The CBC has been using false information in its responses to concerns about animal welfare at the Calgary Stampede and the CBC’s coverage of the Stampede’s rodeo and chuckwagon races.
In emails to members of the public, the CBC falsely stated that the Alberta SPCA works with the Calgary Stampede and is on-site monitoring events. The Alberta SPCA has denied that this is the case.
People who have emailed the CBC to complain about its Stampede rodeo broadcasts have been receiving an email response from CBC which states that:
“…Stampede organizers are committed to providing the highest standard of animal care and safeguarding animal welfare. To that end, the organization works with the Calgary Humane Society and the Alberta SPCA. Both groups are on-site monitoring events, and all competing animals are under constant veterinary care and attention throughout the Stampede.”
But when one complainant checked with the Alberta SPCA to see if this was true, she received a reply from the society’s communications manager stating:
“Thank you for contacting me about this email. I will be contacting the CBC to correct its public messages, because the Alberta SPCA doesn’t “work with” the Stampede, and we don’t send officers to monitor Stampede events…”
The complainant’s email from the CBC can be seen here and the email from the Alberta SPCA here.
Yesterday, the Alberta SPCA tweeted a statement confirming that it does not work with the Stampede or monitor rodeo events:
The CBC has tweeted an apology saying “it wasn’t our place to speak for the Alberta SPCA or Calgary Stampede.” But the tweet did not address why the CBC was distributing misinformation about the Alberta SPCA’s animal welfare role at the Stampede.
It is not known how many complainants received CBC emails containing the false information.
VHS has an online petition calling on the CBC to stop broadcasting rodeo cruelty at the Stampede. Also see our related article in the Huffington Post.
