Berkeley Animal Rights Activists Occupy Golden Gate Fields

BERKELEY, CA — A Berkeley animal rights protest at Golden Gate Fields led to temporary delay of around 100 vaccination appointments, Berkeleyside reports.

The protest was organized by Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), a Berkeley-based animal rights advocacy group, with the stated goal of shuttering the racetrack permanently.

The vaccination site reopened at around 2:15 p.m., The Mercury News reports.

As of around 12:20 p.m., four protesters were on the track at 1100 Eastshore Highway connected by PVC pipes in a move the activists called a “sleeping dragon.”

They lit purple flares as they were lying in place.

Outside the track, people chanted and demonstrated by holding banners.

"It's not entertainment, they chanted. "It's violence," they said of horseracing.

The protesters said they were successful in delaying the horse race scheduled for 12:45 p.m. and were hoping to keep horses from running the race at 3:45 p.m.

Two races are scheduled for Thursday.

The four activists on the track were prepared to be arrested, according to DxE, who identified them as Omar Aicardi, Rachel Ziegler, Rocky Chau and Jamie Crom.

Five horses have died at the track so far this year, including three since Saturday, KTVU reports.

Twenty-seven horses died at the track last year.

Deaths of horses gained more public attention when 23 died over three months in early 2019 at Santa Anita Park in Southern California.

— Bay City News contributed to this report