The Calgary Stampede
VHS has worked tirelessly to draw media attention to the animal deaths at the Calgary Stampede and other rodeos. Without our efforts, these tragedies would have gone largely unnoticed, as has happened repeatedly in previous years. Change is coming – we need to keep up the pressure. Please help us – your voice has never been so important!
What you can do:
1) Send your donation today to help us continue to speak for rodeo animals. Click HERE.
2) Tell Bell the Calgary Stampede is cruel! Click
HERE.
3) Write to other rodeo sponsors. Click HERE.
Recent Rodeo News
Stampede horse deaths spark debate
Vancouver Humane Society upset over Stampede horse deaths
Vancouver Humane Society & PETA demand changes to Calgary Stampede Rodeo
A killing ground for horses
Vancouver Humane Society calls for immediate halt to Stampede chuckwagon races
The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) has called for an immediate halt to the Calgary Stampede chuckwagon races as a fifth horse has died at the Stampede, the third in the chuckwagon event.
“This event has become a killing ground for horses,” said VHS spokesperson Peter Fricker, who said more than 50 chuckwagon horses have died at the Stampede since 1986.
VHS is calling for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) to demand that the Stampede immediately suspend the event. The CVMA’s official position on the use of animals in entertainment states that it “does not condone activities, contests or events that involve undue levels of physical or mental harassment or situations that have a high probability of causing injury or illness.”
VHS also says the corporate sponsors of the chuckwagon races should take responsibility for the event and urge the Stampede to suspend it immediately.
Fricker said he hoped the equine community in Canada would express their outrage at the horse deaths at the Stampede. “People who love horses should let the Stampede know that this is unacceptable.”
UK parliamentarians condemn Calgary Stampede
Motion commends British animal charity targeting Stampede tourism
The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) has received some distinguished, if distant, support for its campaign against calf-roping at the Calgary Stampede.
A group of British members of parliament has signed a motion tabled in the U.K. House of Commons condemning rodeos and calling “on the Canadian government to take steps to end the immense cruelty to animals in events such as calf-roping, which is practised at rodeos including the Calgary Stampede.” So far more than 50 MPs have signed the motion.
The League Against Cruel Sports, one of Britain’s oldest and most respected animal welfare charities, has also today announced it is supporting VHS’s anti-rodeo campaign. The parliamentary motion commends the League for “bringing the enormous cruelty of rodeo to the attention of the British public.” The League was instrumental in having fox-hunting outlawed in the U.K.
The League is urging its supporters to write to the Canadian High Commission to express their opposition to rodeo and is asking U.K. travel companies to stop promoting package tours to the Calgary Stampede. “Canada is a beautiful country with so much to do, there really is no need to be abusing animals in this way for entertainment. We know from our opinion polls that British tourists vote with their feet on other animal welfare issues such as bullfighting, and we will be persuading them to do the same with the rodeo,” said Steve Taylor, the League’s Head of Campaigns and Communications.
Responsibletravel.com, the world’s leading travel agent for responsible holidays, has already agreed to warn tourists about the inhumane treatment of animals at the Stampede with information on its website: http://www.responsibletravel.com
VHS says the British support is a first step toward internationalizing opposition to rodeos in Canada. “Visitors to Canada just don’t know about the cruelty involved in rodeo until they’ve attended one,” said VHS spokesperson Peter Fricker. “We aim to make sure they know beforehand.”
Rodeo has been banned in Britain since 1934. The U.K. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals is opposed to rodeo, as are the national SPCAs of the United States, Australia and New Zealand. In Canada, virtually all animal welfare agencies oppose rodeo, including the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and the Humane Society of Canada.
Calgary Herald runs VHS’s full-page ad against calf-roping
The Calgary Herald newspaper is today running a full-page advertisement critical of calf-roping, a key event at the Calgary Stampede rodeo. The ad was placed by the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS), which is campaigning for a ban on the event.
In 2009, the Herald refused to print an anti-rodeo ad submitted by VHS. It is believed that today’s full-page ad is the first ever published by the Herald that is openly anti-rodeo.
To view and download a PDF of the ad click here.
It’s time to ban calf-roping at the Calgary Stampede and across Canada
The Calgary Stampede, like all rodeos, is a cruel spectacle of animal abuse. Fear, pain and stress are used to coerce animals into performing for the entertainment of human beings – a barbaric concept. Yet here in Canada, in the 21st century, we offer this as a tourist attraction and as a symbol of our culture.
Perhaps the most inhumane of all rodeo events, calf-roping remains a big part of the Stampede. The Vancouver Humane Society is calling for a ban on calf-roping at rodeos across Canada and is asking the Calgary Stampede (July 9 – 18, 2010) to show the way by dropping this event. In 2009, VHS’s campaign against calf-roping drew massive public and media attention. Now it’s time for the Stampede to listen to Canadians who oppose abusing animals for entertainment.
