Please help stop race horses being whipped Campaign Response

Thank you to the many constituents who have recently go in touch with me regarding Early Day Motion 135 calling for an immediate ban on the use of the whip in racing.

As a rule, I do not support Early Day Motions as they often do not get debated and have no legislative effect. I believe change can be driven better through the other democratic processes available to us in Parliament.

I agree that the irresponsible use of the whip is unacceptable. The British Horseracing Association (BHS), the governing and regulatory body for the sport, requires that whips used in horse racing must be used responsibly, for safety reasons or only to encourage the horse.

The current BHS policy on the whip was drawn up in consultation with animal welfare groups, such as World Horse Welfare and the RSPCA. The latest rules include a threshold on the number of times the whip can be used before racing stewards can consider an inquiry. If the rules are broken, the jockey may be banned from racing for a certain period of time depending on how serious the offence is.

The Horse Welfare Board’s five-year Horse Welfare Strategy published in February 2020, contains 20 recommendations for improving horse welfare. It recommends that, as a minimum, the penalties for misuse of the whip need to increase and that the BHA should conduct a consultation on the use of the whip. As well as seeking views on the appropriate sanctions for misuse of the whip, it also recommends that the BHA uses the consultation to consider whether the use of the whip for encouragement should be banned or retained and whether the rules that restrict the use of the whop for encouragement need to be changed.

I know that the consultation process was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, a new timetable will be agreed at an appropriate time in the future and I look forward to seeing the outcomes of this consultation. In addition to sanctions from the sport, using the whip indiscriminately on horses could lead to a prosecution under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act, which makes it a criminal offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal.

You may also be interested in a previous post I have done on Animal Sentience.

https://cherilynmackrorymp.blogspot.com/2021/02/time-is-running-out-to-protect-animal.html

If you would like to discuss this further or any other matter, then please do not hesitate to contact me.

cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk