Britain’s 175th annual Grand National horse race is set to take place on Saturday April 15. The protest group Animal Rising (formerly known as Animal Rebellion), an offshoot of the larger climate movement Extinction Rebellion, plans to disrupt it with direct-action tactics, including activists gluing themselves to the track before the race commences.
The group’s opposition to the spectacle is about much more than the numerous injuries and deaths that horses sustain during races. Animal Rising stands opposed to what it sees as the systemic exploitation of other species which reduces non-human beings to expendable commodities. Crucially, the group also seeks to highlight the inextricable link between the exploitation of other species, ecosystems and the escalating climate crisis.
Animal Rising emerged in the UK in 2019 with a refreshingly holistic perspective, arguing that the systematic exploitation of other species isn’t just ethically unacceptable but also fuels climate change. The group targets animal farming and fishing as particularly devastating devourers of “ecosystems and lives”. Their repertoire of non-violent direct-action tactics include blocking meat and dairy aisles in supermarkets. In 2019, 400 activists occupied the Smithfield meat market in London for 18 hours.
