This summer, the VHS planned a billboard and radio ad campaign in Calgary to raise awareness about animal welfare issues during the Stampede. Disappointingly, just before launch, the ad agencies cancelled the campaign, blocking any messaging about animal welfare.
But the VHS didn’t stay silent. We shared with the media about the censorship of animal welfare messages, supported local advocates by providing outreach materials at protests and events around the city, and ran an in-depth online ad campaign to ensure the animals’ voices were heard.
Sadly, a horse named Rider suffered a leg injury during a chuckwagon race and was euthanized, marking 110 known animal deaths at the Calgary Stampede since the VHS began tracking fatalities in 1986.
Content warning: The following video shows footage of animal suffering in rodeo events.
Meanwhile, the VHS’s advocacy for animals used in rodeo continued in our home province. In B.C., for the second year in a row, the VHS filmed inhumane and potentially illegal use of electric prods and rough handling of animals at the Coombs rodeo. A cruelty complaint has again been filed and the BC SPCA has opened an investigation.
The VHS continues to call on decision-makers in Alberta and B.C. to end inhumane rodeo events and government funding of them.
The VHS has once again filed a cruelty complaint with the BC SPCA after new footage from the 2025 Bulls, Broncs & Barrels rodeo event in Coombs revealed troubling treatment of animals for the second year in a row.
This year’s footage captures potentially illegal use of electric prods on bulls; stressed and agitated animals being harshly handled; and an injury to a horse who rears up in the bucking chute and lands on the structure, resulting in a bloody wound.
TAKE ACTION: Join the VHS in calling for an end to inhumane rodeo events and to stop B.C. government funding that supports them.
The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) has filed a cruelty complaint with the BC SPCA after new footage from last weekend’s Bulls, Broncs & Barrels rodeo event in Coombs revealed potentially illegal use of electric prods and other animal welfare concerns.
Footage: Suzanne Goodwin
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Repeat concerns over electric prod use
Last year’s Coombs rodeo event drew a cruelty complaint after footage showed potentially illegal electric prod use on bulls and inhumane handling of a fallen horse. Disturbingly, new footage from this year shows similar issues.
Videos show bulls being shocked with an electric prod in ways that appear to violate Canadian animal handling regulations. These regulations prohibit:
Repeated prodding of the same animal.
Prodding animals who cannot move due to barriers such as overcrowded pens or blocked chutes.
Footage from the 2025 event appears to show both of these rules being broken.
The device used—believed to be a Hot-Shot Power-Mite—can deliver shocks of 4,500 volts.
Stressed animals, injury, and rough handling
Additional footage from the Coombs rodeo event highlights visibly stressed animals. Clips show animals thrashing in tight chutes, rearing up, and resisting handlers.
A bull is seen laying on the ground following a bucking event and is then kicked and pulled by the tail and ropes until he rises.
Two horses rear up out of the bucking chute and crash into metal posts. One of the horses appears to sustain a wound, with bloody abrasions visible on both days of the event.
Show photos of horse injuries
Saturday, August 16 at Coombs rodeo event.Sunday, August 17 at Coombs rodeo event.
Calls for change at Ministry of Tourism
These recurring concerns underscore the urgent need for change.
The VHS has written to the B.C. Ministry of Tourism to express concerns about public funding, provided through theB.C. Fairs, Festivals and Events (BCFFE) fund, to events that include rodeos. In 2023 and 2024, $780,000+ and $680,000+ were awarded to events that include rodeo, respectively.
Another Ministry of Tourism funding program, theDestination Events Program, lists rodeos as an event eligible for funding.
Provincial government must protect animals used in rodeo
The VHS has also raised concerns with provincial decision-makers about the overall lack of protections for animals used in rodeos, pointing to previous footage of various rodeos across B.C. and to the failure to enforce animal protection laws that prohibit causing distress.
The VHS is calling for an end to inhumane rodeo events and urging B.C.’s Ministry of Tourism to exclude rodeos from publicly funded grant programs.
By investing in compassionate and inclusive community events, the province can ensure public funds are directed toward celebrations that bring people together without putting animals at risk of harm.
Public opposition to rodeo events & funding
Research Co. pollingshows a growing majority of British Columbians are opposed to the use of animals in rodeo events and to taxpayer dollars being used to support rodeo events.
Take action: Help end cruel rodeo practices in B.C. by contacting the B.C. government today.
Rider, a horse who suffered a serious leg injury during the chuckwagon races, was euthanized; another tragic loss in an event that claims the lives of horses nearly every year.
Rider’s death marks 110 known animal fatalities at the Calgary Stampede since 1986, with 79 from the chuckwagon races alone. Last year, three horses and one steer also died during Stampede events.
Beyond the headline tragedies is the routine cruelty of rodeo: fear, stress, and force inflicted on animals for entertainment.
This year’s Stampede footage lays bare a painful truth: for the animals, rodeo is terror, not tradition. It’s time to end the suffering.
Take action
Use the quick action tool to send a message to government decision-makers, urging them to remove the deadly chuckwagon races and inhumane rodeo events from the Stampede program.
Take the #SayNoToRodeo pledge to reflect your opposition to the use of animals in rodeo events.
Use the template email below to send a message to Calgary City Council and Alberta decision-makers. If you live in Alberta, the message will also be sent to your MLA.
Take the #SayNoToRodeo pledge to reflect your opposition to the use of animals in rodeo. The number of signatures will be shared by the VHS in engagement with decision-makers.
Photo: Sportsnet
What happened at 2025 Calgary Stampede?
A horse named Rider suffered a fracture to his left-front cannon bone during Heat 8 of the Saturday chuckwagon races and was euthanized.
Clips show the risk of injury to animals, such as a steer who was flipped over and whose neck was repeatedly twisted. Last year, a steer used in steer wrestling was euthanized due to a serious neck injury.
Footage also shows people at risk of injury, including children.
Animals are hit and roughly handled. In one clip, a handler uses a rope to agitate a bull’s neck while another person behind the scenes calls the bull obscene names.
Animals show signs of fear and stress, including widened eyes, tense open mouths, excessive salivation, thrashing in chutes, panicked behaviours, and resisting handlers.
Content warning: The following footage shows a fatal incident and animals showing signs of stress and fear.
The 2025 Stampede once again resulted in the tragic death of a horse used in chuckwagon racing. Footage from this year’s rodeo events also shows the risk of injury to animals and people, the rough handling of animals, and signs of fear and stress.
During a Calgary Stampede chuckwagon race on Saturday July 12, a horse named Rider suffered a leg injury and was euthanized.
This marks the first animal death of the 2025 Calgary Stampede and brings the total known animal deaths to 110 since the VHS began tracking deaths in 1986.
Animal deaths happen almost every year that Stampede. The 2024 Stampede rodeo and chuckwagon races claimed the lives of four animals. Three horses died in the chuckwagon races and one steer died after their neck was broken during a wrestling event.
TAKE ACTION: Use the quick action tools to call on government decision-makers to work with organizers to remove these inhumane and deadly animal events from the Stampede program.
Use the template email below to send a message to Calgary City Council and Alberta decision-makers. If you live in Alberta, the message will also be sent to your MLA.
Take the #SayNoToRodeo pledge to reflect your opposition to the use of animals in rodeo. The number of signatures will be shared by the VHS in engagement with decision-makers.
Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Media
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The Stampede confirmed that a horse named Rider suffered a fracture to his left-front cannon bone during Heat 8 of the Saturday evening race and was later euthanized.
Since the VHS began tracking fatalities in 1986, at least 110 animals have died in the Calgary Stampede’s animal events, 79 of which were in chuckwagon racing.
Despite minor changes attempting to improve the safety of the chucks over the years, horses have continued to die at an alarming rate. The VHS points to the fact that these changes, like reducing the number of horses on the track, fail to address the inherent risk factors of the sport: the close proximity of horses and wagons, the extremely fast pace, and the use of thoroughbred horses, who are typically bred for speed rather than skeletal health.
Public approval of chuckwagon racing continues to fall in the wake of near-annual incidents and a growing awareness about animal well-being. 59% of Canadians and 54% of Calgarians disagree with the use of horses in chuckwagon races, according to a Research Co. poll commissioned by the VHS in July 2024.
The 2025 Calgary Stampede will be held from July 4-13. With it comes the controversial rodeo and deadly chuckwagon races that result in animal fatalities nearly every year.
Last year’s events were the deadliest since 2019, with 4 animal deaths in 2024, bringing the Stampede death toll to at least 109 fatalities since the VHS began tracking in 1986.
Polling shows significant and growing opposition across Canada to the use of animals in rodeo and chuckwagon events, including amongst Albertans.
