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#SayNoToRodeo at the Calgary Stampede

Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Media.

Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur \ We Animals Media.

Update

The Vancouver Humane Society continues to advocate for an end to inhumane and dangerous animal events at the Calgary Stampede after another horse died in the 2023 chuckwagon races. Read the update.

The controversial rodeo and deadly chuckwagon races are returning for this year’s Calgary Stampede, scheduled from July 7-16.

Learn more and take action to help protect animals from inhumane treatment and suffering in rodeos. 

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Take the #SayNoToRodeo pledge

61% of Canadians are opposed to the use of animals in rodeo. Take the #SayNoToRodeo pledge to reflect your opposition to the inhumane treatment of animals in rodeo events.  

Follow & share “Rodeo Truth“

Check out RodeoTruth.com for more information about the rodeo and chuckwagon races at the Calgary Stampede. This public awareness project is a collaboration between the Vancouver Humane Society and concerned Calgarians.  

To keep spreading the word about why the Calgary Stampede should buck inhumane animal events, follow Rodeo Truth on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok and share the posts. 

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Deadly history

The Calgary Stampede’s rodeo and chuckwagon races have a deadly history, with more than 100 animal deaths since the VHS started tracking incidents in 1986. 

Last year, a horse was euthanized following a traumatic injury during the chuckwagon races; a horse in a bucking event was repeatedly struck in the face when the animal was reluctant to leave the chute; and a steer appeared injured during a wrestling event, when the steer’s neck was twisted by the competitor until the animal fell to the ground. He landed awkwardly on his hind leg and was seen limping away moments later. 

Animal welfare concerns

Rodeo events like bucking, roping, wrestling, and mutton busting are inherently inhumane. They rely on the use of fear, stress, and discomfort (e.g. spurs, flank straps, rough handling) to make animals perform and put them at unnecessary risk of injury and death for sake of public entertainment.  

Animals demonstrate visible signs of stress during rodeo events, including when their eyes roll back to show more of the white of their eyes, excessive salivation, and urination and defecation. Research demonstrates that calves experience acute stress and negative emotional states when chased and roped. 

These events are fundamentally at odds with how we should be handling and treating animals. In fact, they contradict industry requirements and best practices for the handling of farmed animals, which state that quiet handling techniques must be used and that abusive handling is unacceptable. If these same practices were used on farms, they would not be allowed.  

Growing public opposition

Public polling shows that a majority of Canadians are opposed to the use of animals in rodeo. Another poll indicates that removal of the rodeo and chuckwagon events from the Calgary Stampede program would have virtually no impact on attendance rates and would bring in new crowds. There are many other activities and events at the Calgary Stampede that can be enjoyed without putting animals in harm’s way. 

A pie graph indicating 61% on a background of a hand holding a rope used for rodeo

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Media Release

The future of the Stampede is rodeo-free, according to polling of Calgary residents

One of the rides at the fair grounds during the Calgary Stampede, 2017.

VANCOUVER, July 27, 2022 – Removal of the rodeo and chuckwagon events from the Calgary Stampede program would have virtually no impact on attendance rates and would bring in new crowds, according to a Research Co. poll commissioned by the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) during this year’s Stampede.

64% of Calgarians polled indicated that they had attended or were likely to attend the Stampede this year. When asked whether they would attend the Stampede if the rodeo and chuckwagon racing events were removed, 63% indicated they would be likely to attend.

“Until now, we’ve assumed that the Stampede has continued to host inhumane events out of financial motivation,” VHS Campaign Director Emily Pickett shared. “These poll results prove that removing the rodeo and chuckwagons would have little impact on visitor attendance.”

The polling results also indicated that the removal of controversial animal events would pique the interest of new crowds, with 24% of non-attendees from this year expressing interest in attending the Stampede without rodeo and chuckwagon events. Of these, the most prominent change was in the youngest group polled; 43% of non-attendees from this year aged 18-34 said they would be likely to attend the Stampede if the rodeo and chuckwagon races were removed.

“We have heard from many people who avoid the Stampede because of the rodeo and chuckwagon races. Dropping those events is a sustainable change that would attract new supporters and visitors to the Stampede,” Pickett noted.

