A billboard showing a dead horse lying on its side in protest of horse racing season has been given the tick of approval by the Ad Standards Bureau (ASB). The ruling was published on the same afternoon that Melbourne Cup favourite Admire Rakti died after finishing last in the race.
The billboard by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses shows an image of the injured horse with the tag line "Is the party really worth it? HorseRacingKills.com."
While complaints against the treatment of horses in the racing industry ramp up around the time of the Melbourne Cup every year when awareness is higher, complainants took issue with “graphic” imagery in the billboard.
One complaint said: “The inference that horse racing kills its equine athletes is misleading and very disappointing. The imagery is also graphic and disturbed my 5 year old son.”
Another said: “Consideration should also be given to the owners of this unfortunate animal. If it was not hard enough to loose such a beautiful horse they are subjected to this horrendous image as a reminder of their loss. People should not be subjected to gross images of dead animals whilst driving.”
However the ASB dismissed the complaints over the “graphic” nature of the ad, noting that the horse is lying down, making it unclear whether the horse is dead or alive.
“The Board noted the content of the advertisement and considered that in this instance the material depicted is relatively mild as it is not clear that the horse is dead, and therefore does present only implied violence in a manner which is justifiable in the context of the product advertised,” the ASB said.
While the billboard was voluntarily removed after complaints from the public and the landowner of the Melbourne billboard, the ASB told AdNews it looked at the complaints in case the advert was reinstated at a later stage.
The advertiser declined to respond to the complaints.
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