changing public attitudes – reining in rodeo in Vancouver and Surrey, BC
Rodeo is not illegal in most places. However, if other animals, such as dogs, were subjected to the same treatment it is likely charges under the Criminal Code of Canada or provincial statutes would apply. For example, if a dog were to be chased at speed, lassoed, jerked backward and slammed to the ground it would likely meet the Criminal Code’s description of cruelty as “wilfully or recklessly caused unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal…”
Rodeo events are not covered by Canadian animal cruelty laws because historically they are considered “generally accepted practices of animal management” for the treatment of livestock. This de facto exemption, curiously, applies to rodeo even though it is merely an entertainment.
Without the protection of current federal or provincial law, rodeo animals can only have their treatment mitigated by municipal bylaws, which can prohibit certain types of business, activities or events within their boundaries. Otherwise it is a matter of rodeo organizations voluntarily making changes to their events (usually under pressure from public opinion).
In May 2006, Vancouver City Council voted unanimously to prohibit a number of rodeo activities. As these activities are central to a professional rodeo, the prohibition effectively bans rodeos from the city. However, certain common rodeo events, such as barrel racing, were not listed in the bylaw so these activities could be performed minus the listed events. Events such as horse racing and equestrian competitions are not affected by the bylaw.
The Vancouver decision followed representations over a period of years from VHS and other animal groups and private citizens, expressing concern over rodeo performances at the Pacific National Exhibition and the potential for their reoccurrence. (The last rodeo event was held at the PNE in 1997). Vancouver is the first major city in Canada to prohibit rodeo.
VHS has also raised concerns over the Cloverdale Rodeo in Surrey, BC, which is the largest rodeo in the Lower Mainland and one of the largest in Canada. VHS made strong representations to Surrey City Council, which owns the rodeo grounds, about the treatment of rodeo animals. In 2007, following the death of a calf in a calf-roping event, the Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition Association announced that it would discontinue four key events: calf-roping, steer-wrestling, team-roping and wild cow milking. These events are considered by many to be the most offensive in terms of animal welfare. Surrey City Council simultaneously announced that it fully backed the decision. Editorials in the Surrey Leader and Vancouver Province newspapers also applauded the decision.
The elimination of rodeo in Vancouver and its partial curtailment in Surrey speak to the changing public attitudes (at least in BC’s Lower Mainland) to the treatment of animals. Judging by the positive media coverage of the changes and the lack of controversy that followed, it seems most people are happy to see rodeo banned or at least be sharply reformed to make it less inhumane.
The precedents set regarding rodeo in Vancouver and Surrey may have effects on public opinion about rodeos elsewhere in Canada. Following the Cloverdale Rodeo’s decision to drop the four roping events, the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association publicly stated it was considering changes to calf-roping (also called tie-down roping). Monitoring of rodeo website forums, agricultural press and other media provided anecdotal evidence of a softening of support amongst rodeo supporters for the calf-roping event (which many people find explicitly cruel). It remains to be seen whether public opinion across Canada will turn against rodeo, but many animal welfare groups across the country have been encouraged by the changes on the West Coast.
The arguments and evidence against rodeo that VHS put before the Vancouver and Surrey city councils (and the general public) rest on a simple premise: that rodeo is cruel to animals because it unnecessarily subjects them to fear, pain, stress and the risk of injury or death for the purpose of human entertainment.
