Animal welfare advocates address Gordon Elliott controversy: 'The taxpayer is sponsoring this picture'

Trainer Gordon Elliott at a race meeting at Down Royal last year. 'You’d have to ask the question, what kind of mindset would make you do something like that?' asks animal rights activist Katie Corcoran

Animal welfare advocates hope the Gordon Elliott controversy will raise awareness of the treatment of horses and greyhounds in the racing industry.

The photograph of horse trainer Elliott sitting on a dead horse has been widely condemned, and Katie Corcoran of Greyhound Awareness Ireland said yesterday: “The obvious question is this - have we seen what happens behind closed doors, even accidentally?