Ed Lines: Man versus calf a one sided affair

LETTER writer Lynn Charlton makes a point in today's letters to the editor column - why does society tolerate the treatment of animals in a rodeo.

Lyn discovered Peggy Larson, former US bronc rider and veterinarian, after some online research.

Ms Larson claims "without torture, there is no rodeo".

My son returned from a day out at the rodeo last week, the most indelible memory etched on his impressionable mind being the "poor calves".

He and his friend thought it was mean the way the calves bolted with a thundering horse and rope-swinging cowboy in pursuit, before being roped and hog-tied.

Humans generally reserve this type of aggressive pursuit and restraint methods for criminals. All the poor old calf was doing was minding its own business before it was shunted off to the rodeo, penned up, and released to run terrified before being tackled from behind.

What a life - do they win a one-way ticket to the freezing works when they become too slow to provide a hunting challenge and spectacle?

One could argue that it's a demonstration of skill, keeping alive an age-old tradition. But when was the last time you went to watch a whale-harpooning demonstration. Or had to lasso your calf on horseback to get it into a paddock or pen?

A one-tonne bull vs a human could be argued as the ultimate man versus beast challenge, but isn't this type of amusement a throwback to an age when we created colosseum-type entertainment for the bored masses?

Human versus human, sure.

Human versus bull - slightly fairer - but again, what a life for the bull.

Penned up, frustrated - and released with a pesky human clinging to its back.

As for human (and horse) versus calf - that's just unfair.