The support for a rodeo- and chuckwagon-free Stampede draws attention to the 103 animals who have died at the Stampede since the VHS began tracking incidents in 1986, including a chuckwagon horse who was injured and consequently euthanized at this year’s event. The VHS filed cruelty complaints to the Calgary Humane Society regarding incidents captured in Sportsnet coverage of 2022 rodeo events.

“These high-risk and inhumane events draw growing public criticism year after year. It’s time for Stampede officials and Calgary City Council to remove these unnecessary events from the Stampede program.”

Pickett invited anyone wishing to learn more about the animal welfare issues surrounding rodeo to visit RodeoTruth.com, an informational website made in collaboration by the VHS and concerned Calgarians.

– ends –

SOURCE Vancouver Humane Society

For more information, contact Emily Pickett: 604-416-2903, emily@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca

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End inhumane rodeo events at the Calgary Stampede

A calf struggles to break free as her legs are tied during the calf roping rodeo event.

Update

Though the chuckwagon races did not proceed in 2021 due to time-sensitive safety concerns, Stampede organizers have not committed to removing this dangerous event or the three concerning rodeo events highlighted by 5,354 animal supporters. Please stay tuned for future actions to address cruel events at the Calgary Stampede.

UPDATE – July 26, 2021

A horse was euthanized this weekend following a chuckwagon race in Red Deer, Alberta.

This comes after the Calgary Stampede cancelled their 2021 chuckwagon races due to safety concerns surrounding the lack of a practice season during COVID-19.

The chuckwagon races always pose a risk to horses because of the fast pace of the event and the proximity of wagons and horses on the track. There are also concerns about the use thoroughbred horses in chuckwagon racing, which tend to be bred for speed rather than skeletal strength. This puts them at greater risk of serious injury and euthanization.

The horse who was euthanized this weekend was diagnosed with a muscular-skeletal injury after the accident.

The loss was tragic and preventable.

Please call on the Calgary Stampede to extend their suspension of the chuckwagon races until an independent review by animal experts can determine if they can be made safer.

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The majority of Canadians are opposed to rodeo; so why does a Canadian event marketing itself as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” continue to host rodeo events?

59% of Canadians are opposed to using animals in rodeo, and yet the Calgary Stampede continues to host cruel rodeo events year after year that cause animal suffering, stress, and even death. It is clear to most people that twisting a steer’s neck until he falls down or stretching him by the neck and hind legs so he is suspended above the ground is inhumane, but these activities are carried out for the sake of so-called entertainment in the form of steer wrestling and team roping every year.

Watch: The cruel reality of calf roping

The cruel reality of calf roping

This is calf roping, an event held at rodeos including the Calgary Stampede. Take action to end inhumane rodeo events and create an animal-friendly, family-friendly Stampede here: https://vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/posts/inhumane-rodeo-calgary-stampede/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video-calf-roping&utm_campaign=calgary_stampede

Perhaps the most obviously cruel event is calf roping (also known as tie-down roping), where a calf who is just three months old—long before the age she should even be weaned from her mother—is tormented or “goaded” in a chute leading from a holding pen to the rodeo arena, so that she bursts out at a high speed as soon as the gate opens. Then, as she runs into a ring at around 27 miles per hour, the confused calf is roped around the neck by a rider and jerked to a sudden stop. The rider will then jump to the ground and quickly tie three of the calf’s legs together as she struggles to break free.

Animals used for calf roping, steer wrestling, and team roping can and have sustained injuries during these events that cost them their lives.

Photos of the events make it clear that these animals also experience pain and stress while being roped and roughly handled. Recent research into calf roping has confirmed that calves show visible signs of anxiety and fear while being chased and have elevated levels of stress hormones after roping events.

Another major event at the Calgary Stampede is the chuckwagon races, which has been dubbed the “half mile of hell” by organizers and participants. The races involve several teams of horses pulling wagons in a figure eight course and racing down a track at high speed to the finish line. This dangerous event has caused more than 70 horse deaths since 1986—mainly due to crash injuries and heart attacks brought on by stress. Though the event has been cancelled this year due to COVID-19, organizers have announced a plan to resume the event in 2022.

Watch: The Chuckwagon races, the Calgary Stampede’s deadliest event

The Chuckwagon races: The Calgary Stampede’s deadliest event

These are the Rangeland Derby chuckwagon races, which have caused over 70 horse deaths since 1986.