What is calf-roping?
Calf-roping, also known as tie-down roping (rodeo promoters changed the name to make it more palatable to the public), is probably the least popular rodeo event, even among avid rodeo fans. There is often a gasp from the crowds when the calf, just three to four months old, is brought to a sudden, jerking halt at the end of the rope.
The event starts with the calf contained in a steel-barred “chute” at the side of the arena. The calf is goaded, prodded and often has its tail twisted to ensure it will burst out of the chute at full speed (up to 27 miles per hour). The terrified calf is then chased by a mounted rider who must lasso the calf, jump of his horse, pick up the calf, slam it to the ground and tie three of its feet together. The event is timed and the rider who does it fastest wins.
Calves are sometimes injured or killed because of the sudden physical impact of the roping. The time pressure of the event and the prize money at stake can lead to poor roping, harsh handling and mistakes by riders – all of which put the calf at risk of injury. But it is not just the risk of injury that is the problem with calf-roping. It’s the fear.
The cruelty of fear
All cattle are “prey” animals and research has shown they are particularly sensitive to fear. Dr. Temple Grandin, the distinguished animal behaviourist, has written that fear is “so bad” for animals it can be worse than pain. There can be little doubt that a three-month-old calf, goaded and chased into an arena with a shouting crowd is suffering even before the rope pulls him off his feet. How can tormenting an animal in this way be acceptable as entertainment? Treating a dog this way would result in cruelty charges. Sadly, farm animals in Canada have no such legal protection – apparently even when they are used for mere entertainment.
The myth of rodeo’s old west heritage
Rodeo promoters will say that calf-roping and other rodeo events are part of the culture of the old west. But when real cowboys roped calves on the range there was no pressure from a stopwatch or big prize money. It was done as gently as possible to ensure the animal was not injured. The myth of rodeo’s old west “heritage” has been used with other events. Real cowboys did not ride bulls (Why would they?) or wrestle steers (invented for rodeo in the 1930s) or have chuckwagon races (invented for rodeo in 1923). Rodeo has almost nothing to do with the culture of the old west. It is merely sensational entertainment – and it causes animals to suffer for the most trivial of purposes.
The Cloverdale Rodeo – a precedent
In 2007, the Cloverdale Rodeo in Surrey, B.C., dropped four major events from its program after years of pressure from VHS and other animal protection groups. The events (team-roping, wild cow-milking, steer-wrestling and calf-roping) are the mainstays of rodeo – or so it was thought.
To the surprise of many, the rodeo and country fair attracted record crowds in 2008 and 2009 without the roping events. It was clear that the real attraction in Cloverdale is the country fair, not the rodeo. It was also apparent that making the rodeo more humane had no negative impact on attendance. If the Calgary Stampede and other Canadian rodeos followed suit they would likely find a similar reaction from the public. Certainly, the public would not miss calf-roping.
For more information on rodeos click here.
What you can do to end calf-roping at the Calgary Stampede
Contact the Stampede to tell them you want an end to calf-roping
Vern Kimball
Chief Executive Officer
Calgary Stampede
Box 1060
Station M
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 2K8
Tel: 403 261 0101 (local)
Tel: 1 800 661 1260 (North America toll free)
Fax: 403 265 7197
Email: vkimball@calgarystampede.com
Comment via the Stampede website
TELL BELL CANADA TO STOP SUPPORTING THE RODEO
Sign the petition to ban calf-roping at the Stampede
Write letters to the editor or comment online
When you see media coverage of the Calgary Stampede or other rodeos, send a letter to the editor, use online comment features, call feedback lines or call radio talk shows. Add your voice to the case against calf-roping!
Thanks to the “We Animals” project for use of photos: www.weanimals.org
Please tell Bell Canada to quit sponsoring cruel rodeo events
If you haven’t already done so, please tell Bell Canada to stop sponsoring cruel rodeo events.
Telecommunications company Bell Canada is a key sponsor of the Calgary Stampede rodeo, in which four animals have already died this year.
VHS is asking the public to write to Bell, urging the company to stop supporting the Stampede rodeo. Animal advocates who are Bell customers can also advise the company that they can switch service providers if they believe Bell is supporting animal cruelty.
Please write to:
Mr. George Cope
Chief Executive Officer
Bell Canada
1 Carrefour Alexander Graham Bell
Verdun, Quebec H3E 3B3
or email him at: bcecomms@bce.ca
For information on rodeos, click HERE
CBC TV report on 2009 steer death
Contact sponsors of the Calgary Stampede and Chuckwagon race