Polling also shows that removal of the rodeo and chuckwagon events from the Stampede program would have virtually no impact on attendance rates and would bring in new crowds.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Stampede organizers and government decision-makers to remove these inhumane and deadly animal events from the Stampede program.
Take the #SayNoToRodeo pledge to reflect your opposition to the use of animals in rodeo. The number of signatures will be shared by the VHS in engagement with decision-makers.
Use the template email below to send a message to Calgary City Council and Alberta decision-makers. If you live in Alberta, the message will also be sent to your MLA.
Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals Media
Learn more
Dangerous & stressful for the animals
Rodeos and chuckwagon events are fast-paced, timed events that put animals’ safety at risk. The chuckwagon races are promoted as the “half-mile of hell” and involve teams of horses attached to wagons that are pulled at high speed and in close proximity to each other.
Beyond the risk of injury and death, animals used in rodeo events are also subjected to stress and suffering during rodeo events. Many rodeo activities, including bucking, roping, and wrestling events, use tools and methods like spurs, flank straps, and rough handling to provoke “fight or flight” responses.
These events rely on the use of fear, stress, and discomfort to make animals flee and buck.
Near-annual deaths
Nearly every year, there are animal deaths at the Calgary Stampede. The 2024 Stampede was the deadliest since 2019, with 4 animal fatalities during the 10-day event. 3 chuckwagon horses suffered irrecoverable injuries and a steer’s neck was broken during a wrestling event.
At least 109 animals have lost their lives at the Stampede since 1986, when the VHS began keeping track. Most deaths occur during the chuckwagon races due to the fast pace and close proximity of the horses and wagons.
Injuries and deaths may also be underreported, as it can take up to 48 hours after an incident for an injury to present.
Growing public opposition
Public polling in recent years reflects growing opposition to the use of animals in rodeo:
2022 poll: Removal of the rodeo and chuckwagon events from the Stampede program would have virtually no impact on attendance rates and would bring in new crowds.
2024 poll: A majority of Calgarians oppose calf roping, steer wrestling, bronc riding, and chuckwagon racing. In addition to this, 67% of Calgarians oppose government funding of rodeo events.
CALGARY, June 30, 2025—Animal protection organizations are raising the alarm about mounting censorship efforts by major advertising companies and media groups in the lead-up to the Calgary Stampede.
While the Stampede is heavily promoted across Canada as a national celebration, the darker side of its animal events is increasingly hidden from public view. When animals are inevitably injured or killed—a grim annual tradition—the live broadcast quickly cuts away, leaving announcers to fill the silence while the arena is cleared.
Increasingly, animal welfare advocates say that corporate advertising companies are going further to block even mild criticism from reaching the public.
This year, the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) attempted to run a billboard with Astral Media Outdoor, owned by Bell Media. The billboard would have been placed along the Stampede parade route, pointing out that distressing moments—like when a rope tightens around a calf’s neck—are typically edited out of rodeo highlights. Sharing this fact proved too much for Bell Media, despite initially approving the sign.
Design originally accepted for Astral Media Outdoor billboard ad.
Just days before launch, Bell Media abruptly demanded last-minute changes before cancelling the billboard altogether. The company rejected the VHS’s photo-based ads in 2024, while Pattison Outdoor Advertising, another major ad company, refused all “animal advocacy advertising.”
After Bell withdrew, other approved ad campaigns began to unravel. Rogers Media, which had sent radio ad contracts and collaborated on script development, reversed course, stating that the ads would “diminish the value of the Rogers’ brands.” The Calgary Stampede is one of Rogers Sports & Media’s properties, a representative noted.
RedPoint Media Group, which had agreed to place online ads in Avenue Calgary, also rejected designs mentioning animal welfare concerns and offered to run general ads about the VHS instead. Their production team said they do not accept “political” messaging—despite one of the rejected ads stating only: “Like dogs, calves suffer stress and injuries from rough handling.”
“We’ve been advocating for an end to cruel practices at the Calgary Stampede for decades, but this year we’ve had three advertising companies backtrack on ads with signed contracts,” said VHS Communications Director Chantelle Archambault. “We’re extremely concerned that companies are keeping animal welfare messaging from reaching the public.”
