COURTING MAGIC

There were hundreds of people following the story of Courting Magic on social media. People believed she was deliberately snuck into the Echuca Auction late in the day so that she wouldn’t be photographed and promoted. After she was bought by Shepp Meats, people became aware that this beautiful mare that had won 10 races and been placed in many more, had been thrown to the doggers. Courting Magic had been retired from racing in Darwin and sent to a stud in Victoria.

When people approached Shepp Meats, they were informed that she was needed for the quota and was already on the truck. As more and more people became aware of her fate, Peter Loffel said he would try to have her removed from the truck. Waiting in great anticipation over a period of days, many people hoped and prayed for her safe release from the jaws of death.

Courting Magic when she was loved

However, other people rang Meramist in a futile attempt to buy her and found that she had already been killed. Mike Eathorne, the Manager at Meramist, thought it was highly amusing to tell people that she would be leaving there in a cardboard box.

The tragic end for Courting Magic galvanised many, many people to fight for change. Ultimately, the actions that started with her have culminated in Shepp Meats losing their Meramist contract.

Her story made brought home the reality of horse slaughter to a large number of people. That this beautiful mare that had done her best by her humans, that had relationships of trust with people, could end up on a French plate is an abomination.

YOU CAN HELP BAN HORSE SLAUGHTER

GREY HORSES SLAUGHTERED

ANOTHER MYTH BUSTEDYou may have been led to believe that grey horses (sometimes referred to as white horses) do not go to slaughter for human consumption. Sadly, that is not true. Horses of every colour, size, breed and age are slaughtered in Australia for human...

DEATH AT HORSE RACETRACKS

HORSE RACING VETS ARE BOTH DOCTOR & DRUGSTOREThe New York Times ran a series of articles on horse racing in 2012. Sadly little has changed since then. Today we're featuring a summary of one of those articles. The title: Racing Economics Collide With...

BLACK CAVIAR

THE EQUINE VERSION OF "HANDMAID'S TALE"The heartbreaking loss of the legendary racehorse Black Caviar, and later her foal, has cast a spotlight on the exploitation within the breeding industry. Black Caviar was euthanized shortly after giving birth to her 9th foal....

WHATABOUTISM

BRUMBY ADVOCATES WE LOVE YOU BUT...According to Wikipedia "Whataboutism" or "whataboutery" (as in "what about...?") is a pejorative for the strategy of responding to an accusation with a counter-accusation instead of a defense against the original accusation.At Meet...

MAKYBE DIVA STAKES

BACK YARD BREEDERS OFTEN BLAMEDTime and again we hear those who support horse racing and those directly involved in the industry claim that backyard breeders are to blame for the large number of horses slaughtered annually in Australia. This claim is used not just...

RACEHORSE SUMMIT XI

1 HORSE DYING EVERY 2 DAYS ON TRACKS IN AUSTRALIA DOES NOT INCLUDE TRAINING OR STABLE DEATHSThe 11th Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit took place in Lexington, Kentucky, USA and focused on how the racing industry in the United States has achieved a more than...