THE PROVINCE
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Boycott Calgary Stampede
It's 'entertainment based on cruelty to animals'
Kerry Williamson
CanWest News Service
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
CALGARY -- The deaths of nine Calgary Stampede rodeo horses during an Alberta centennial trail ride Sunday has the Humane Society of Canada suggesting a boycott of the rodeo.
"It's like talking about the seal hunt in Newfoundland, or the bullfights in Spain," said HSC head Michael O'Sullivan. "I'm not opposed to entertainment, but I am opposed to entertainment based on cruelty to animals."
Spooked by a nearby train, the herd of 200 broncs broke into a gallop and some drowned after jumping over a bridge wall and plunging into the Bow River.
Joe Fardell, of Tourism Calgary, called the accident tragic, but didn't think it would harm the city's reputation.
"The Calgary Stampede is an icon," Fardell said. "The stampede is an organization that knows what it is doing. This was an accident. Rodeo is a sport, and it has risks. People know that."
The society called on the public to boycott the rodeo and stop supporting the companies that promote the event.
"You have to go at the underpinnings of the event to make a change, and the underpinnings here are money -- not heritage," O'Sullivan said.
"My view is that everyone hides behind their culture, their history, when it suits them. But the fact is that the practices showcased in rodeos are ones that would never be part of any reputable ranch operation."
Some say bringing wild horses into a bustling city was a disaster waiting to happen.
"They were just borrowing trouble," said Michael Alvarez-Toye of the Calgary Animal Rights Coalition.
In 1986, a chuckwagon accident killed 11 horses.
© The Vancouver Province 2005