Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
Victory for the animals at Cloverdale Rodeo
Share:
by Joanne Chang | May 23, 2007 at 08:46 pm
2601 views | 4 Recommendations | 7 comments
Videos
Photos
Tueday, May 22, 2007
The Cloverdale Rodeo in British Columbia has decided to drop 4 of the most controversial shows at this annual event. Team Roping, Calf Roping, Steer Wrestling and Cowboy Cow Milking will no longer be in the program at future events. This decision will drop Cloverdale Rodeo (Canada's third largest professional rodeo event) from the professional rodeo circuit. The news came just two days after 10 animal rights activists from the organization Liberation BC stormed the arena ring with banners reading "cruelty isn't fun" and "boycott the rodeo" during a one minute break between two events. The rough treatment of the peaceful activists was broadcasted on national news across Canada. Representatives from the rodeo denied that the protesters had anything to do with the decision. Surrey City Council urged the Cloverdale Rodeo to make these changes after a calf was killed in the arena during the four day event.
Despite this change animals will continued to be abused at the Cloverdale Rodeo as events like Bull Riding, Bucking Bronco, Saddle Bronc Riding and Bareback Riding. Rodeos use the most gentle animals because they are easier to herd and transport. The animals buck on command, not because they are wild but because they are tormented. Bucking straps are cinched tightly around the sensitive flank area of a bull or horse causing excruciating pain, abrasions and wounds. Cowboys shock and punch the animals in the face and twist and crack thier sensitive tails in order to get them to "perform" on demand.
Advertisement
NowPublic on Facebook
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (7)
at 21:15 on May 23rd, 2007
Giddy up!
at 04:19 on May 24th, 2007
Joanne Chang, good stuff -- great writing and photos. Thanks.
at 10:17 on May 24th, 2007
Perhaps next year the Cloverdale Rodeo attendees could all gather inside the ring blindfolded and run rampant while Cowboys on horses can chase them, rope them and hog tie them up, while yanking on their Nibbly Bits to control them. Wouldn't that be worth the price of admission.
at 15:48 on May 25th, 2007
First of all, i think if a person is to write on something that they obviously know nothing about, they should atleast do enough research on the Rodeo, so that they actually know the proper names of the events they are writing about. Second, urban residents have to realize that this is a way of life for most people that live in rural areas. Their livelyhood. Before there were cars, or trains, or the local transit, people rode horses, roped cattle, rode broncs and lived on Ranches bigger then most of the cities we live in now. They had to do what they had to do to feed their families (surely the city people know what thats like), and keep the life they loved to live in motion. This was passed on from generation to generation. Most of these cowboys and cowgirls that ride and compete presently are part of the generations of those that have been doing the same exact thing before them. The skills to do these events were bred into them, and for them, its what they love to do. This is how most of them pay their bills and feed their families. I think its unfair to take away their lively hood. What have they ever done to anyone? Nothing. If homework was actually done, one would know that the rodeo stock is taken care of better then most stock at peoples ranchs. This is for the fact that, this is how the stock contractors also make their living. They HAVE to take good care of their assests, otherwise they would not get fed or clothed or have a roof over their head!! A horse wouldn't buck unless if they liked to do it. Its a fact of life. These horses were bred to buck like this, and they love it. You can tell when they trot around after the cowboy is on the ground, they flag their tales in the air and snort because to them, they have won and they did it doing what they love, to buck. Same with the bulls, they love to buck and you can tell by their proudness, in how they carry themselves, that it is something these animals are born into, and they do it well, and they know it. If an 1500-2000lb animal didnt want to buck, or run, or stop, theres nothing that a 200lb person could do to make them. Thats just how it is. Hopefully next time the homework will be done, just not go into it blindfolded.
at 18:44 on May 25th, 2007
Hi Diamond,
I appreciate your honest response to my article. However, the research has been done. I've worked on a farm in California with cattle and horses and none of the animals I worked with buck on command. It is simply unnatrual to do so. Bucking so wildly can hurt the animals' backs. The horses and cattle at rodeos would not buck unless the flank strap is tied around them. I've seen welts and abrasions where the flank straps are tied. Animals don't perform for humans because they like to. The cowboys know that, that is why they hurt the animals to get them to "perform". That's why the cowboys shock, kick and punch the helpless animals prior to letting them out of the chute. I was at the Cloverdale Rodeo. I saw the abuse with my own eyes. I heard the baby calves cry when their eyes are gauged. I did my homework.
