Source: SAFE For Animals
SAFE is reinforcing its call for a ban on rodeo following the death of a bull at the Waimarino rodeo on Saturday 15 March. At the same event, a steer suffered a significant injury resulting in the removal of one of his horns.
SAFE Campaign Manager Emily Hall says the death toll of five this season illustrates the inherent cruelty of rodeo.
Footage of the incident shows the bull displaying clear signs of distress as he is provoked and forced to buck, before falling and breaking his leg. The footage then shows the bull circling, highly distressed and in pain. He was killed onsite shortly thereafter.
“It is simply unacceptable for animals to be suffering and dying for entertainment,” says Hall.
“Over the past four months we have seen five animals subjected to catastrophic injuries and killed, and it is high time the Government stepped in and finally took meaningful action to prevent further suffering and deaths.”
The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) produced a revised rodeo code of welfare two years ago, however the Government has failed to take any further action. SAFE says that, as a result, New Zealand’s animal welfare laws remain disconnected from the brutal reality of rodeo practices.
“The Animal Welfare Act states that the physical handling of animals must minimise the likelihood of unnecessary pain and distress, yet rodeo practices depend on force and rough handling,” says Hall.
SAFE says releasing the revised code of welfare is urgently needed to allow New Zealanders to have their say on rodeo events.
“These delays are costing animals their lives” says Hall. “While NAWAC and the Animal Welfare Minister hold up progress on the revised code of welfare, animals are enduring unbearable suffering at these brutal events.”
SAFE is coordinating a peaceful protest at the national rodeo finals on Saturday 22 March in Kihikihi, Waikato, calling for this to be the last season of rodeo in New Zealand.
“Rodeo holds no place in a society that values compassion for animals, and we will be sending a clear message to the Government on Saturday that Kiwis want to see this barbaric form of entertainment banned,” says Hall.
SAFE is Aotearoa’s leading animal rights organisation.
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Notes: Information on the five 2024/25 rodeo season deaths;
- A horse was rendered lame following the Taupō rodeo on 29 December who was killed the following day.
- The second death on December 30 occurred at the Te Anau rodeo, where a three-year-old bull’s hind leg was dislocated during the bull riding event. He was killed on-site.
- A steer died prior to the Oruru Valley event on 3 January after being transported from the Warkworth and Far North events.
- The fourth fatality occurred at the Mad Bull rodeo in Otago on 2 February where a bull died after being ridden the previous day.
- Whilst vets are required to be on-site at all rodeo events, rodeo clubs are not obliged to report injuries or deaths sustained during events.
- In July 2022, SAFE and the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) jointly contested rodeo in the High Court. The court ruled that the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) must determine appropriate animal welfare guidelines. However, neither NAWAC nor Andrew Hoggard have provided a justification for the significant delay on the revised rodeo code of welfare.
