Good afternoon chairman Bose and Council, thank you so much for inviting me to address you today.

My name is Jennifer Dickson. I am Research Director for Animal Advocates Society of BC. I live in North Vancouver.

Our expert on rodeo, Emma Vandewetering of Port Moody, is not able to attend this afternoon as she wished to, so I am going to read her prepared statement on her behalf. Emma writes....

I have a background with horses that spans more than twenty-five years, and includes events ranging from local amateur all the way up to national professional categories. I had been riding and taking part in equestrian events since childhood, and as a young adult, I trained with one of the biggest rodeo trainers, in Santa Barbara, California. For a year I witnessed the cruelty of the training and the cruelty on the circuit.

I would like to clarify, that of all of the different equestrian events that I have been involved with, the abuse that I am going to be speaking about relates specifically to the rodeo-type events that I was a part of. I did not witness or experience the same abuse of animals in other events like show jumping and dressage. While I’m sure that some abuse does happen in those areas too, it is not the generally accepted way of treating horses and would be frowned upon. However, the same cannot be said for cowboys and rodeos.

The cruelty that I’m referring to is not just what the public sees at an event such as the Cloverdale Rodeo, but what goes on behind the scenes that the public doesn’t see that is of the greatest concern to me. I am no longer involved with any events because I could do nothing to stop the cruelty I saw inflicted upon the horses and other livestock. It was both heartbreaking and frustrating, so I left.

To get a true sense of what I’m talking about, it’s important to distinguish the differences between local cowboys who simply wear the brimmed hat and go trail riding on the weekends, and professional cowboys who do rodeo to make money and earn prestige. I had a real shock when I moved from local horse events to the higher levels. It seemed the higher up I got and the more renowned the cowboys were, the more money was involved so the abuse became more prevalent and severe. I soon realized that these guys were tough, they meant business, they didn’t take kindly to any resistance from their horses and other livestock, and they certainly didn’t appreciate people trying to change the way they did things. The horse trainers were paid huge amounts of money to make horses perform perfectly for their wealthy rodeo owner/riders. In many cases, the owners who would ride these horses didn’t stick around to watch the training that took place because it was sometimes not pleasant. The horses were trained until they became machine-like, so when an event took place, the owner could simply step onto his mount and do very little, because the horse had been programmed to perform a certain way. These people demanded perfection. To the cowboys, the livestock were a means to an end, and I’ve seen them do whatever it takes to force an animal to do what they want, without any regard for the animal's welfare.

I have witnessed the brutal castration of an animal by an impulsive, angry cowboy who was determined to win a battle with this particular horse. I have witnessed a stallion tied on the ground in the hot sun, then covered with plastic to weaken and dehydrate him, so that cowboys could take turns climbing on his belly to teach him that they were his bosses and he must submit. That horse nearly died before they were finished torturing him.

In recent years there have been a number of “horse whisperer” type people who have emerged into the horse world and instructed equestrians in the art of gentling a horse, as opposed to the old traditional cowboy method of breaking a horse. By their very definition you can see the distinction. Monty Roberts is a world-renowned teacher of this gentle method. Monty admits that of all the horse people in the world who he’s demonstrated his methods to, it is only the cowboys who laugh him off and refuse to see a more humane way of treating animals. Often these cowboys' harsh methods of breaking horses and handling livestock have been passed down by previous generations, so the abuse is considered cultural and necessary.

It is my opinion, that by allowing the Cloverdale Rodeo to continue in the same manner in which it has always existed, this city is condoning and perpetuating the historical cycle of livestock abuse. Our society has evolved to a point where the general public does not accept the abuse of animals for entertainment purposes, and all over North America there are zoos closing animal exhibits due to continued public pressure. With this in mind, I ask that Council explore new and different venues to promote at their yearly fair, and take out the professional rodeo events.

Again, thank you.