Cowboys might make their living competing in rodeos and they may very well feed their families with the money they earn competing. However, people in southern United States also used to trade slaves for a living. They did it for generations and they fed their families trading slaves. But that had to change because it was unethical.
I think you should do your homework and actually take a look at what happens to an animal inside a chute at the rodeo. I think if someone did the same thing to you, you might run around bucking like a maniac. Then the announcer would say "hey look at that Diamond, she is running around like mad and having so much fun!"
Joanne
at 07:22 on January 22nd, 2009
I, as one who has grown up in a rural area and has been around horses and other livestock my entire life, must disagree with you. I understand that rodeos are some people's lives, the only thing they and the family has known, and, as you say, their livlihood. This does not mean that they have the right to cause pain to another animal. There are ways of causing pain without "damaging the goods." You say these animals were bred to buck? Then why even use the bucking strap?
As for your description of the horses and bulls after they are done with the event, that, my good sir or ma'am is anthropomorphizing. That "pride" you described could just as well been fear.
Bucking broncos may buck without a bucking strap. Your description of the days of the past does not, I see, include anything about bucking straps. We can make do without them.
at 20:14 on July 8th, 2008
I don't know enough about the topic of general rodeo competitions to comment fully, but as a barn worker for 10 + years and 5 years of animal medical sciences, I can say that animals can buck from fear and irritation, but not from flank pain. It is possible that a poorly fitting saddle or cinch pulled too tight or pinchy will create a bucking reaction but it usually is accompanied by much more aggressive movement (such as dragging the rider along the boards, shaking and rolling) and flat pinned ears (a generally angry looking face). It is also possible that a horse will buck from tooth pain and general bit discomfort. In this way bucking is used by the horse to say that they are uncomfortable.
However, as a flight animal, any pain creates an instinctive need to move away from the pain (not go up and down).
In Bareback and Saddle Bronc the flank straps I have seen are usually so covered in fleece I worry for the lambs sheared to cover them. I have never seen sores but it is possible to get rubs and sores from dirt caught in anything (including girths). Animals (horses and bulls) I have seen with fleeced flank straps do not have any sores or marks (Calgary Stampede, Las Vegas and Ontario Rodeos), and appear to only be bucking due to the annoyance the trailing strap causes. This would appear to be evident due to the fact that when the strap slips to the side or under the horse (as it is on so loosely) the horse stops kicking out at it (bucking).
Some of the "broncs" I have met were used as ranch horses in their off time. Their response to the bucking strap was a taught one taking advantage of a natural proclivity for bucking. They were essentially taught that it was ok to buck when the bucking strap was on, by immediate reward after bucking. Other broncs I have met were wonderful on the ground and sitting on them at the walk but were prone to bucking like mad whenever harder work (such as a trot) was requested of them. Those broncs were especially clever at unseating their riders and looked positively proud of their achievement as they trotted away with a flagging tail.
There are many reasons why a horse will buck and I think it is important to be familiar with all of them (including the possibility of training)
As I have not seen all the rodeo's out there I can't comment for all, but as far as I have seen rodeo is quite kind to it's animals. In many cases much more so than some "humane-concious" horse owners I have met. I feel that it is best to study any issue from both sides of the equation and not enter into one with ones mind already made up.
As an aside, one of my horses loves to buck, especially when unsaddled. I have trained her from bucking when I am riding (though I believe training her to buck more would have been much easier to do) but nothing will stop her from bucking in her paddock when she's feeling good and trying to get the other horses to play.
Taylor