Berkeley Group To Hold Memorial For Horses That Died At GGF

BERKELEY, CA — An animal rights group being sued by the owners of Golden Gate Fields plans to hold a memorial Wednesday at a racetrack parking lot for horses that have died there this year.

The group Direct Action Everywhere plans to hold the funeral at 11:15 a.m. at the track's south parking lot at 420 Gilman Ave. in Berkeley.

The group points to the deaths of two horses that died last week, one during a race that was livestreamed by the track.

Nine horses have died at the track this year, according to the group's announcement Tuesday about the memorial.

"Records held by the California Horse Racing Board indicate that deaths are becoming more frequent at the track since 2020, when 27 horses were killed before Berkeley City moved to temporarily close the track after their COVID outbreak," said Almira Tanner, the group's lead organizer.

"We want the cities of Albany and Berkeley to take those same actions now to save these horses."
The owners of the track filed suit March 9 against the group over its protest earlier last month that owners claim forced them to cancel one race and postpone six others.

The four defendants named in the suit allegedly climbed a fence to lay down on the track while connected to each other via PVC or metal pipes, a technique known as the "sleeping dragon."
The suit claims the group intentionally trespassed in order to interfere with the track's business and endangered horses and employees by doing so.

In addition, about 200 people were unable to get their scheduled COVID-19 vaccines because the vaccination site on nearby Buchanan Street in the north parking lot of the track was closed for a few hours due to the protest.

Wednesday's memorial will be at the south parking lot.

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