SHINING LIGHT ON THE HORSE INDUSTRY
A group of four protestors lying on the track in a “sleeping dragon” maneuver caused officials to push back the start of Thursday's card at Golden Gate Fields in the San Francisco Bay area in Northern California. Races were scheduled to begin at 12:45 p.m. Pacific, and have not begun as of 3:45 p.m. The track feed indicates that the afternoon's first race was canceled, while races two through seven were delayed until further notice.
After a six-hour delay, racing resumed under the lights with the second race run without incident at 7:27 p.m. PT.
Golden Gate Fields borders two cities, with the stable area located in Berkeley and the racetrack, grandstand and parking lot in Albany.
On Friday, Albany assistant city manager Isabelle Leduc said four individuals were arrested without incident at about 6:30 p.m. PT Thursday evening, cited for trespassing, and released. The individuals named were: Omar Aicardi (43) of Modesto, Rocky Ming Fan Chau (32) of San Francisco, James Nicholas Crom (29) of Oakland, Rachel Christina Ziegler (28) of Oakland
Golden Gate Fields posted the following on Thursday evening on Twitter.
pic.twitter.com/AF79dZ0jdo
— Golden Gate Fields (@GGFracing) March 5, 2021
The actions also caused a 2 1/2-hour shutdown of the COVID-19 vaccination clinic hosted at Golden Gate. Nearly 100 local residents had to reschedule their vaccination appointments.
The protestors were joined by a group of about a dozen others demonstrating outside the track, and belong to a group called Direct Action Everywhere (DXE), which has been live streaming the goings-on on their Facebook page.
Spokesperson Cassie King, appearing on the live feed, said DXE was spurred to action by the deaths of three horses during a recent four-week period.
The individuals arrested for trespassing had climbed a fence on the perimeter of the track, and then connected themselves to each other using heavily-weighted PVC pipes in a maneuver called a “sleeping dragon.” They also lit purple smoke flares while in place.
“These beautiful animals live lives of exploitation and abuse for the sake of profit, then they're killed for the same reason,” said Chau. “The public is increasingly aware of the reality of this barbaric industry, and is demanding that we leave it in the past.”
At about 1:30 p.m., security personnel could be seen on the track hovering over the protestors, but didn't take any action against them. An hour later, a tent was placed on the track to shade the protestors.
Golden Gate Fields is a firm believer in the right to protest. However, the current actions of the protesters have forced the closure of the onsite COVID vaccination clinic, and hundreds of people have already had their vaccinations cancelled.
— Golden Gate Fields (@GGFracing) March 4, 2021
EquiSport Photos (Matt and Wendy Wooley)
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