Out-of-court deal seen as win for animal welfare
Event will go ahead but with enhanced safeguards against injuries to animals
A legal attempt to halt an urban rodeo to be held this summer in Montreal as part of the city’s 375th anniversary celebrations has been dropped after both sides reached an agreement out of court this week.
Université de Montréal law professor Alain Roy and his law students, who brought a request for a temporary injunction against the rodeo in Quebec Superior Court, said their decision was influenced in part by the fact rodeo organizers threatened to hold them responsible for more than $100,000 in losses if the event were cancelled.
But Roy said the injunction request was successful because it spurred a new animal welfare oversight committee that will monitor rodeos in the province.
Under the terms of the agreement with the organizers of this summer’s NomadFest Urban Rodeo, who also run the St-Tite Western Festival, an independent veterinarian and animal behaviourist will be allowed to examine the animals before and during the events in Montreal and St-Tite. As well, a committee will be struck to make recommendations concerning animal welfare at rodeos. The committee will be made up of three animal rights experts, three representatives from the rodeo industry, and two officials from Quebec’s ministry of agriculture, fisheries and food.
“I think it’s unlikely that if we had not filed the request for an injunction the rodeo industry would have invited us to come in with independent experts to monitor their events,” Roy said Thursday, calling the creation of the new committee and the ability to examine rodeo animals a huge win for animal welfare rights in the province.
The committee will be able to study the practices and norms of all the rodeos in Quebec, Roy said, an industry that to date has been self-regulating. Animal rights activists are calling for a ban on bull riding and broncobusting, saying techniques used to incite the animals are cruel and overstimulate them, putting them at risk of injury.
“This is a golden opportunity to get an overview of rodeo practices and evaluate them under the regulations of Quebec’s new animal welfare law (that was created in 2015 and recognizes animals as sentient beings whose rights must be respected),” Roy said.
Organizers of August’s NomadFest Urban Rodeo had demanded a $100,000 bond from Roy in the event an injunction led to cancellation of the events, Roy confirmed, noting that it was both intimidating but also rewarding, because it showed his group’s injunction was effective. Lawyers for rodeo event organizer TKLN told Roy he would be held personally responsible if the event were to be cancelled, Roy said.
Rodeo organizers accused activists of fabricating false allegations, and said the new committee would change little because the industry
This is a golden opportunity to get an overview of rodeo practices and evaluate them under the regulations of Quebec’s new animal welfare law.
has long instituted strict measures to ensure the well-being of its animals, and injuries are rare.
“It’s unfortunate for the whole rodeo industry, but equally for all events that have animals at the heart of their activities, and for the employees, partners and volunteers that had to live with this uncertainty,” said Pacal Lafrenière, director of the St-Tite Western Festival, in a statement. “We have always maintained that we do things in a professional matter, respectful of the laws, and in particular for the rodeo animals.”
The Montreal SPCA said in a communiqué their opposition to the events stands, and they spoke out against the promoter’s legal tactics. It encouraged the public to sign its petition to stop the rodeo, which had more than 25,000 signatures as of Thursday.
The NomadFest Urban Rodeo is scheduled to run from Aug. 24 to 27 in the Old Port. More than 600,000 people visited St-Tite (pop. 4,000) for their rodeo in 2014, the secondmost popular in Canada after the Calgary Stampede.