Four ways to celebrate ‘Cup Day’ without hurting horses.

Beaten with whips, dying on tracks and slaughtered in knackeries – horse racing is nothing to celebrate for horses (and the people that love them!). If you’re one of the many people outraged by the routine cruelty in horse racing, the good news is there are plenty of ways to celebrate compassionately for horses this ‘Melbourne Cup’ day.

1. Join CPR’s horse-friendly festivities

Our friends at the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) are hosting their eigth official Nup to the Cup event on November 7!

• Plant-based food and drinks available for purchase ✔️
• Dress to impress and race yourself ✔️
• Prizes ✔️
• Bands and DJs ✔️
• Show racegoers that kindness is more fun than cruelty ✔️

RSVP at the Facebook event page: Farshans on the Field.

2. Head to one of the many other ‘Nup to the Cup’ events

As more and more people are becoming aware of the sad reality for horses trapped in this industry, the number of ‘Nup to the Cup’ events being held around Australia is increasing too! Instead of supporting gambling and animal cruelty, these events are held to raise money to help horses and animals through advocacy and rescue. Check out the ‘Nup to the Cup’ event listing here.

3. Organise sweeps, but with a kind twist

Many workplaces and even schools have sweeps on race day or place bets in other ways. Why not convince your work or schoolmates to put their dollars towards helping animals this year instead of betting on cruelty?

You could all pitch in a few dollars, draw a name out of a hat to win a box of animal-friendly treats or another prize, and then donate the rest to an animal charity of your choice.

4. Host a fancy dress party

If you love to dress up and want to have a fun day with your friends without supporting horse racing, what better excuse to host a fancy dress party… Get your mates together, wear a fabulous hat or pop a synthetic feather in your hair, clink glasses, and voila… who needs a horse race to have fun with friends?!

Thank you for helping to shape a kinder future for horses

Here are some other things you can do today to help them:

• If you love horses — not horse racing — take the pledge to never to bet on horse racing.
• Beyond choosing to spend the day doing something fun and kind, horses need you to speak up for them. You can share information with friends and family by sending them a link to this page: Understanding the background of horse racing.
• You can also let your network know that you’ll be thinking of the horses this ‘Melbourne Cup’ day by sharing the image below. (Maybe along with an invite to your cruelty-free party?)