Animal Rising has no plans to interfere with this year’s Grand National

An animal rights charity says it has no plans to interfere with the Grand National after causing mass disruption to the meet last year.

Animal Rising delayed the start of the Grand National by around 15 minutes in 2023 after members attempted to glue themselves to a fence.

More than 100 arrests were made by Merseyside Police.

The campaign group went on to stage a further protest at the Derby at Epsom in June, which led to Ben Newman, one of the founders of the group, being given a suspended prison sentence because the Jockey Club, the owners of Epsom, had been granted an injunction preventing disruption.

Animal Rising issued a statement confirming they had no intention of attending this year’s Grand National which read: “Last year the British public saw through the myths of the horse racing industry as a spotlight was put onto the Grand National.

“We all want to see these horses living happy lives in sanctuaries, not being raced; just as we need to see mass rewilding and a plant-based food system to really tackle our climate and nature crises.”

A spokesperson for Aintree said the racecourse have not been contacted directly by Animal Rising ahead of next week’s event and that they continue to work with Merseyside Police and their own security teams to plan for all eventualities.

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