Thrills & spills
Rodeos continue to stir controversy
It’s an early start for competitors long before the events at the Taupo Rodeo get under way. Checking gear and warming up horses is a must. Teenager Darryl McPherson knows making sure horses are sound and in the right frame of mind is essential to performance.
‘‘If your horse doesn’t work with you, you are not going to win titles because it will be playing up and you will be trying to do something else,’’ he says.
‘‘It is the same with a person, you have to stretch it before competing to make sure it’s not sore.’’
For many, summer months in New Zealand means beaches, barbecues and the familiar cricketing sound of leather on willow.
But for many rural communities, the sweat, dust and Stetsons on show at the rodeo offer a connection to a different strand of New Zealand culture.
The exhilaration of taking part in high-octane barrel-racing or bullriding can be a world-away from an otherwise sleepy time of year.
North Island Rodeo Director Shane Bird knows some find rodeo hard to stomach. But he says opinions are often based on secondhand information.
‘‘Don’t just look at something on YouTube. Anyone can cut and paste a YouTube clip and make it look as bad as you want but come to a rodeo and see what actually happens and see how the livestock are actually handled,’’ says Bird.
‘‘If you are just going to watch something on TV and have an opinion you have really got rocks in your head, you really need to get out there and get involved.’’
Bird, a rodeo bullfighter for 17 years, says competitors are one big family.
‘‘There are lots of families here, it is a great environment with real genuine people.’’
But in recent years, the anti-rodeo bandwagon has been gathering steam.
A petition signed by 63,000 Kiwis was presented to Parliament in March – a petition which animal rights advocates, including Action Against Rodeos, says is reflective of society wanting to see an end to rodeos.
Celebrities from MMA fighter Mark Hunt to actor James Rolleston have added their voices to the proposed ban.
But Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy says the Government has no intention of banning rodeos because a new code of welfare has been put in place.
According to Lynn Charlton of Anti Rodeo Action NZ, you can tell the bulls that have been around for a while – they are bucking less and less, basically rocking back and forward.
A psychotherapist by trade, Charlton describes the movements of the bull as a learned helplessness. ‘‘Like a person who is a victim of domestic violence, eventually they don’t really react to the violence much, they just take it and then they just sort of carry on with their day.’’
Although the Animal Welfare Act 1999 requires that animals are not subject to any unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress, the law allows rodeo.
Charlton claims to have recorded 14 breaches at rodeos in the past season and is calling for a moratorium on rodeos – effective immediately – until clubs can prove they can abide by the law.
Footage shot by the activists at 12 rodeos in the North Island and three in the South Island and sent to the Ministry for Primary Industries allege numerous breaches of the law.
MPI national manager for animal welfare compliance, Peter Hyde, says he is not authorised to release the results of their investigation. In correspondence seen by
Sunday Star-Times, MPI found breaches had occurred but decided not to prosecute.
‘‘The footage was reviewed by two Animal Welfare Inspectors and an expert veterinarian. Reports on their findings were produced and reviewed by a MPI Prosecutor,’’ the letter says.
‘‘The end result is no prosecution action will be taken against any of the parties involved with the rodeo where the alleged breaches occurred.’’
MPI identified eight ‘‘areas of improvement’’ for the Rodeo Cowboy Association, including use of electric prodders, size of arena and use of spurs.
Another contentious area is calf rope-and-tie competitions. According to the Rodeos Code of Welfare, a calf needs to remain tied for six seconds for the tie to be considered successful. Apart from ensuring the welfare of the calf, the code notes the event must not exceed 30 seconds from the release of the calf from the chute.
According to Charlton, one video shows a calf fall and land with its head under its neck after it’s legs are tied.
A successful tie, according to cowboys – but animal cruelty, according to Charlton and her troop.
There are no rules as to how many times a bull can be used in a season, just that they cannot be used more than three times in a day. Some, like the Brahman breed Touchwood, have been around for years. Bred on a farm in Wellsford, Touchwood won the bucking bull of the Year for the 2013/2014 rodeo season.
Charlton is a child of the 1960s, and still has photos of monkeys at tea parties at the Auckland Zoo from the ’60s and ’70s.
‘‘The problem is that the rodeo competitions began in the 1960s, in a time when our understandings of animals and their sentients was denied by many people,’’ Charlton says.
‘‘Some people knew they were sentient and they suffered, but large portions of the community refused to see what was right in front of their eyes. I think society takes a long time to change but it seems the authorities in charge of our animal welfare laws... the laws are the emperor’s new clothes.
‘‘If this is where we are going, where there are 14 breaches at rodeos, are they going to let this go on? We need to call for a moratorium on rodeos.’’
Charlton claims the government has failed to adequately fund and train staff in animal welfare.
‘‘You’ve got people coming over from the fisheries who have no training in animal welfare. The system needs to change. We need an independent commissioner for animal welfare.’’
Back at this week’s Taupo rodeo, clouds of dust blow into the air as four-wheel drives and utes begin to make their way to the rodeo’s public parking area.
A lady at the ticket gate says people don’t arrive early ‘‘because they get bored’’ but one can’t help but notice it’s the controversial calf-roping that’s up early.
By 10am, spectators flow steadily through the gates armed with chilly bins and picnic blankets.
Food caravans, tents and stalls line the side of a bank above the competition ring with the smell of carnival kettle corn and donuts filling the air. Police and SPCA officials are making the rounds, commentators are praising competitors over loud-speakers, and a large screen showcases highlights. It’s a real occasion.
The music veers from Shania Twain’s I’m Gonna Getcha Good to AC/DC’s Back in Black.
The demographic is striking: lots of young competitors and spectators. Carrie Underwood’s Dirty
Laundry blares as flank straps are readied to encourage livestock to buck for the junior steer-riding, followed by the bull-riding.
Nothing but cheers and smiles are heard and seen as competitors are flung around the ring.
A commentator asks another what’s going through a rider’s mind and is told: ‘‘you don’t want to think about it too much’’. Animals search for the nearest escape routes.
Bigger bulls start to take to the ring and competitors take mightier falls. The crowd is engrossed.
Shane Bird, who oversees many North Island rodeos, says all events, including calf-roping, are conducted by riders and cowboys who take good care of their animals – especially under his watch.
‘‘I invite people to come down and see how we handle things.’’
Numbers through the gates are steady, Bird says.
They don’t take much notice of the pitchforks and billboards with ‘‘ban rodeos’’ brandished across them. The invitation to see what really goes on at the rodeos is extended to all.
The New Zealand rodeo youth have a strong barrel-racing team this year, with the young ones expected to head over to Australia this coming season to challenge their trans-Tasman neighbours.
But Charlton says many of those those who come to rodeos have cut off emotions to the animals involved. They may feel empathy for a cat or dog, but nothing for the bulls and horses and cattle at rodeos.
‘‘We have children witnessing these animal torture events... we don’t want to read in the newspapers about people setting fires to animals or beating an animal to death – but we take along a child to these events and show them another form of beating.
‘‘Some people do not know rodeo even exists. We’ve got rodeo on the agenda now and people are gonna have to speak up.
‘‘Society has to condemn this abuse, the more society condemns this abuse, it weakens those who are determined to hold on to it. Cruelty has always had its quarters and it always will – that won’t really change, but in order to change and prevent these things going on, it’s the only way forward.’’
‘‘If you are just going to watch something on TV and have an opinion you have really got rocks in your head, you really need to get out there and get involved.’’ North Island Rodeo Director Shane Bird