Queen's Brian May slams the Grand National and shows support for protesters
17 April 2023, 12:54
The legendary guitarist shared a series of posts about the annual horse riding event across the weekend.
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Sir Brian May has hit out at the Grand National and supported those protesting it.
The annual horse racing event took place on Saturday 15th April and the legendary Queen guitarist and well-known animal rights activist shared his thoughts on the annual tradition, which he considers "animal cruelty".
In his first post on the subject, asked: "Should we put an end to the agonies suffered by horses in Grand National ? Tell me honestly. I won’t be blocking anyone who supports the continuation of this race – unless the comments are abusive, of course! For those of you unfamiliar with the Grand National - I’m gonna post some more info following this. It’s a central issue in the fight for the rights of non-human sentient beings to be free of abuse by humans. Tell me what you think. Bri."
However, as the day progressed, the We Will Rock You guitarist's posts became more passionate and he went on to address his followers and show support to the protesters who threatened to disrupt the event.
He said: "I can only applaud their intent to stop something that is basically animal cruelty performed every year for the gain of a lot of people who are already rich."
He added: "How it be possible that to justify a race which is purely for the pleasure of people, which risks the life of even one animal?"
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The 75-year-old rock star went on to share television coverage from the event and criticised the way presenters and commentators were arguing that the horses were well cared for.
He concluded: "I believe questions must now be asked in the House after this particularly black day, as to whether the Grand National should be allowed to proceed. I believe the Grand National will now be condemned to death unless it immediately cleans up its act. The simple act of removing the hurdles from the course would dramatically lessen the danger to all horses. And the sad spectacle of this outdated carnage will be rightly consigned to history. Bri"
The newly-knighted Queen legend is known for his views against animal cruelty of all kinds and has long been against badger culling. So much so, that he insists the band will never play Glastonbury Festival because of it.
Last year, the Bohemian Rhapsody rocker doubled down on his stance of ever playing the festival due to his different views with Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis, who believes badgers to be a blight to farmers due to bovine TB.
Speaking to The Sun back in January, he said: “Would I ever do it? No. As the man who runs it advocates killing badgers for no good reason and I could never level with that.
“Have they tried to book us? I think the feeling is mutual so I think they understand how I feel.”
Talking about his band blood with Eavis, he previously said: “We won’t [play Glastonbury] and there are a lot of reasons for that. One of them is that Michael Eavis has frequently insulted me, and I don’t particularly enjoy that.
"What bothers me more is that he’s in favour of the badger cull, which I regard as a tragedy and an unnecessary crime against wildlife"
He added: “There’s a little bit of a schism there, I wouldn’t do Glastonbury. Unless things changed radically.”
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