WE at Exeter Friends For Animals are very glad to see a mainstream discussion opening up at last about the Grand National.

Every year there are deaths on this deliberately punishing and hazardous course, and for too long they have been swept under the carpet so as not to detract from the event's glossy image and – most importantly – lessen the huge profits amassed by the racing and betting industries.

We have kept up a quiet vigil outside Exeter bookmakers on Grand National day for many years, simply asking people to think before they bet. At first, we were largely dismissed as interfering do-gooders, but over the years we have seen more and more people wake up to the brutal reality behind what they are encouraged to see as a "harmless flutter".

Yes, horses love to run, but there is nothing natural about pushing a dangerously overcrowded field of artificially bred thoroughbreds – many of them already prone to injury due to selective inbreeding – beyond their physical and mental limits purely for human entertainment and profit.

Compare and contrast the London Marathon coming up this weekend, for example – an inspiring event with a carnival atmosphere which human beings enter by choice, whether to realise a long-held ambition or raise money for their favourite charity.

Sharon Howe

Exeter Friends For Animals

Fortescue Road, Sidmouth