Prime time investigates horse cruelty

I don't think there's any issue with the national broadcaster shining a light on whats going on here. It's not their fault that this goes on. It's hardly a government conspiracy either to try and give up our "culture" - the could defund horse racing any time they like.

The type of attitude in your post is exactly why this type of behaviour happens and continues in al walks of life.

Any right minded individual wouldn't be making excuses for what came up in that programme or pointing people to "look over there - they are worse" etc etc…..

They'd be asking why its happened, what controls have broken down to allow it to happen, looking for a criminal investigation and asking how they might stop it happening again.

Horse meat is sold as equine beef? I always thought 'beef' lately or least cheaper beef tasted different or funny. Maybe this is the reason.

They'd be asking why its happened, what controls have broken down to allow it to happen, looking for a criminal investigation and asking how they might stop it happening again.

Truth is no one cares. Apathy is the emotion that sweeps over everyone on these things. People eat meat and they know the animals are abused but out of sight out of mind. Most who seen the programme will mention it today in work and then it will never be spoken of again. Just the way it is.

I don't understand your point about RTE here. Are you saying that since they show horse racing they shouldn't investigate? Or that they should stop showing racing as soon as they start investigation?

can you imagine the uproar, the claims of left wing wokeness, if RTE cancelled all racing coverage because a few journalists said they found instances of bad treatment?

you want RTE to be the judge and jury?

this show has done great work in highlighting what could be a major issue in the industry. There are serious questions for the industry, and government, to answer. This show highlights these issues, drags them into the mainstream and starts the conversation.

Up until last night this was an area that the vast majority or people didn't know about, and probably never even thought about. Now far more people are aware and it begs questions to be asked.

Well done RTE.

Todays news....tomorrows fish and chips....

Please RTE tell me what to be at outraged at next week and the week after....

No one will talk about this ever again tmw.....

This thread will die a death and be ground into a boards burger....

true, outrage seems to affect us for 24 hours and that's it. Once it doesn't affect us personally meh

I didn't watch the programme as I don't need more images of cruelty in my head - 30 years ago I did a project in school about the shipping of horses abroad for slaughter in horrific conditions, and those photos haven't been forgotten.

What I do know is that Ireland has plenty of legislation around animal welfare, but very little enforcement.

Loads of info on https://animallaw.ie/

You said it was virtue signalling.

I'm asking you what way they should have done it. Should they have ignored it completely, because it may cause them some commercial issues? Or should they have immediately cut all talk of horse racing and other horse events based on what they have uncovered without bringing it to a wider audience and letting the government and public discuss it?

Horse racing will be here to stay if the public decides that despite the issues brought up yesterday their enjoyment of the sport tops the issues the issues that were raised. RTE are merely bringing a product to the public that they continue to want.

You are blaming RTE, it's the horse racing punters that are to blame, and the rest of the public. We will either demand changes to be made or we won't. If the public no longer accepts horse racing then RTE will stop showing it as there won't be an audience and without an audience there won't be advertisers.

It would have been far easier for RTE to say nothing, and protect the commercial side of a business that is under increasing commercial pressures. What they have done is be able to separate that out and bring a serious public interest story into the public domain.

This.

Horse Racing Ireland will bring out the highly respected trainers who will acted shocked and upset claiming they don't know anything about this sort of thing etc.

Defund the cnuts now.

If the expose about the greyhound meat grinder is anything to go by all that will happen is a few self regulatory policy papers will be written and the government will give more of our money to the horse racing industry just like it did to the greyhound mincers.

Been saying it for years. Nobody cares less about horses than those who work in or get "entertained" by the horse racing industry.

I only caught the last 5 minutes of the documentary last night, but it's a bit rich of RTE highlighting this now. They've been horseracing's biggest underwriter for years. Always grinded me how much they would celebrate Colm Murray and "what he did for horseracing". Horseracing? You mean that rigged, socially acceptable money-moving mechanism that couldn't give a flying fck about horses?

Disclaimer: I do find horse racing horrifically boring to watch.

It is popular and profitable, and so long as that is the case your opinion and the hopes of shutting down a multi million industry counts for nothing.

I think if anything the greyhound industry may go to the wall in the future as doggy men and followers age out and new blood may not take it up, but there's no royalty or Arab sheiks in that game and the money is loose change compared to horses.