“These moves to silence even mild criticism show an alarming imbalance, where an event that routinely sees animal deaths and injuries is shielded from scrutiny by powerful corporations,” said Alexandra Pester, Calgary-based staff lawyer at Animal Justice. “Frankly it’s also insulting to Calgarians, suggesting they can’t be trusted to make up their own minds about controversial events.”
Screenshot: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh via CTV News
With the 2025 Calgary Stampede almost a week away, organizers are carefully curating a narrative on improved animal welfare at their controversial and deadly rodeo and chuckwagon races.
While minor changes like shaded areas and heart monitors are being promoted as signs of progress, they do little to address the serious, ongoing risks animals face in these events.
At least 109 animals have died at the Stampede’s animal events since 1986.
The VHS continues to call for a shift away from rodeo and chuckwagon racing.
Read media coverage of the new rules below, share your concerns in the comments, and join VHS in calling for an end to inhumane rodeo events at the Calgary Stampede.
Tents are being set up to provide shade for bulls and broncs and some chuckwagon horses are to be fitted with tiny electrocardiograms at the upcoming Calgary Stampede.
“The 10-day celebration of western culture, which runs from July 4-13, has long been a target of animal rights groups. The Vancouver Humane Society wants the rodeo portion of the Stampede eliminated.”
“‘We’re seeing deaths at the Calgary Stampede almost every single year. It’s really not a matter of if another animal will die at the Stampede … it’s when,’ said Chantelle Archambault with the group.”
Calgary Stampede officials spoke about animal care on Tuesday and a continued partnership with UCalgary to address the ongoing safety.
“The Vancouver Humane Society says 109 animals have died at the Calgary Stampede since they started keeping track of fatalities in 1986.”
VHS Communications Director Chantelle Archambault shared, “I would really question what is entertaining about seeing animals suffer… These animals are not only facing fear and stress inherently in these events, but a risk to their lives.”
“Last year it did turn out to be the deadliest event since 2019.”
This summer, the VHS and supporters were hard at work advocating to end the suffering of animals in rodeos.
Calgary Stampede
This year’s Calgary Stampede rodeo and chuckwagon races were the deadliest of the past five years, resulting in the deaths of four animals: three horses used in chuckwagon racing and a cow used in steer wrestling.
Media coverage of tragic incidents ensures public transparency
The VHS team closely monitored events to ensure these tragic incidents were tracked and shared with media. Stampede organizers only shared information about animal deaths after the VHS’s team and media contacts made inquiries.
The VHS’s Calgary Stampede campaign ran throughout the summer, reaching millions of people through online messaging, billboards across Calgary, and 43 media broadcasts and articles including on Global News, CTV News, CityNews Calgary, and the CBC.
Sharp increase in opposition to rodeo events in Calgary and across Canada
With the shift in public opinion comes an important opportunity for meaningful change. Decision-makers have previously pushed back on calls to end the rodeo and chuckwagon races at the Calgary Stampede, citing public support. The new survey results show that support is rapidly dwindling, marking a turning point for the increasingly controversial animal events.
Calling for action from Calgary City Council
The VHS has delivered a report to Calgary City Council outlining welfare concerns, growing public opposition to rodeo events and chuckwagon races, and a recommendation that the City support removing inhumane events from the Stampede program.
Here in B.C., the rodeo season once again saw many concerning incidents of animal suffering. The VHS monitored these events, where video footage revealed animals being dragged around the arena by a rope, thrashing in chutes and becoming trapped in unnatural positions, and being agitated through stressful practices like ear pulling.
The VHS submits cruelty reports for inhumane treatment and apparent rule violations
Videos from the 2024 Bulls Broncs & Barrels in Coombs, British Columbia show a number of serious welfare concerns, including: – Improper use of electric prods – A horse falling and being kicked in the head – Rough handling and deliberate agitation of animals – Visible signs of stress Footage: Jordan Rivers We Animals Media
In one particularly concerning clip from a rodeo in Clinton, a stressed bull resists handlers’ attempts to move him in the pens next to the arena. The clip goes on to show handlers kicking the bull, twisting his tail and using an electric prod on the animal repeatedly, including prodding the animal on the anus.
The VHS submitted an animal cruelty report in response to the incident, which appears to violate rules around electric prod use. The VHS also submitted a cruelty report regarding harsh handling of horses and inhumane use of electric prods at a rodeo in Coombs this August.
