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.