What has been done to stop these events?

Thanks to the hard work of Vancouver Humane Society’s supporters and other animal rights advocates, some progress has been made in past years in an attempt to reduce animal injuries at the Calgary Stampede. The number of wagons in the chuckwagon races was reduced from four to three following the deaths of six horses in 2019; it remains to be seen whether this measure alone will make the “half mile of hell” any safer for horses.

Up to this point, progress toward making the Stampede more animal-friendly and family-friendly has been slow and hard-won. A serious change by the Calgary Stampede is long overdue to make this fair one that truly represents the values of Canadians.

What’s next?

The Vancouver Humane Society is calling on Calgary Stampede Interim CEO Dana Peers to remove three of the fair’s most inhumane rodeo events: calf roping, steer wrestling, and team roping. The cancellation of the 2021 chuckwagon races also offers an opportunity to employ an independent review by experts (i.e. veterinarians, animal behaviourists, equine specialists) to determine whether or not this event can be made safer in future years. If the Calgary Stampede wishes to be the “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”, it must stop causing animal suffering and leave these events where they belong: in the past.

Take action to end inhumane rodeo events!

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animal welfare compassion cruelty News/Blog Promoted rodeo

Why is animal lover Jann Arden promoting the Calgary Stampede?

Bucking horse at Calgary Stampede. Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur
Bucking horse at Calgary Stampede. Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur

Let Jann Arden know that rodeo is cruel – see actions below.

Singer Jann Arden, long known as an animal lover, has been named as a joint-parade marshall for the Calgary Stampede parade, the event that kicks off the ten-day rodeo, fair and chuckwagon races.

The announcement is a surprise, given Arden’s previously stated opposition to the chuckwagon races, shown in this tweet from 2013:

J Arden tweet against chuckwagon race

Presumably, she is aware of the 65 horses that have died in the Stampede’s chuckwagon races since 1986? That includes 11 dead horses since the Stampede’s much-publicised new “safety measures” were implemented in 2011.

Arden’s decision is also surprising and disappointing given her support for animal causes, including opposition to the Alberta government’s cull of wild horses. Perhaps she isn’t aware that the Calgary Stampede also culls unwanted horses, as revealed by media in 2012.  As CTV News reported at the time, “For the first time, the Calgary Stampede is admitting that horses that don’t make the cut to compete in the famous rodeo are sent to an Alberta slaughterhouse for meat.”

In 2014, Arden described her opposition to the Alberta horse cull and her feelings about horses, stating:  “They just need to be treated with respect. I know there needs to be some sensibility, but why does the fucking solution have to always be killing something?”  Yet killing is the Stampede’s solution to unwanted bucking horses. Isn’t there a double-standard here?

Perhaps Arden is not aware of Stampede’s horse culling policy but is she also unaware of what happens to other rodeo animals?

DSC_0021Does she know that steers died in the Stampede rodeo’s steer-wrestling event in 2014 and 2013?

Steer-wrestling involves riders jumping onto steers and twisting their necks until they fall to the ground.  Both steers had to be euthanized because of neck injuries.

Steer-wrestling has nothing to do with real ranch work. It was invented for rodeo in the 1930s.  It’s just entertainment.

Perhaps Arden is unaware of the suffering of other rodeo animals such as the three-month-old calves that are chased, roped, thrown to the ground and tied up. Or the steers that are roped by the horns and hind legs and stretched off their feet. Or the bulls and bucking horses that are tormented into bucking by the flank strap tightened around their hindquarters.  And all these animals suffer for the mere amusement of a crowd.

Ad calfDoes Arden care that virtually all animal welfare agencies around the world are opposed to rodeos – organizations like the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and the national SPCAs of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK.

And does she care that most of her fellow Canadians are opposed to rodeo, with a recent poll showing that only three-in-ten Canadians are in favour of using animals in rodeos?

Let Jann Arden know that rodeo is cruel

If you think Jann Arden needs to rethink her support of the Calgary Stampede, please let her know.

Below are some actions you can take to send her a message.

You can tweet one of the messages below by clicking on it. (You will need to be logged in to Twitter.):

Tweet: .@jannarden Please don’t support the Calgary Stampede rodeo & chucks. The Stampede culls unwanted bucking horses. Rodeo animals suffer!

