Taylor Swift canceled her planned performance at the Melbourne Cup, in Australia, after the outcry of her fans to protest the way the horses are treated.  The show was set for November 5, during the so-called “the race that stops a nation”, which happens in the same time as the US Breeders Cup classic. She was scheduled to perform 2 tracks of her newest album “Lover”, according to NME.

The 29-yer-old pop-singer was pressured by her fans and animals’ rights activists in order to cancel the concert. According to Spin, that was her only concert schedule in Australia for the rest of the year. The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses posted the following message on their Facebook page as soon as Swift was announced for the festival, “Taylor Swift has put money before compassion by agreeing to perform at the 2019 Melbourne Cup”.

Only 10 days ago, she had been confirmed to be performing in the race. In a statement, Swift had said: “I can’t wait to come to Melbourne, and I can’t wait to come to the Melbourne Cup.” While the Chief executive of the Victoria Racing Club, Neil Wilson,  stated: “To think you can come to Flemington and watch not only the race that stops a nation but sees one of the world’s biggest, if not the biggest, entertainer perform for the cost of a general admission ticket is phenomenal.”

Everything happened thanks to the outcry of fans and animals’ rights activists alike, arguing that 6 horses have died in the last 6 years, including last year’s race, in which an animal had to be euthanized on the track, after fracturing its shoulder.

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses instantly requested everyone’s support through Social Media launching the campaign #NupTheCup, adding the message “Horses are being killed for gambling profits and entertainment. If Taylor Swift cares at all about other animals the way she appears to care about cats, she will cancel her show and make a strong statement that animal abuse is unacceptable.”

The response from both the booking agency and the Victoria Racing Club, organizers of the Melbourne Cup, didn’t mention the incident. According to music booking agency Mushroom Events’ it was all due to a scheduling issue “Regrettably, Taylor is no longer able to make it to this year’s Melbourne Cup”, according to their spokesman, Michael Gudinski.

While Neil Wilson Chief Executive of the Victoria Racing Club added, “Changes to her Asian promo schedule have made it logistically impossible for her to be here.” And ends his declaration saying that the situation is “disappointing for everyone.

The coalition immediately turned to their Facebook, to respond to the cancelation of the show, “THANK YOU TAYLOR! We are absolutely delighted with the news,” following up with “The pressure on Taylor Swift to cancel her performance was significant. Her fans did not want to see her supporting animal abuse. Whilst the reason being used by the racing industry is a scheduling mix up, it appears to us that she has responded to those calls.”

They were not the only ones celebrating the artist’s decision, PETA reached out to Rolling Stones Magazine stating “Taylor Swift dumped the Melbourne Cup, and PETA couldn’t be happier”.

Moira Colley, part of PETA’s Communication team continued “The event is riddled with horse breakdowns and death and is linked to the bloody horse-slaughter industry, which PETA most recently exposed in South Korea. None of this cruelty is consistent with the kind person we know Taylor to be.”

The whole thing has left Swift without a date in Australia for the current year, and no more concerts for her for a while, she’ll be back on stages on July 2020. She will have a European Tour, between June and July, that will finish in Lisbon, for the NOS Alive festival. Then she will head to Sao Paulo and back to the USA to conclude the tour.

[Total_Soft_Poll id=”19″]