Some food for thought on the racing industry and boycotting the Melbourne Cup

But unless you're a vegetarian or vegan then you've got blood on your hands regardless.

Because every time you hook into a steak, or a burger, or some fried chicken, or some bacon and eggs, the animal you eat is experiencing exactly the same treatment as the retired racehorses did in the ABC's 7.30 report.

Everyone's conveniently missed the point. The real problem is how animals are treated at abattoirs and slaughterhouses.

Not just horses. But cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and whatever else carnivores want to sink their teeth into.

For people who eat meat to claim the moral high ground by looking down their noses at racing is a massive stretch.

Sure, the racing industry needs to do more to ensure as few as possible of their retirees end up in those places of death.

Sure, they could do some simple things to improve their image like banning the whip completely.

Yep, you heard me. Counting the number of times jockeys use the whip is just ridiculous. And punishing them more severely for breaking those rules isn't going to change anyone's perception of racing and how horses are treated.

But getting rid of the whip altogether removes one complaint people have about the industry.

It's something Racing Australia should consider at next week's board meeting.

One of my colleagues copped some of the down-your-nose-looking treatment the other day when he ordered his latte.

When he went to pay for his daily fix he was stoked to have some cash in his pocket after winning the Melbourne Cup sweep at work.

"If only the horses won too," quipped the barista, who interestingly was still happy to pocket the cash despite knowing where it came from.

I had a quick look at their website - I'll withhold their name to protect the guilty - and couldn't tell whether their coffee was fair trade or not.

Or whether the aforementioned barista was happy to profit off the exploitation of poor people in developing countries: "If only the workers won too."

But I digress.

The popularity of the race that formerly stopped the nation has taken a hit in the wake of the expose that revealed up to 4000 racehorses could be getting slaughtered every year.

That's about 100 times more than the 0.4 per cent the industry claims end up there.

It seems that's been enough to turn people away from the sport, which can be highlighted by what happened at the Cup.

Only 81,408 people headed to Flemington on Tuesday - the lowest attendance since 1995.

TV ratings were also down with 1.9 million people watching it nationally. That's down from 2.5 million last year.

Betting was also down on the race compared with 2018.

There's also been stories of workplaces divided about whether they should have the traditional Melbourne Cup sweep.

Then there's venues who chose not to show the race for the same reason. Now that's their right as a business to decide whether they have the race on or not.

But interestingly one of the places that opted to change the channel when the racing came on also serves meals.

Their menu is largely made up of, yep you guessed it, meat.

Now I don't care what other people eat. I choose not to eat meat. That's my choice. I have my reasons. Everyone else can make up their own minds.

But when people judge others, yet conveniently look the other way at their own failings. Well, I'm gonna judge you for that.

And let's say we do shut down the racing industry, what happens to the horses then?

If some of them are already excess to needs and ending up at the knackers, then what happens to the 100,000 thoroughbreds currently in the racing industry?

How many of those horses is the barista going to look after? How many will the people against the Cup sweep take into their suburban backyards?

Or should we tell the slaughterhouse to get the bandsaw running coz they're going to be busy?