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Notorious vegan activist Tash Peterson will be banned from all Victorian racecourses in a preemptive strike to avoid protesting at the Melbourne Cup.
The serial provocateur known for his outrageous semi-naked stunts that meat eaters call “animal abusers” received the message from Victorian police last week.
Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam warned Peterson, 28, that she intended to issue the ban unless she was given a compelling reason not to.
“My preliminary view is that it is necessary in the public interest to issue an exclusion order,” she wrote.
“I came to that preliminary position after carefully considering information about you as it relates to the public interest in protecting the integrity of the racing industry at Victorian racing courses and race rallies.”
Notorious vegan activist Tash Peterson is likely to be banned from all Victorian racecourses as a precaution so she can’t protest at the Melbourne Cup
Deputy Commissioner Steendam listed 15 reasons for her determination, and talked about Peterson’s long history of in-your-face protests over the past three years.
“Based on the matters above, I believe that your presence at a particular racecourse may pose a threat to the safety of riders, horses and the public at any of these racecourses at race meetings,” she wrote.
The list included incidents of the animal rights activist harassing Coles and Woolworths customers and diners at KFC and restaurants, often topless or dressed as an animal stained with fake blood.
Other points included Peterson’s pitch invasion during an AFLW game in February 2020 and the infamous Louis Vuitton protest in August 2021 where she smeared her torso with her own menstrual blood.
Tash Peterson (pictured) has a history of outrageous displays in the name of veganism – which has earned her a legion of fans and critics online
Finally, Deputy Commissioner Steendam quoted a radio interview in July in which Peterson revealed her plans to protest the Melbourne Cup.
“Yeah sure, every year until it stops,” she said on 3AW when asked if she would focus on the race this year.
“I’ve been banned from Ascot Racecourse in Perth, so I’m going elsewhere to shed light on the atrocities happening in the horse racing industry, where they’re all brutally murdered once they’re deemed no longer profitable.”
Peterson overcame the two-year ban on Ascot, along with one for Belmont Racecourse, after wearing a t-shirt that read ‘you bet, they die’ at a Melbourne Cup event last year.
“These beautiful, innocent creatures. You bet, they die. You paid for their murder, their blood on your hands,’ she screamed as she was ejected by the police.
She added online after the event: “Melbourne Cup Day celebrates and glorifies animal cruelty, slavery and murder. It is a horrific, outdated and barbaric event.’
Deputy Commissioner Steendam told Peterson she had a week to submit a proposal that would be considered before a final decision was made.
The serial provocateur is known for outrageous semi-naked stunts that carnivores call “animal abusers,” such as this September protest in Sydney.
Peterson said she believed Racing Victoria had asked the police to ban her from the Melbourne Cup.
“I am honored to be such a major threat to the horse racing industry that they are planning to ban me from entering all racecourses in Victoria even though I have never entered a Victorian racecourse in my life,” she said.
“The horse racing industry has been incredibly threatened by animal rights activists because these are the very people who exposed the horrific abuse and murder of racehorses.
“While it is worrying that these bans infringe on my right to freedom of political expression, it is only a clear sign that change is underway.
“In recent years, more and more people are choosing not to fund the cruel, barbaric and outdated horse racing industry.
“Animal rights activists will continue to protest, denounce these industries and eventually shut them down.”
Peterson (pictured, left and right) attended the Ascot Races last year, disguised as a reveler in a lace black dress before donning a white T-shirt that read: ‘You bet they die’
Peterson reiterated her claim that racehorses were routinely slaughtered at the end of their careers, or when they were unsuccessful.
“Race horses are mistreated in many ways: they are used as trading horses and forced to race, they are beaten repeatedly, they are forced to train like babies, are given a toxic build-up of performance-enhancing drugs, and so on,” she wrote online on Tuesday.
“And eventually send them to a murder case where they are shot because they are no longer profitable for the industry.”
Peterson moved to Melbourne earlier this year after being banned from all licensed locations in Western Australia until March 4, 2023.
“I find WA very draconian in the legal system compared to most other states in Australia,” she told 3AW.
“They really hammer me in my activism, they punish me criminally and use the law in a way that shouldn’t be used to try and silence me as an activist.”
Stefania Ferrario fronted a topless protest in Melbourne, beating Tash Peterson (right)
In Sydney, she lay topless in a human-sized meat platter in the Pitt Street Mall as shocked shoppers sauntered past
She now lives between WA and the East Coast and will return in September to protest livestock shows at the Perth Royal Show.
While in Melbourne, she took part in a topless PETA protest at Bourke Street Mall, where she was staged by OnlyFans star Stefania Ferrario, and confronted the city’s famous horse and carriage drivers, one of whom threatened her. ‘beating to death with her camera’.
Then in Sydney she lay topless in a human-sized meat platter in the Pitt Street Mall as shocked shoppers sauntered past.
Peterson claims to make about $40,000 a month posting raunchy content on OnlyFans because her activism makes it impossible to keep a job.
Peterson claimed Perth’s Royal Show ‘glorifies animal slavery, abuse and murder’