Un autre cheval est mort au rodéo samedi dernier...

[Animal 0]

Kamloops This Week


RODEO ANIMAL ACCIDENTS


http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/


Aug 30 2006


A death Saturday of a horse at the Kamloops Outdoor Pro Rodeo was
the first such incident in the six-year history of the event. But animal deaths
on the rodeo circuit do occur:

August 14, 2005, Omak, Wash. - A horse is killed during the Omak
Rodeo after breaking its neck during the Wild Horse Race.

July 3, 2005, Calgary - While being herded to the Calgary Stampede
fairgrounds, nine horses die after being spooked and falling 33 feet off a city
bridge into the Bow River. Approximately 200 horses were on a six-day, 125-mile
journey from the Stampede ranch near Hanna to the exhibition site near downtown
Calgary. Some animals tumbled down a steep embankment, and others jumped or fell
over the guardrail. Some horses died on impact, others drowned and one had to be
euthanized later.

July 29, 2004, Edmonton - Four horses being used in a chuckwagon
race suffer severe injuries when a pole being used to attach them to the wagon
breaks as the winning horses are being led from the race. They are euthanized as
a result.

July 10, 2004, Calgary - A horse being used in a wild-horse
competition at the Calgary Stampede is euthanized after breaking a leg by
colliding with another horse and being thrown into a rail.

May 23, 2004, Surrey - A steer being used in the Cloverdale Rodeo
wrestling competition breaks its neck while being wrestled to the ground.

July 15, 2002, Calgary - Seven animals die during the 2002 Calgary
Stampede. A calf suffers a broken leg during a roping event and has to be
euthanized. A horse used in the chuckwagon event suffers an aneurism and dies.
Five horses are injured and later euthanized during chuckwagon events.

August 9, 1999, Ottawa - A horse is killed after slamming into a
fence during a bucking event at the Can-Am Rodeo.

July 11, 1996, Calgary - Three horses are killed during the
chuckwagon event at the Calgary Stampede. Two horses die instantly and the third
is later euthanized after crashing on the "half-mile of hell" event.

Contacts:
If you want to write a letter to the editor, please include your
hometown.

Managing Editor
Christopher Foulds
250-374-7467 (ext. 222)

[Animal 0]

Bronco bolts into fence

http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/


By GEOFF MUELLER and GARY MCKENNA
Staff reporters
Aug 30 2006


For the first time in its six-year history, the Kamloops Outdoor Pro Rodeo
has recorded an animal death.

A horse used in the saddle bronc competition had to be put to death
Saturday night after it bolted into the metal fence surrounding the rodeo area
in the Raymond Kerr Memorial Arena. The horse, Quiet Time, hit the fence with
its chest and fell backwards, with rider Levi Harbin of Peers, Alta., still
astride. Harbin was not injured and managed to help a crew tend to the horse
before it was lifted into a horse trailer and removed from the competition area.

"The unfortunate truth of the matter is the horse had to be put down and
put to sleep," said Geoff Smith, a director with the Kamloops Outdoor Pro Rodeo.

Smith said he is not "100 per cent sure" on what caused the horse to bolt,
but speculated Quiet Time likely looked up and got its eyes caught in the
overhead lights.

"It doesn't happen very often, but when something like that does, the
rodeo community isn't going to cover it up," Smith said. "We're going to tell
the truth."

Smith said the death was a big loss for stock contractor Shane Franklin of
Bonnyville, Alta., as the horse was one of his best. When contacted by KTW,
Franklin refused to comment on the incident: "It's really not a story to be
brought up. Things like that are better left alone."

Immediately following the accident, rodeo co-chairman Ken (Stoney)
Waterston discussed the horse's fate with Franklin and the on-hand veterinarian.
Franklin made the final call to put the horse down.

"We haven't had anything like that happen in six years," Waterston said.
"There's been no injuries to any of the animals and any of the contestants,
actually. We've been pretty fortunate that way."

George Evens, managing director of the Mission-based Council for Animal
Advocacy, said incidents of animals dying at rodeos are more common than most
people think. He said rodeos can be entertaining family experiences, but argued
there are certain events that should be banned.

His organization, and other advocacy groups with whom he works, are
pushing for the prohibition of calf roping, steer wrestling, wild-horse racing
and chuckwagon racing.

"As for the rodeo per se, we are not opposed to the games and the rides
and various events," he said. "It is just the more aggressive, harmful rodeo
events. There are a number of rodeo events that are really not entertainment."

Evens equates some elements of the rodeo to gladiator combat of the Roman
Empire and said like those ancient battles, rodeos should become an activity of
the past.

Opinion section:





Horse's death will spur debate




Aug 30 2006


When Quiet Time left the pen under the announcer's booth Saturday
night at Raymond Kerr Memorial Arena, there was nothing to indicate the horse
was taking the final few steps of its life.

The horse left the pen, bucking magnificently as cowboy Levi Harbin
rode each movement, hoping to stay aloft for the magic eight seconds.

Even as Quiet Time shot straight across the ring, the thousands in
the grandstand had no reason to believe the horse wouldn't turn as it neared the
metal fence, as dozens of horses and bulls did throughout the two-day Kamloops
Outdoor Pro Rodeo.

But in a series of jerks and thrashings that played out almost in
slow motion to those transfixed on this particular saddle bronc ride, Quiet Time
crashed into the hard, white fencing, shaking the tubular metal structure with
its upper chest and front legs.

The horse bounced back suddenly, landing on its back, then turning
on its side.

It never stood up, and was lifted into a horse trailer and removed
from the arena.

The tragedy will bring forth arguments that rodeos should be banned.
And it may bring attention again to night rodeos.

Fight Against Animal Cruelty in Europe is spearheading an anti-rodeo
campaign, which will be held Sept. 22 to Sept. 24 in the bullring in Palma,
Spain.

The group is touting a report done by the German Veterinary
Association for the Protection of Animals - Tierärztliche Vereinigung für
Tierschutz e.V. - in which the association criticizes night rodeos because the
"blinding light interferes with the vision and the behaviour of the animals."

And that is precisely one of the theories behind why the tragic
accident occurred Saturday night, with Kamloops Outdoor Pro Rodeo director Geoff
Smith suggesting the lights at Raymond Kerr Memorial Arena may have played a
role in Quiet Time's fatal run into the fence.

Whether the night rodeo in Kamloops needs to be reviewed is up to
rodeo organizers.

But one must consider that the demise of Quiet Time is the first
death in the event's six-year history.

In fact, there hasn't been a notable injury to animal or rider.

Clearly, Saturday night's tragedy is the exception, at least in
Kamloops. But the death should be deemed serious enough to warrant a review to
determine if there is indeed anything that can be done to prevent this from
happening again.

- Christopher Foulds