Tweet: .@jannarden Surprised you are supporting the Calgary Stampede, which is known for animal cruelty. Please reconsider!

Tweet: .@jannarden As an animal lover aren’t you concerned about the treatment of horses and rodeo animals at Stampede? 65 dead horses since 1986!

Or simply compose your own tweet to her at @jannarden

You can politely comment on Jann Arden’s Facebook page.

Every time you take a stand for the animals it makes a difference.

 

 

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Poll: Most Canadians oppose rodeo

So why does CBC keep broadcasting it?

The VHS has long criticized CBC Sports for broadcasting the Calgary Stampede rodeo.  The CBC has refused to end its coverage despite the clear evidence that animals suffer in rodeos.  They’ve stated that the Stampede is “a longstanding Canadian tradition and is popular with millions of Canadians across this country.”

Yet public polling over the years shows that a majority of Canadians are opposed to the use of animals in rodeos.

Public polling shows that a majority of Canadians are opposed to the use of animals in rodeo. Another poll that the VHS commissioned indicates that removal of the rodeo and chuckwagon events from the Calgary Stampede program would have virtually no impact on attendance rates and would bring in new crowds.

Calf roping event at The Calgary Stampede. Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media.

During the 2015 Calgary Stampede, the VHS launched a petition calling on CBC to end its broadcast of the Stampede rodeo.  This petition was supported by 24,119 animal allies.

The VHS continues to call for an end to inhumane rodeo events and the deadly chuckwagon races at the Calgary Stampede.

Let CBC Sports know that you are among millions of Canadians opposed to rodeo – and you are in the majority. Tell them to stop putting cruelty on our television screens and calling it a sport.

Please support the Vancouver Humane Society’s continuing campaign against rodeo cruelty. Thanks to supporters, the VHS has been able to successfully advocate for a ban on rodeo in the City of Vancouver, District of North Vancouver, and Port Moody. The VHS and other organizations and advocates has also won victories against the Cloverdale Rodeo in Surrey and the Luxton Rodeo on Vancouver Island. Your donation will help the VHS continue this crucial work.

Donate to help end rodeo cruelty
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Why does CBC Sports broadcast animal cruelty at the Calgary Stampede?

 

Ad calf
Calf being roped at Calgary Stampede. Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur

Tell CBC to stop broadcasting violence toward animals. Sign our petition!

CBC Sports has confirmed to VHS that it will once again broadcast the Calgary Stampede’s rodeo and chuckwagon races in July.  Despite severe budget cuts to its sports coverage, the CBC apparently is keeping its rodeo coverage intact.

VHS has explained to CBC Sports executives that rodeo is considered inhumane by virtually all major animal welfare agencies, including the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and the national SPCAs of the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom (where it has been outlawed since 1934).

We have pointed out the obvious fact that roping animals to a sudden halt or twisting their necks until they are bent to the ground will cause fear, pain and stress.  We have asked them how this could possibly be considered entertainment.

Calf face crop Rodeo-99

We have also noted that the CBC’s television coverage of calf-roping ensures that the camera pans away from the calf as it hits the end of the rope.  That way, viewers will never see the calf violently jerked off its feet.  If what happens to the calf is not fit for the general public to see, how can the CBC condone the event by covering it?

We sent CBC Sports a link to this video showing a bull being kicked in the head at the Stampede.  We had no reply. Meanwhile, animals continue to be tormented for the sake of entertainment at the Stampede, like these ponies. The CBC doesn’t seem to want to face the truth about rodeo.

We’re asking Canadians who care about animals to let CBC Sports know how they feel about the Calgary Stampede broadcasts.  Please take a minute to sign our petition calling on Trevor Pilling, Head of Programming at CBC Sports, to stop broadcasting rodeo animal cruelty at the Calgary Stampede. 

More information on our Calgary Stampede campaign page.

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Tormenting animals to make them buck

The rodeo industry likes to say that bucking bulls and horses only work a few seconds a year and otherwise lead pampered lives.  They also like to talk about the animals being “born to buck.”

