Protesters take over Cloverdale Rodeo arena

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Protesters take over Cloverdale Rodeo arena

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  uploaded by Joanne Chang | add comment

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  uploaded by Joanne Chang | add comment

Sunday, May
20, 2007, at the Cloverdale Rodeo in British Columbia, 10 animal rights
activists from the organization Liberation BC took over the arena ring with
three anti-rodeo banners.  Activists ran
into the ring immediately before the calf-roping event to protest the cruelty
of the rodeo. 

Prior to
going into the ring, activists witnessed calves being roughed up by cowboys inside the chutes in order to make them "perform.  The calves had their eyes gauged, heads
punched, legs kicked, and tails twisted and rubbed against metal railings.  All the horses were in very bad shape with
cuts from spurs and welts and impressions where the bucking straps were
tied.  Bucking straps are used in rodeos
to create excruciating pain to the animals, which makes them buck.  The steers used in this rodeo were all quite
young as apparent from their size and the fact that they were not making adult
mooing sounds when they called out in distress. 

After
running into the ring, the activists held up their banners and chanted “stop
the rodeo, stop the cruelty.”  Security
guards and cowboys assaulted the activists in front of a cheering crowd while
RCMP officers stood watching and verbally assaulted the activists. 

One
activist had his face shoved into a pile of manure by a cowboy while held down
by a security guard. Another cowboy kicked mud into the face of an activist who
was also pinned to the ground by a security guard.  Two activists had their faces forced into muddy water and were
unable to find their breath while 4-5 security guards and cowboys pinned them
down.   After one activist was dragged
out of the ring, the security guard continued to twist his arm to the point
that the activist thought it was going to break.  The activist turned to an RCMP officer who was standing next to
him and said “officer, he is going to break my arm.”  The officer replied to the activist, “you deserve it” and did
nothing to stop the abuse. When the security guard finally let the activist go,
his arm flung out with such force that it hit the back of the RCMP
officer.  The officer then turned around
and said to the activist, “I’m gonna take you in the parking lot and beat your
face in.” The bravest and most unscathed activist was a seventy year old lady
who simply stood her ground refusing to leave until she was carried off by two
security guards.

All of this activity took about 5 minutes but
most of the activists were quite beat up and felt the fear, the helplessness
and the agony of the animals inside the ring. 
However, the experience only strengthened their conviction as they know
that the animals ultimately have it a lot worse, many even losing their lives
to this kind of brutality inside the rodeo arena.