Hoo Farm sheep race row: RSPCA ‘can help’ to keep events safe
The RSPCA has said that it does not endorse sheep racing, but can work with event organisers to ensure it is as safe as possible.
It comes after 50,000 people signed a petition calling for the Sheep Gold Cup and Sheep Grand National to be cancelled at Shropshire's Hoo Farm.
The events, at Hoo Farm, at Preston on the Weald Moors, near Telford, have been postponed after organisers said they had received hate mail and threats.
The animal charity said there could be concern about the races, but also about training beforehand.
Will Dorrell, partner at Hoo Farm, said they would review the situation, and if vets or health officers said it was safe for the sheep, they would bring it back as soon as possible.
Ginny Reid of the RSPCA talking about using animals for entertainment races in general said: "The RSPCA is concerned about the welfare of animals used in entertainment, which is currently a largely unregulated area.
"We have concerns about sheep racing - including the actual races, transportation to and from events and training that may have taken place prior to the event.
"Our main concerns are that sheep are easily frightened and exposing them to a large number of potentially noisy people may be stressful.
"Racing on hot days, especially repeated racing, may cause the sheep to suffer from heat stress. It is important that sheep have access to shade and water and are able to cool off.
"Wearing false 'jockeys' may frighten the sheep and cause discomfort.
Priority
"We are also concerned about the methods used to encourage sheep to run. Many sheep will naturally run to a bucket of food, but we would have concerns about chasing the sheep, or restricting their food to make them run."
Mr Dorrell said: "Anybody who has visited us can hopefully tell our animals are our priority. Many of our staff will work 18 to 20 hour days in order to help care for the animals here.
"Being animal lovers ourselves, we would not continue any activity that was cruel or unfair to the animals involved.
"However, we can only accept criticism to a point, and when constructive comments turn into personal attacks and threats, we have to draw the line."
The campaign against the Hoo Farm races was started by Lambentations, a group that target sheep races across the country.
Previous petitions run by the group have taken aim at Woodditton, near Newmarket, Moffat in Scotland, Llandovery in Wales, and Masham, North Yorkshire.
It is run by husband and wife team Samantha and Joshua Francis and their campaign coordinator Carol Rutter.
