No No Rodeo

I’m not exactly a “radical” when it comes to issues of animal rights (I still eat them, after all), but I firmly believe that animals deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect that we human animals owe one another.

That’s why I was surprised and a little dismayed when I saw that this year’s Maritime Fall Fair was going to include an “Extreme Rodeo Competition,” featuring bronc and bull riding, events where success is measured largely by a rider’s ability not to get kicked off a bucking beast. From where I sit, that looks like nothing more than a cruel display of empty macho mastery over unwilling animals who appear to be struggling or, at the very least, extremely unhappy.

But what do I know? I’ve only ridden a horse maybe twice in my life, and the only bull I’m familiar with is the type that issues regularly from the mouths of government PR hacks.

In search of someone who knows more about horses than I do, I looked up Dan Isner, owner of Isner Stables in Harrietsfield. His family has operated a working farm for over sixty years, and he put it to me this way: “You've almost got to grow up with animals to know (whether or not it’s cruel). It's hard to explain to outsiders. These animals don't work any more than five or ten minutes a year, and they are well taken care of. There are a lot worse places they could end up – like being shipped off for meat. They get a longer life this way.”

Perhaps that’s true, but it still feels to me like the whole ethos of rodeo is off-kilter. It may be that the way people feel about the issue reflects the urban/rural divide – a culture clash of sorts. But I also think there has to be more to it than that.

A few weeks ago, Scott Millar, chair of the Nova Scotia SPCA’s Advocacy Committee, wrote an impassioned letter to the Chronicle Herald, making the case that rodeos are dangerous and cruel, and citing the fact that three horses and a steer were killed at this year’s Calgary Stampede. Those horses had all been involved in chuckwagon racing, which, it’s worth noting, was not an event at the Maritime Fall Fair. But two of those horses died of heart attacks following the races, and one suffered a broken leg and was euthanized on the track in front of thousands of spectators. The steer was euthanized after it suffered a spinal injury while being wrestled to the ground.

“Perhaps the worst aspect of rodeos,” Millar wrote, “is that they are billed as family events. Children, most of whom have a natural affection for animals, learn at the rodeo that this is an acceptable way to treat them. I, for one, would prefer that my children learn respect and kindness for all living beings.”

I have to agree with that, and I don’t even have children. Besides, in what other spectator sport would it be considered acceptable to have the athletes die as a direct result of the competition? If football players were routinely dropping dead after a particularly spirited game, would we accept that as just an unfortunate consequence of the sport?

My gut says that this exercise in dominance isn’t sporting at all, because ultimately, displaying superiority over animals isn’t the way we should be gauging our success as a species, anyway.