The Cheltenham Festival's most successful jockey, Ruby Walsh, has angered the largest animal rights organisation in the world following comments that he made regarding the death of a racehorse yesterday afternoon.
Our Conor fell at the sixth fence from home during the Champion Hurdle and despite receiving medical attention, the back injury proved to be fatal for the five-year-old.
When asked for his reaction to the news, Walsh, who competed in the race on board Hurricane Fly, responded: "It's sad, but horses are animals, outside your back door. Humans are humans. They are inside your back door. You can replace a horse. You can't replace a human being. That's my feeling on it."
The 34-year-old Irishman's viewpoint has riled People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), whose founder Ingrid E Newkirk stated earlier today: "Walsh's comments expose the true emotion behind horse racing - greed. They are deeply offensive to anyone who has ever loved and lost a horse or other beloved animal companion. Unlike Walsh, horses are not unfeeling but experience joy, anxiety, fear and affection, just as human beings do.
"Unlike Walsh, they are also perceptive and figure things out, as evidenced by anyone who has seen a horse study how to open various barn door latches and then release their friends as well.
"Horses are treated like wind-up toys, their fragile limbs pushed to and sometimes beyond the breaking point, and are overworked to the detriment of their health by the inherently cruel and greedy racing business, where money is king. Every year, hundreds of horses come a cropper and die on British racetracks, only to be casually discarded."
Newkirk went on to call upon Walsh to apologise for his words, saying: "Walsh needs reminding that it wasn't so long ago that people used to deride his fellow countrymen using the same sort of ignorant language, and he'd do well to think a little harder and apologise for his comments."
Fifteen horses have lost their lives at the Festival since 2007, according to Animal Aid.
Liam Apicella
