PETA Statement re Whipping Ban Overturned by NJ Racing Commission

For Immediate Release:
April 22, 2022

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo regarding the New Jersey Racing Commission’s vote to repeal the whipping ban on Thoroughbreds. The commission cited new rules promulgated under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act—even though stronger rules can be followed by individual tracks.

The New Jersey Racing Commission should be put out to pasture for voting to allow horses to be beaten again. Today, it eagerly rescinded the whipping ban on Thoroughbreds, using the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act rules—which aren’t even in place yet—as an excuse to undo progress and allow jockeys to repeatedly strike the animals it is supposed to protect. PETA urges Gov. Phil Murphy to veto the new rule immediately.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.