Victory Alert: Cruel Goat Races Cancelled!

Posted on by Ashley Fruno

cute goatFollowing an ongoing campaign by our friends at Animal Liberation New South Wales and action from PETA Australia, the Roma Easter in the Country Festival has postponed further goat racing events until 2015.

This follows the news that Origin Energy and Qantas have withdrawn their support from the festival because of concerns over the cruelty of goat racing.

In the goat races, frightened goats drag carts and child “jockeys” while onlookers yell and scream. The risk of injuries both to goats and to human jockeys is extremely high.

The festival has now confirmed that it will be cancelling the goat races for the next two years and will review the decision in 2015. Origin Energy has confirmed that it will not support the festival while goat racing continues, and Qantas has withdrawn its support, stating, “Qantas shares the community’s concerns regarding the ethical treatment of animals”.

This is a fantastic result, and we hope that the Roma Easter in the Country Festival will enforce a permanent ban on these archaic events.

Posted by Claire Fryer