rodeos | InCity Times

By Jennifer O’Connor

Horses are beautiful, intelligent, sensitive animals. They should not be carted around in 100-degree heat or in the freezing cold in crumby trailers to the DCU Center in Worcester and other venues for rodeo entertainment. IT’S ANIMAL ABUSE!

If horses and cows could follow a calendar, August would be the month they’d dread most. August is the busiest month on the summer rodeo circuit, and many animals forced to take part in it don’t live to see September. A calf recently sustained a broken back and was left paralyzed at a rodeo in Oregon, a horse was killed in a bucking event in Wyoming and a horse collapsed in an arena in Arizona and required CPR, according to an eyewitness. The list of injuries and fatal incidents goes on and on.

More and more people are coming to realize that it’s high time these violent and often deadly spectacles were relegated to the history books.

Animals forced to participate in rodeos are routinely hit, kicked, spurred, slammed onto the ground and goaded into participating in violent displays. It’s difficult to understand the mindset of those who purposefully agitate animals or of those who enjoy watching them do it.

In calf roping, a common event at rodeos across the U.S. and Canada, terrified young calves race desperately out of a chute to which they’ve been confined and often sustain neck and back injuries when the rope used to lasso them
yanks them violently to the ground. A flank strap is bound tightly around the midsections of horses and bulls used in the bucking and bull-riding events, causing the animals to buck wildly in an effort to rid themselves of it.

Animals have sustained broken necks, backs and legs and experienced aneurysms and heart attacks during rodeos. And degloving — when a steer’s tail is stripped of skin — is a particularly hideous injury.

In a sick attempt to broaden their appeal to families, some rodeos are even encouraging kids to abuse sheep in “mutton bustin’” events. Terrified sheep are forced to carry screaming children — who may kick them and pull their tails and ears — all over the arena. These events teach young people to harass, frighten and harm animals for fun.

Animals used in rodeos are specifically excluded from the meager protections of the federal Animal Welfare Act. Many states exempt rodeos from their anti-cruelty laws as well because they don’t regulate “normal agricultural practices” and/or “livestock.”

Most rodeos are self-policing, and it’s essentially a free-for-all. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s “humane rules” are worthless — they are rarely enforced, and when they are, the fines imposed on the participants are so small as to be meaningless in comparison to the big prize money they’re vying for. They also allow devices that inflict pain on the animals: electric prods “when necessary” and spurs, which are supposed to be “dull,” even though that’s contrary to what spurs are.

There are no bucolic pastures awaiting these animals in retirement. When they’re too worn-out or broken-down to continue, they typically get a one-way ticket to the slaughterhouse.

People who care about animal welfare shouldn’t support any event that causes animals pain and suffering. Please steer clear of all rodeos this August – and forever!

By Jennifer O’Connor

A horse stumbles, his leg shattered, his life over. Spectators are horrified, but this isn’t a racetrack. It’s Canada’s annual Calgary Stampede, which “celebrated” its 100th anniversary this month. During this year’s Stampede, three horses were killed and another was injured following a chuckwagon crash. Animals routinely die on the rodeo circuit, but the Stampede’s statistics are particularly grim. Since 1986, 62 animals at the Stampede have died or been euthanized. Of that number, 54 have been horses.

Animals used in North American rodeos are hit, kicked, spurred, slammed into the ground and goaded into participating in violent displays. It’s difficult to understand the mindset of those who deliberately provoke animals for fun or of those who enjoy watching it.

The deadliest events at the Stampede are the chuckwagon races in which teams of horses pull “pioneer” wagons around a track at breakneck speed. Horses have sustained fractured legs and broken backs and suffered heart attacks. A casual observer of the chuckwagon races can see horses foaming at the mouth and their eyes rolling back in their heads. Yet shockingly, riders vehemently opposed a proposal to tighten the rules in hopes of making the races somewhat less deadly.

In calf-roping, a common event at rodeos across the U.S. and Canada, young calves race desperately out of the chute and often sustain neck and back injuries when the rope yanks them violently to the ground. A flank strap is used in the bucking and bull-riding events, causing the horses and bulls to buck wildly in an effort to rid themselves of the constricting band across their groins. During a July 4 rodeo in St. Paul, Minnesota, two horses suffered serious injuries after crashing into each other. One was euthanized; the fate of the other is unknown.

Horses and cattle used on the rodeo circuit are hauled from one venue to the next with little downtime to rest or recuperate. When too worn-out or broken-down to continue, they aren’t retired to comfortable pastures—they typically get a one-way ticket to the slaughterhouse.

Many horses don’t even make it as far as the fairgrounds. A recent Alberta Views exposé revealed that Stampede officials admit that horses who don’t make the cut to compete are sent to a slaughterhouse in Fort Macleod. Terrified horses will have their throats slit in full view of others awaiting the same bloody fate, and their bodies will be cut up for human consumption in foreign markets. The Stampede’s veterinarian claims that the horses can’t be placed into new homes.

Opposition to the Calgary Stampede crosses the spectrum, from animal advocate Bob Barker, who has called for an end to the carnage, to the Humane Society of Canada, which has called for a boycott. Other animal advocacy groups in Canada and the U.S. have also condemned the deadly spectacle. Yet much like the internationally condemned seal massacre, some Canadians are still clinging to the Stampede, a tradition that should have been retired long ago.

People who care about animal welfare should not support any event that causes so much pain and suffering. Please steer clear of all rodeos.

Jennifer O’Connor is a staff writer with the PETA Foundation.