SAFE Urges Animal Lovers to Buck the Cruelty of Rodeo

SAFE Urges Animal Lovers to Buck the Cruelty of Rodeo

SAFE urges people to steer clear of rodeo cruelty by avoiding the Omahu Valley bullride this weekend.

Investigators at New Zealand rodeo events have filmed bulls being riled up into ‘performing’, with methods including shocks with electric prods, being jabbed or kicked, and having dirt rubbed in their faces. These stressed animals were also filmed trying to climb out of the chutes or falling when forced into the ring.

“Every time investigators visit rodeos they gather evidence showing the severe stress animals are put through in bull riding events. This is animal cruelty purely for the entertainment of a minority,’ says SAFE campaigns manager Marianne Macdonald.

Bullride events involve compelling these animals to buck with a tight flank strap (also known as a kicker), tied around their bodies. Cowboys’ spurs add to their torment. While spectators only see the animal in the ring, it is behind the scenes where much of the negative impact takes place on these animals.

“Despite the reputation bulls have as powerful and aggressive, from their perspective they are prey animals fighting for their lives. They don’t know that this is being done just for ‘fun’. The fear and distress they experience while held in the chutes and then being forced to buck in the arena with spurs and flank-straps, is nothing less than animal abuse,” says Ms Macdonald.

New Zealanders want to see an end to rodeo. Over 62,000 people signed a petition last year calling for a complete rodeo ban, and a Horizon Research poll showed that 59% of Kiwis want to see an end to rodeo. Only 25% wanted this cruel entertainment to remain.

“In addition to the stress caused to the animals involved, rodeo exposes impressionable children to the damaging message that animals exist to be overpowered and used for entertainment. SAFE has serious concerns over what this is teaching to young people,” added Ms Macdonald. “Just as our society is trying to stamp out bullying to young people, caring Kiwis also want an end to the bullying of animals,”

Both SAFE and the SPCA are strongly opposed to rodeo because it causes suffering for all the animals involved. SAFE vows to keep on fighting until rodeo is consigned to the history books. They ask concerned people to email the Prime Minister, asking for a rodeo ban.

Notes

• Omahu Valley bullride is on 25 November.

• High res photos of rodeo are here.

• Footage of the treatment of bulls in New Zealand rodeo is here, showing:

• use of electric prods on bulls
• poking and kicking bulls
• rubbing dirt in bulls’ faces
• bulls falling
• bulls trying to escape

• Information about rodeo events and the animal suffering they cause is here.

• There are more than 35 rodeos held in New Zealand each year, but the number is falling. Last season Richmond rodeo folded, with Huntly rodeo closing the previous year.

Scientific Studies on rodeo

• University of Calgary study of bucking bulls (2016):
http://www.appliedanimalbehaviour.com/article/S0168-1591(16)30142-3/fulltext

This study of 14 bucking bulls, sponsored by University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Calgary Stampede rodeo, showed that some of the bulls showed behavioural indicators related to fear prior to performance.

• Calf Roping study (2016): Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Calves to Marshalling and Roping in a Simulated Rodeo Event, published by the Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics of the University of Queensland.

Funded by an Australian rodeo association, this study concluded that calf roping causes an ‘acute stress response’. The study was not taken into account when the government select committee reviewed rodeo cruelty last year.

ENDS

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