Bulgaria: Two activists from the international animal rights organization Vegan Strike Group, Christina from Belgium and Peter Janssen from the Netherlands, disrupted the World Cup Jumping competition in Bordeaux on Sunday afternoon.
On their chests and backs were texts against the exploitation of animals in the entertainment industry and for the freedom of the horses.
The activists were arrested by security and taken away from the arena. During these jumping competitions, the horses are required to perform enormously, and they are therefore compared to top athletes who would receive the best care.
However, research shows that equestrian sport is not without suffering. The horses are forced to extreme performances with painful restraints. The Vegan Strike Group believes that horses should not be used for this sports and entertainment industry and is standing up for the animals through this action.
Earlier this winter, activists from the animal rights organization also disrupted Jumping Friesland and Jumping Mechelen (Belgium). The campaign of the international Vegan Strike Group has as its primary goal to stand up for the rights of the horses.
The activists want to make the public aware of the suffering of the horses: the hard training with coercive means, the many means of transport and the unnatural life they lead. The secondary goal is that team NL does not send any riders to the Olympic Games in Paris.
The Vegan Strike Group stands up for all animals in the entertainment industry, such as bulls in the bullring and dolphins and other marine animals in the dolphinariums. In Belgium, the animal rights organization is known for the campaigns for the sea lions in the Antwerp Zoo and for the dolphins in
the Boudewijn Sea Park in Bruges.
Animal shows are outdated and should be banned by law, says the international Vegan Strike Group.
