Animal rights advocates plan Morris rodeo protest

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This article was published 20/07/2023 (864 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Animal rights organizations are demanding an end to Manitoba rodeos, after a horse was injured and later killed during a recent bronc riding event in Selkirk.

“There is no educational value in watching a horse bucking for it’s life or a calf getting roped by the neck. The physical and emotional distress is far too high to justify calling these events anything short of animal abuse,” said Brittany Semeniuk, an animal welfare specialist with the Winnipeg Humane Society.

The Humane Society filed a complaint after a horse was injured, and reportedly killed on the ground in front of spectators, during a rodeo event July 15 in Selkirk. The incident has sparked a provincial investigation.

Video appears to show the animal breaking its leg, moments after exiting the chute with a rider on its back. Event organizers confirmed the horse was quickly assessed and then euthanized by a veterinarian on site.

Danae Tonge, an organizer with Manitoba Animal Save, is planning to hold a protest Saturday, outside the annual Manitoba Stampede & Exhibition in Morris.

The stampede has operated from the town, located roughly 50 kilometres south of Winnipeg, since 1895. It includes Manitoba’s only professional rodeo, drawing riders from across Canada and the United States.

Last year, organizers reported more than 30,000 people visited the stampede grounds.

Tonge previously protested the Morris event in 2019, after a cow died during a cattle herding competition. An online petition was started that year calling for the province to end rodeos. Roughly 2,000 people have signed it.

“Animals need stronger laws to protect them,” she said.

The activist estimates roughly 20 people will form the protest, bringing signs and educational materials to distribute to attendees.

Two days before the Selkirk incident, a horse was injured and killed during a chuckwagon race at the Calgary Stampede.

According to data from the Vancouver Humane Society, 105 animals have died at the Calgary Stampede since the organization began tracking such fatalities in 1986. Of those, 75 were chuckwagon horses.

“Every summer, we see these types of events continue and, every summer, we reach out to organizers and the province with our concerns,” Semeniuk said.

Semeniuk acknowledged rodeo events are an economic boon for the communities that host them, but suggested it is possible to keep the benefits while also protecting animals.

“All we are asking is they discontinue the specific events which have the highest risk to humans and animals,” she said, adding bronc riding, calf roping and chuckwagon races are among the most dangerous.

The Manitoba Stampede will feature all three events, and others including steer wrestling, bull riding and breakaway roping.

A provincial spokesperson could not confirm Thursday whether officials were reviewing animal care legislation in the wake of the Selkirk incident, but said that complaint is “being handled appropriately.”

“The province regularly works with and monitors live animal events to ensure animal welfare guidelines are followed,” the spokesperson said in an email.

Staff from the Valley Agricultural Society, which hosts the Manitoba Stampede, did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca