Rodeo debate: SAFE call to boycott this weekends rodeo

SAFE believes the time of rodeo is over.

SAFE is concerned that animals will again be tormented and put at risk of injury for entertainment at the Waikato Rodeo at Kihikihi this weekend.

This is the same rodeo which was found by Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to have breached the Rodeo Code of Welfare in 2015. Huntly rodeo has already been forced to close after receiving animal welfare warnings from MPI.

This season anti-rodeo sentiment is heating up.

The death of a bull recently, which broke a leg at the Martinborough rodeo, has created widespread public outrage.

Protests have been held outside many events including Outram, Canterbury, Taupo and Warkworth rodeos, and a protest will take place at the Waikato Rodeo on Saturday.

"Rodeo events cause suffering for all the animals involved, especially the calves that are roped and ridden," says SAFE campaigns manager Marianne Macdonald.

"Young calves are used in brutal 'rope and tie' or 'calf roping' events, a euphemistic label that hides the stress caused to these calves. Vulnerable young calves are wrenched off their feet, thrown to the ground and have their legs tied together.

"To be singled out and chased is terrifying for a herd animal. Obvious signs of stress such as bellowing, showing the whites of their eyes, their tongue hanging out and panting, are all quite common.

"Science shows that rodeo has a harmful effect on young animals when they are roped." The most robust study on calf roping was not taken into account when the government select committee reviewed rodeo cruelty last year.

Funded by an Australian rodeo association, the 2016 study concluded that calf roping causes an 'acute stress response'.

"Young animals are being bullied for entertainment, and even when calves survive without physical injury, they have been put through emotional trauma," says Marianne.

New Zealand's National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee — the government's body who reviews animal treatment in NZ and formulates rules on animal welfare — say they have serious concerns regarding calf roping.

The 2014 Code of Welfare says the "Recommended Best Practice… [is that] d) Calves should not be used in rodeo events."

"New Zealand's code of welfare for rodeo is very weak legislation which allows animals to be subjected to unnecessary stress and risk of injury," says Marianne.

"Additionally, the meagre regulations in the code are often not enforced and it is left up to volunteer investigators to monitor and report breaches of the law. Just as our society is trying to stamp out bullying to young people, caring Kiwis also want an end to the bullying of animals.

"Rodeo's time is up. This cruelty will soon be consigned to the history books."
SAFE asks people to email the Prime Minister asking for a rodeo ban and for Waikato residents to avoid the rodeo.