B.C. government continues to fund rodeo events
The B.C. government continues to fund the suffering of animals in rodeo, with more than $680,000 in taxpayer dollars awarded to events that include rodeos this year alone. The VHS is calling for an end to provincial funding of rodeo events and for legal protections to prevent animal suffering in rodeo. You can send a pre-written, editable email to provincial decision-makers using the quick action tool.
Send a message to Calgary’s Mayor & Council in support of the VHS’s new report and recommendations. The report recommends:
Ending inhumane animal events at the Stampede;
Discussing the VHS report at an upcoming public council meeting.
Below are some key points you may wish to consider in your message. Please use your own words and remain respectful in your message.
Why you’re writing: Note the VHS’s new report and that you’re writing in support of it.
What concerns you the most: Consider what happened at this year’s Stampede (four animal deaths); the event’s track record of near-annual deaths; the stress and suffering the animals experience during the events.
Your request: That city council work with Stampede organizers to remove rodeo events and chuckwagon races and instead prioritize events that don’t cause animal harm.
In a new report sent to Calgary city council, the VHS outlines concerns and recommendations following this year’s deadly Stampede rodeo and chuckwagon events. Below are the key points and recommendations in the report:
The use of animals in rodeo events presents a significant risk of injury and death, as evidenced by the near-annual animal fatalities at the Calgary Stampede rodeo and chuckwagon races.
The 2024 Calgary Stampede rodeo and chuckwagon races were the deadliest since 2019, with four animal fatalities during this year’s 10-day event.
Three horses sustained serious and irrecoverable injuries during the chuckwagon races and one steer’s neck was disturbingly snapped during a wrestling event. All four animals were euthanized.
Footage from the Calgary Stampede rodeo captures animals being roughly handled and displaying visible signs of stress, including thrashing in the chutes, resisting handlers, open mouth and extended tongue, and exhibiting eye white response.
2024 Research Co. public polling shows that majority of Calgarians oppose calf roping, steer wrestling, bronc riding, and chuckwagon racing.
Public polling also shows that 67% of Calgarians oppose government funding of rodeo events.
2022 Research Co. polling of Calgarians also found that removal of the rodeo and chuckwagon events would have virtually no impact on attendance rates and would bring a new crowd to the Calgary Stampede.
Therefore, the VHS recommends that Calgary city council seek the removal of the rodeo and chuckwagon events from the annual Calgary Stampede program.
VANCOUVER, September 12, 2024 – This year’s controversial rodeo season in B.C. has left the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) and thousands of advocates calling for urgent action from the provincial government. New footage released by the VHS today from two provincially-funded rodeos continues to show recurring welfare issues.
Footage released today includes incidents from the Interior Provincial Exhibition & Stampede in Armstrong, which received $140,800 in taxpayer dollars through the Ministry of Tourism’s Fairs, Festivals and Events Fund, and the Nicola Valley Professional Rodeo in Merritt, which received $11,100 from the same grant program.
The welfare concerns seen in these rodeos echo incidents at other rodeos across the province this year.
In video clips from both Armstrong and Merritt, calves are seen being dragged across the arena by a rope tied around their necks. The footage is reminiscent of an incident in which a roped steer was dragged around the arena by a horse at a rodeo in Keremeos this past May.
Like the other events the VHS monitored this season, the newly released footage from Armstrong and Merritt also shows animals being pushed, dragged, smacked in the face, kicked, and roughly agitated through ear pulling and tail twisting. Previously, the VHS filed cruelty complaints to the BC SPCA regarding multiple incidents this year, including the inhumane use of electric prods at two rodeos.
“We continue to see people in B.C.’s rodeo industry use harsh handling and push the boundaries of how much suffering they can cause before they are considered in violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,” said Emily Pickett, the VHS’s Campaign Director. “There is no proactive monitoring of rodeos by enforcement bodies in this province, so it is very likely the people running these shows don’t believe they’ll be caught when they break the rules.”
Pickett notes that while the B.C. government provided more than $680,000 in taxpayer funding to events that involve rodeos this year, it does not fund enforcement of its own cruelty laws at the same events.
“British Columbians should be asking the provincial government why it continues to hand over their tax dollars to support animal suffering,” Pickett added.
July 2024 polling shows that 83% of British Columbians are against the government funding of rodeo events, rising 17 percentage points from a previous poll in February.
The VHS encourages anyone who is concerned about the suffering of animals in rodeo events to send a quick, pre-written message to the B.C. government through their website.
