Source: SAFE For Animals
Animal rights organisation SAFE says the revised Rodeo Code of Welfare demonstrates the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee’s (NAWAC’s) reluctance to confront the fundamental cruelty of rodeo or acknowledge that an industry built on exploiting animals for entertainment has no place in modern society.
SAFE maintains that the code of welfare review process presented NAWAC with a crucial opportunity to protect animals. Rather than refining the rules for how animals can continue to be used in these events, the advisory committee should have formally advised the Minister responsible for animal welfare that an industry built on inflicting fear and distress on animals for entertainment is fundamentally incapable of protecting their welfare.
SAFE Campaign Manager Emily Hall says genuine animal welfare protections cannot coexist with an industry that terrorises animals for entertainment.
“New Zealand’s animal welfare system should be focused on more than reducing the level of harm inflicted on animals in rodeo. It should be working to end it.”
SAFE says while the proposed code includes some measures intended to reduce harm, it fails to address the fundamental problem with rodeo itself.
“Animals will continue to be subjected to fear, pain and distress for the sake of entertainment. As long as these events are allowed to continue, the risk of injury and death can’t be eliminated” says Hall.
SAFE highlights the serious injury risks faced by animals used in rodeo, including ripped tendons, broken bones, horns torn off, severe bruising, and organ damage.
“Rather than refining the rules for how rodeo events can continue, the Government and NAWAC should recognise that it’s unacceptable to subject animals to suffering for the sake of entertainment and finally put an end rodeo” Hall says.
SAFE is now calling on people to have their say on the revised code of welfare and submit through the public consultation process, which is open until 9 December.
“This is an opportunity for Kiwis to speak out against rodeo cruelty in New Zealand”
“Simply put, rodeo holds no place in a society that values compassion for animals”
About SAFE
SAFE is Aotearoa’s leading animal rights organisation. We’re creating a future that ensures the rights of animals are respected. Our core work empowers society to make kinder choices for ourselves, animals and our planet.
In 2016, over 60,000 people signed a petition led by SAFE, the SPCA and Farm Watch calling for rodeo to be banned in New Zealand.
In July 2022, SAFE and the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) jointly contested rodeo in the High Court. During those legal proceedings, it emerged that the publishing of the 2018 rodeo code of welfare had not adhered to due process. This suggested shortcomings with how the rodeo code was developed. The High Court did not make a ruling on the legality of rodeo, instead indicating the correct process for challenging this matter would be during NAWAC’s consultation process for the updated rodeo code of welfare. (See above for updates on the revised Rodeo Code of Welfare).