Elio Celotto
Elio Celotto is the founding president of the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) which was formed in 2008. His activism however, goes back much further that started as an undercover worker at a piggery in the early 1990s. In 2006 a chance visit to a knackery in 2006 led to an investigation that brought to light the routine slaughter of racehorses. Since then, Elio has been committed to exposing the grim reality behind the once glamorous facade of racing.
www.horseacingkills.com
www.nuptothecup.org
Horseracing- how long can it survive?
The presentation will start where CPR was first conceived- on an ordinary cold winter’s night on a routine investigation at a Melbourne knackery. Elio recalls, “I found myself in a pen full of mostly racehorses, many in excellent condition. What were they doing here? The penny dropped. I could not help them but I vowed to be their voice and all the horses that would follow them”
After two years of research and planning, CPR was formed.
Elio will give his personal account from the early days of being ridiculed and threatened by racegoers to the present day where ordinary Australians are now saying, Nup to the Cup and horseracing is no longer the ‘sport of kings’.
He will give an overview of CPR’s campaigns and objectives. What worked, what didn’t, what could be done better and what lies ahead.
