The New Zealand rodeo season — twenty-nine rodeos, down from thirty-five in previous years — has begun
Cattle and horses will be assaulted for entertainment. Calves will be sent airborne at the end of a rope, then hog-tied. Some will be dragged through the dirt as horses pull on the rope, causing their necks to elongate abnormally for a second time. Steers’ necks will be twisted almost 180 degrees until they collapse with pain. Other steers, wearing plastic head-gear with plastic horns, will have their heads pulled in one direction and their hind legs pulled out beyond the limits of their bodies. Some will collapse on to their belly as their backs arch.
The fake "wild" rides you see are animals in distress. It’s written all over them.
The flank straps drive horses nuts, irritating them to buck repeatedly. They’ll be spurred in the neck and shoulders, causing pain and blunt force trauma — bruising and tissue damage under their coat. Skin may be sliced off, exposing the pink flesh beneath. Heavy, usually-docile bulls, hardly agile animals, will be incited to buck repetitively.
You’ll see the open mouths of horses and bulls, their tongues hanging out. You’ll see excessive saliva splashing out of the mouths of cattle.
No government has promised to ban rodeos and the new government is unlikely to initiate it.
In 2019, the Labour government, the minister for agriculture and the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) were taken to the High Court by the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) and Save Animals from Exploitation (Safe) over the use of pig farrowing crates.
The court found the crates were illegal and were in violation of the Animal Welfare Act. According to the NZ Rodeo Cowboys Association E-newsletter (December 2020 (Issue 38) this set a precedent, and if parts of the Rodeos Code of Welfare were found to be illegal, they would not have a sport as they knew it. Legal advice was sought by the board and it was noted that most agriculturally-based activities that have codes of welfare were also seeking legal advice.
In July 2022, NZALA and Safe took the government and NAWAC to court seeking a judicial review — not a ban — over how rodeos operate against the Animal Welfare Act. Obligations in the Act include a requirement to handle animals in a way that minimises the likelihood of unnecessary or unreasonable pain or distress. It was acknowledged in court, that due process in issuing the 2018 rodeo code of welfare was not followed and that "blunders" had been made.
NAWAC had already begun a review of codes of welfare following the pig farrowing crate outcome. The court decided NAWAC was best to continue with that work.
That’s where things are at now.
Codes were supposed to be subservient to the Act, to show how to implement and apply the Act. Incredibly, former NAWAC committees and the Ministry for Primary Industries applied the codes as if they were superior to the Act — they got it the wrong way round.
The review across multiple codes is going to take some time. Our group, alongside several others, the SPCA, Safe and the rodeo association are key stakeholders. The rodeo association animal welfare committee — a new committee in the last few years — includes representation from the SPCA. The committee was unable to submit to the review process because rodeo members and the SPCA could not agree on what went into the submission.
The review will be to align with the spirit, intention and requirements of the Animal Welfare Act. It is not a process involving any government pledging to ban or not ban rodeo. It is outside of that. All governments are required to uphold the rule of law.
— Lynn Charlton is a spokeswoman for Anti Rodeo Action NZ
