Are rodeos good old fashioned fun or animal cruelty? It's a question that has caused debate between animal rights activist and pro-rodeo groups.
Controversial national spokesperson for the NZ Rodeo and Cowboys Association Michael Laws moved to Central Otago two years ago. He told The Country's Jamie Mackay he took on the role of spokesperson after he found rodeo to be "part of the fabric of rural Otago and Southland."
Rodeos will not be banned in New Zealand any time soon because the Minister responsible for animal welfare does not believe they are harmful enough.
However, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri has asked the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) to address issues like tail twisting and rope burning, which animal activists raised, and the results will be reported back to her under urgency.
Laws is not fazed by this saying, "what we've got is a series of fundamentally false allegations from animal activists that are going to be exposed yet again for the lack of science and substance behind them."
