intensively housing animals by farmers who have never done so before, and therefore lack the knowledge of how to do so efficiently. In the UK they could sponsor more research into bovine tuberculosis epidemiology, for the reduction of suffering of both cattle and wildlife.

Consumers could be asked to check food labels and be better educated about faming systems. They could be told that its better to eat good quality meat twice a week than it is to eat cheap meat every day, with no consideration of the conditions in which that animal was produced.

The animal rights movement could work with agriculture in a myriad of fantastic ways to ensure sustainably and ethically produced meat and animal by- products at a time where there is an ever increasing demand for food. They could help ensure that the lives of both animals and humans across the world are improved.

The bottom line is that we all have to eat. Not everyone eats meat but vegetarians consume products derived from animals and it is likely that somewhere along the line vegetables and grains eaten by vegans have been fertilised by farm animal manure or have been incorporated in a livestock- arable rotation.

We all have to wear clothes (sorry nudists- even you when in public places). When it comes to clothes its a good idea to remember that natural fibres do not rely on petroleum and its chums for their production. Jumpers made from British wool are far less likely to have used underpaid and poorly treated workers in their production than a cheap polyester number picked up on the high street.

Yes, I realise that there is some element of snobbishness in my approach. I realise that not everybody can afford to buy wool jumpers or the best meat. However poorer cuts of meat at a butchers shop are better than cheap processed meat from a supermarket, and can be made into casseroles and pies. For those on the lowest incomes, using meters to pay for electricity or working long and unpredictable hours, slow cooking isn’t an option. But for those who can afford to do so, it may be more sustainable and affordable.

The animal rights movement needs to take a step back, look at the real issues facing livestock globally, and work with farmers to ensure that everyone benefits. And ultimately, they have got to stop spreading lies.

Changing the subject slightly, this weekend saw the Grand National at Aintree, the most watched race in the UK, and a prime time for those who hate and wish to ban racing to make their views known.

It is an unavoidable truth that horses die in races. They die in Flat races, they die in jump races and sometimes they die on the gallops. However horses also die on hacks, out hunting, when showjumping and sometimes, randomly in their paddocks. To vilify racing for the death of horses is to overlook the real cruelty that does and has happened in the equine industry where horses and ponies are neglected and abused.

The animal rights movement looks at racing because its in the public view. Because it is associated with the rich and the glamorous, and there seems to be within many of these campaigners an incurable reverse snobbery. Few of these campaigners would kick up a fuss about ponies bought for £5 at auctions, or raise money for rescuing and rehabilitating animals left with overgrown feet and lice- ridden coats. There's no glory in calling for people to stop breeding sub- quality animals.

Racehorses lead lives which most horses could only dream of. They have the best feed and bedding, are ridden by stable lads and jockeys who have passed exams to do so. They see the top vets and physiotherapists and have structured, organised routines.

Of course there are problems within the industry. Thoroughbreds come from a small genetic pool and suffer from conditions such as Exercise Induced Pulmonary Haemorrhage (a disorder also seen in humans and greyhounds, whereby blood vessels in the lungs burst during strenuous exercise, its thought to have a genetic link due to the high number of thoroughbreds tracing back to the stallion Bartlett's Childers, also known as "Bleeding Childers") and have problems with flat feet and gastric ulcers.

The short careers of many racehorses mean that a huge number leave the industry every year.

Here lie the real issues of racing in terms of welfare, the areas where the animal rights movement could really help. Some horses coming out of racing can lead full and successful lives with amateurs or professionals. Many of the very best polo and eventing horses started their careers in racing, and were sold out of it when they were found to be unsuitable. Likewise the hunting field is full of racehorses in retirement.

Six years ago I bought my horse from a racing yard, after his successful career was cut short by EIPH. Today he's a wonderful, multi - talented horse who has completely taken to civilian life. He is my second ex- racehorse and I would never consider another type of horse again.

Racehorses are bred to race, and even now, years after his last run my horse wants to race. Out hunting he likes to be in front, when taken to a parade at Newbury racecourse he quite fancied heading down to the start. Horses are big strong animals and no horse would clear a jump if it didn't want to.

Of course, ex- racehorses are not for all, and suggesting that they should all be taken on by amateur riders is a fantasy. Mine is brilliant but needs no excuse to bite or kick and can be unpredictable and sharp. For every horse like him there are ten or twenty who will never make riding or competition horses, and it is they who pose the biggest welfare issue to racing.

The industry- and welfare campaigners- need to ensure that these animals are humanely and ethically destroyed after their careers. Thoroughbreds make terrible pets and field companions as a rule, and therefore there must be a kind way to put them down. In here steps the meat industry. Further research is needed to see whether or not bute (a non- steroidal anti- inflammatory commonly prescribed to horses, similar in its popularity and frequency of use to aspirin in humans) has any long- lasting effect on humans when they consume meat from horses that have historically been treated with it. There needs to be a clear and sustainable supply chain, and of course there must be a market.

Simply shutting down the racing industry, as these campaigners call for, by banning racing, would be terrible for all. The industry brings billions into the UK economy and offers jobs to people from all areas of society. To ban racing would finish the careers of many who could not imagine or have the skill set for any other work. While the big players in racing would probably find other work or put training and breeding yards to other uses it is the lowest paid members of the industry who would suffer worst. Ironically, stable lads and lasses, small trainers and those who work at the lowest rungs of racecourse hospitality and book- keeping would lose their jobs, completely ruining any class war victory for the campaigners.

The equine industry would be swamped with thoroughbreds for sale, they would be sold cheaply, many would go to unsuitable homes and end up with owners who are incapable of meeting their needs or affording the necessary veterinary care for these sensitive and sometimes accident- prone animals.

It would be a disaster for animal and human welfare.

We should all take time to think of the racehorses who die or are injured racing. We should strive for safer fences, suitable sized fields, safe going and good riding. However we should also bear in mind that for these horses there is no fore- knowledge of death. These horses enjoy racing, they are as competitive as any of their riders and when they die they die doing what they were bred for and what they live for.

Our worries- and those of the animal rights movement- are better spent on the horse that crosses the line last, and the horses and ponies who would never make television, stuck as they are in poor conditions and with uneducated owners.