The SPCA and Humane Society should not have anything to do with the Stampede. I realize that being in Calgary, they would have to be careful as to the wording of their policy statement, in order not to offend Stampede fans who may also contribute to these charities - as to "the SPCA and Humane Society working closely with the Stampede," that is a whole other issue. These animal protection agencies, in a way, give sanction to the Stampede by their presence at the rodeo. Nor should veterinarians support this event. They should boycott and publicly condemn it. If Canada had appropriate, modern animal protection legislation, the Stampede would probably not be allowed to operate the rodeo part of the annual fair.

Here are a couple of news releases by the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (one about the recent Stampede horse deaths and another about the Cloverdale Rodeo):

http://cfhs.ca/news/stampede_horse_deaths_should_be_last_straw_for_chuckwagon_races/

http://cfhs.ca/news/canadian_federation_of_humane_societies_backs_move_to_can_rodeo_events/

One more thing I neglected to mention about CBC promoting events like the Stampede and the Yukon Quest - a lot of CBC listeners and viewers, from seeing and hearing the positive and cheerleading-type coverage, would think that if these events were OK with CBC, then they must be OK period. From providing this cheerleading-type coverage for many years and not doing appropriate investigative reporting about all the bad stuff that happens (and for the animals, it IS mostly bad stuff), CBC is complicit in animal suffering and death. Other media share in this responsibility as well, but they are not receiving money from taxpayers.