| April
21, 2006
LAST
RODEO OF THE SEASON SHOULD BE THE LAST RODEO EVER!
Saturday April
22nd will see the last rodeo of this season, The National Circuit Finals,
take place at the Harveydale Rodeo Grounds, bringing to an end a season
that has resulted in the documented deaths of two animals and injuries
to a number of others.
The death of the bull After
Dark at the Carrick Bull ride in January and just two weeks later the
death of a 5 year old bay gelding at the Ulverstone rodeo, with both incidents
caught on video camera, received wide media coverage which highlighted
the inherent cruelty of rodeos and resulted in renewed calls for a ban
on by animal groups including AACT and the RSPCA Tasmania.
“It was devastating
to watch as this magnificent bull broke his back and was then forced
to drag himself off the arena, clearly in pain, only to be bullied up
a loading ramp by being kicked in the face. He was then left to lie
in agony for over an hour before he was finally put out of his misery.
To then have to witness the totally unnecessary death of a beautiful
horse just weeks later was appalling. And these are only two of several
serious injuries that were filmed by animal activists who attended just
a handful of this seasons events to document for the first time ever
what happens at Tasmanian Rodeos.” said AACT rodeo campaign coordinator
Emma Haswell.
With a review of Tasmania’s
Animal Welfare Act still underway animal groups such as AACT will be lobbying
for a ban on rodeos in Tasmania. The rodeo industry is currently totally
unregulated, with no requirement for a permit and the only guidelines
being a voluntary code of practice drawn up by the rodeo industry.
“We now have a new
Minister for Primary Industries, David Llewellyn, and we will be seeking
a meeting with him in the near future. Rodeos will most certainly be
one of the matters we will be putting on the agenda for this meeting.”
continued Ms Haswell.
“Until now this very
nasty side of Tasmanian rodeos had never been exposed to the vast majority
of the general public who do not support or go to rodeos. Should we
be unsuccessful in gaining a ban on this cruel and outdated form of
“entertainment”, we can assure the rodeo industry that they
can expect even more exposure and protests next season, and that we
will continue to lobby for a ban on this totally indefensible form of
animal abuse.” concluded Ms Haswell.
For more information
contact:
Emma Haswell, AACT Rodeo Campaign Coordinator, mob: 0408 658 356
New footage of Tasmanian
rodeo cruelty available.
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