But if you watch this video you’ll see that bucking bulls are tormented at a young age to “train” them to buck.   A metal weight (called a dummy) is placed on their backs and is only released when they buck their hardest.  The animals are clearly distressed and want the weight off their backs.  What animal wouldn’t?   Can you imagine doing this to dogs?  It’s only because we are conditioned to seeing livestock treated badly that there is no public outcry against such practices.  Yet cattle and horses, as prey animals, are especially likely to suffer fear and stress from such treatment.  And they are subjected to this distress for the trivial purpose of amusing humans (and to make money for a few of them).

It’s true that bucking bulls and horses are deliberately bred to have a genetic predisposition to buck.  But even with such a predisposition, it’s still necessary to torment them with “dummies.”   And even that’s not enough to ensure they buck for the crowds – there’s also the flank strap, which is tied around the animal’s hindquarters to cause further stress.  It’s only released when the animal stops bucking.

The whole bucking stock industry is designed to make animals behave unnaturally.  Is it not perverse that this industry, including the Calgary Stampede, strives to breed horses that no one can ride?  It’s the exact opposite of what real cowboys have historically sought to achieve.   That’s because rodeo has little to do with the genuine traditions of real ranching.  It is a circus and, like all circuses, it exists to exploit animals for the sake of entertainment.

And what happens to the animals that are not good enough for this circus? As we now know, there’s a good chance they’ll end up in the slaughterhouse.

More information on the Calgary Stampede.

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Calgary Stampede sends young horses to slaughter

Bucking horses are a major part of rodeo ‘entertainment’

An article in an Alberta magazine has revealed that the Calgary Stampede sends young, healthy horses to slaughter if they can’t make the grade as bucking horses for the Stampede rodeo. (CTV News is running a report on the revelations.)

The current issue of Alberta Views carries a story by journalist Curtis Gillespie about animal care at the Stampede.  In it, Gillespie asks staff at the Calgary Stampede ranch (which breeds and raises bucking horses for the rodeo) about the fate of bucking horses not good enough to perform at the Stampede. Here is a passage from the article:

I asked what happens to those horses that simply aren’t suited to bucking, that aren’t naturals? “We usually just keep ’em around,” Marrington said. “A lot of mares go into the breeding program, even if they can’t buck, because we know they’re genetically good. We do cull, no question about that. But the fact is, you can get some young horses, for whatever reason, that fight the chute, or are just bad, and they could hurt cowboys with no ability, and they’ll just run over you. And they’re disposed of, and that’s all I’m going to tell you. They’re out of the system, out of the inventory. It’s inventory in, inventory out.”

The next day, I asked ranch manager Raymond Goodman how many times, on average, a young horse is dummied before a decision is made to remove it from the bucking program.

“Usually three or four times,” he said.

“And if they’re mares, they go back into the breeding program?”

He nodded.

“And what about geldings and studs?” I asked. “They’re culled?”

“Yup.”

“And they go where? Fort MacLeod?”

“Yup, Fort MacLeod.”

Fort McLeod is the site of a slaughterhouse run by Bouvry Exports Ltd., where many horses are sent for slaughter.  The plant was the subject of  an investigation by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition in 2010, which found evidence that horses were being killed inhumanely.  The CHDC revealed video footage showing horses at the slaughterhouse being shot and then hoisted away by their legs while still fully conscious.

Please let the Stampede’s chief executive, Vern Kimball, know what you think about this.

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Horses die for our entertainment

News that the HBO series ‘Luck’ has been cancelled after three horses died during production, has put the spotlight on the horse racing industry just as a number of horses have been killed in high profile races.

The deaths of five horses in two days at the U.K.’s famous Cheltenham Festival has outraged animal welfare advocates, including the RSPCA.  Meanwhile, it has been reported that 16 horses have died in the last 14 weeks at New York’s Aqueduct Horse Track, prompting the State’s Governor to call for an independent inquiry.

Of course, race horse deaths are nothing new.  Last year, it emerged that 20 horses had died within as many months at the Hastings Park Racecourse in Vancouver.

And horses die regularly in other forms of equine entertainment, such as rodeos.  More than 50 horses have died at the Calgary Stampede since 1986,. This includes two at last year’s Stampede, as reported by the Calgary Herald ‘s pathetically upbeat headline: ‘Visitor numbers up, horse deaths down as Calgary Stampede ends’ (Six died the year before.)

Supporters of these spectacles should face up to the fact that animals are dying so that they may be entertained.