Earlier this morning, 19 arrests were made by Surrey Police, allegedly in connection with the Epsom Derby.
This comes after reports of facial recognition cameras around Epsom Downs Racecourse, alongside the widely-reported abuse of new police powers around the Coronation last month and the Government's push to use the undemocratic “ministerial decree” to overturn the parliamentary ruling on amendments to the Public Order Act [1].
Animal Rising states that police heavy-handedness and intimidation tactics will not prevent a national conversation about our broken relationship with other animals and the natural world. It restates its commitment to protect horses and disrupt the Derby.
Multiple arrests have been made ahead of the Epsom Derby today, leading to criticism over increasing over-use and abuse of police powers. Animal Rising claims that the arrests seen this morning are another example of how the Government is attempting to outlaw all protests and ignore critical societal issues.
Dan Kidby, co-founder of Animal Rising said:
“We are seeing an intensive policing operation to protect the interests of a multi-billion pound industry that the majority of the public, as a nation of animal lovers, recognise as cruel to horses.
A horse dies every other day in racing and billions of animals are killed every year in our food system. Animal Rising will not stop trying to bring these issues to the forefront of the public agenda and demand change."
After the Grand National, a YouGov poll showed a clear majority of Britons thought the race was cruel, a clear voice of public opinion on horse racing. Alongside a 500,000 drop in attendance from 2015-2019, this makes it obvious how this country of animal lovers feels [2].
Animal Rising is a social movement to create a new relationship with all beings and give us a chance for a safe ecological future. The group primarily calls for the transition to a secure and sustainable plant-based food system, alongside a mass rewilding programme.
ENDS
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