13.09.2024
Melbourne – Following reports that horses were punched and struck by projectiles during a violent clash between Victoria Police and protesters in Melbourne’s city centre, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sent a letter to Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police Shane Patton urging the force to phase out the use of horses by ending breeding programmes and retiring the horses currently being used.
During Wednesday’s violent confrontation, which erupted outside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, anti-war protesters hurled projectiles at mounted officers. “Unlike human police officers, equines don’t choose to serve but are thrust into unpredictable circumstances in which they may be subjected to violence,” writes PETA Senior Policy Advisor Mimi Bekhechi.
The letter notes that horses are prey animals – meaning they have a strong natural flight instinct. It is nearly impossible for them to become desensitised to loud noises and crowds, no matter how well trained they are. This is especially true when a situation escalates to physical attacks, making police use of horses risky for humans and animals alike.
“Animals are living, feeling individuals, not police equipment, and horses deserve to live free from the stress they’re subjected to when steered through large, agitated crowds in a busy capital city with a human on their back, only to become victims of abuse,” concludes Bekhechi.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.au and follow the group on Facebook and Instagram.
Contact:
Sascha Camilli Media@peta.org.au
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