Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) officials were bombarded with abuse and told “kill yourselves now” by members of the public after a BBC Panorama documentary exposed cruelty in the industry last year.
The semi-state agency received a flood of emails when the controversial programme was broadcast on July 19, some of which branded people working for the body “total scumbags” and “a f**king disgrace”.
A HRI spokeswoman confirmed that members of the public also contacted the agency by phone after the documentary revealed that successful racehorses were among thousands slaughtered in British and Irish abattoirs since 2019.
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“Ye are a disgraceful organisation and by the look of it have people working for ye that couldn’t care less about horse welfare only money,” wrote one correspondent. “Unreal what ye people think ye can get away with, yer a f**king disgrace,” he added.
Another man who described himself as a “racegoer and supporter of Irish racing for over 60 years” said he had seen the programme and the “images of those beautiful creatures terrified and abused and killed in shocking circumstances will last with me forever”.
The day after the documentary was broadcast, a member of the public emailed: “U f**king b**tards how can you do this to these beautiful horses? Kill yourselves now.”
“I watched Panorama and you should all hang your heads in shame. Allowing these poor majestic animals to be treated this way is just disgusting. Shame on all of you, the owners and sponsors,” wrote another correspondent.
One woman said she was “horrified” and vowed “never ever will I or any of my family attend a race meeting again,” while another woman who emailed HRI said she was “sickened by the investigation… Shame on you”.
A member of a well-known family involved in horse breeding wrote to HRI and described the documentary as “uncomfortable and disturbing”.
“With what these horses bring to our lives and to the economy, surely it is our duty to step up and provide them with the dignity and the quality of care which they deserve,” she said.
“Can we morally sit back and turn a blind eye to what is happening to innocent horses (of all ages) who are being transported to these places? I don’t think so,” she added.
HRI, which received €76.8 million in public funds last year, also received a number of emails offering to rehome retiring racehorses and complaining that “nobody knows” how to go about this.
However, a spokeswoman for the agency did not respond when asked whether it had engaged with people who had made such inquiries.
“HRI received email correspondence from the public following the airing of the Panorama documentary last July,” she confirmed. “There were also a number of phone calls handled directly through our main reception at Horse Racing Ireland.”
Copies of correspondence received by HRI from members of the public in the three days following the publication of the BBC Panorama documentary were obtained under freedom of information laws.
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