A bull lunges and kicks while being ridden at a rodeo event. Photo / Jason Oxenham, File
A bull lunges and kicks while being ridden at a rodeo event. Photo / Jason Oxenham, File
Opinion by Lynn Charlton
OPINION
Three rodeo animal deaths reported recently were not legitimate accidents, as claimed. They never are.
Catastrophic injuries at rodeos directly result from what is done to animals at what I believe are outdated cruelty fests. Bulls are the animals killed most often, by, and at rodeos.
So, what happensto them?
Bulls are subjected to phenomenally tight ropes around their chest and back. The rider’s right hand is tied into this rope. It is so tight that if the riders fall off the wrong way, they can be seen flying through the air attached to the bull, as the bull continues bucking and spinning.
Riders risk having their arm pulled out of their socket – and it happens. It’s hideous to watch a 60 or 70kg person in that situation.
But it’s also hideous to watch what is done to the animals.
Bulls at rodeos are most prized – and enjoyed by the crowd and riders – when they are thrashing and writhing, bucking, twisting, and leaping off the ground while the rider spurs them in the sides.
While animals contend with an aggressive rider hurting and driving them berserk to the accompaniment of loud music, the flank strap adds pressure to make them buck harder and higher, the crowd and announcers scream with delight, orgiastic in their pleasure at this suffering.
Hearing people, including competitors, shouting “Give it to him” is a disturbing experience.
An 800kg or 900kg bull does none of this naturally. Bulls are not built for such action They are docile herbivores. Fights between bulls involve headbutting and pushing.
Spinning and leaping, bulls at rodeos literally become dizzy and disoriented.
It is while spinning and bringing their hind legs down that their legs snap. It is stomach-churning to see. A bull snapped his leg this way at an Ōpōtiki rodeo last month.
The other catastrophic injury reported was a spinal injury to a bull at the Te Anau rodeo.
The crowd probably did not know it had happened. Typically, it only becomes apparent once the animal has left the arena and is seen shaking, unstable and near collapsing out the back. The injury, caused by overextending their backs, is not compatible with life.
Lynn Charlton. Photo / Supplied, File
A horse was also reported to have died following a seizure in the arena at the Rerewhakaaitu rodeo.
This occurred immediately following the animal being spurred and bucking wildly. The rider had fallen off, according to sources, and it took four or five strides (likely still bucking), and began seizing before death.
Early this month, a horse at Canterbury rodeo suffered a degloving hindleg injury. Degloving is very serious and can require euthanasia. It occurred while the animal was kicking out in the chute, as many do, and getting its leg caught between the rails. We’ll be following up on whether this horse lives.
Rodeos don’t want injured animals as they cannot put on a good show and risk further injury.
The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) is currently undertaking a full review of rodeos and, as a stakeholder group, Anti Rodeo Action NZ is involved, alongside other animal advocacy groups including the SPCA. These groups are united in calling for a ban.
We hope NAWAC does the right thing and ends these events cleanly and clearly, once and for all.
They have no place in any civilised society, and I cannot believe any animal lovers, with their wellbeing at heart, would want them to continue.
-Lynn Charlton is a psychotherapist, animal advocate and the spokesperson for Anti Rodeo Action NZ.
