Bull ‘lay bellowing and salivating’ before being put down at rodeo
Activist groups are renewing calls for a total ban on rodeos in New Zealand after a bull was killed on Friday.
The bull broke its leg at Parklee Bullride rodeo in Martinborough on Friday night and the animal was euthanised on site.
Animal rescue service HUHA reported that the injured bull ‘‘lay there for almost 10 minutes bellowing and salivating. The staff couldn’t get him up so they brought in some of the other bulls to encourage him’’. It then managed to drag itself out of the ring before being euthanised.
‘‘Our take on it is it’s sad seeing any animal put in that situation or to suffer that amount of pain and ultimately die for the sake of entertainment,’’ HUHA co-founder Carolyn Press-McKenzie said.
‘‘To suffer pain and to die - it’s just a pretty heinous situation.’’
Direct Animal Action spokesman Apollo Taito said a witness also approached his organisation.
‘‘It actually highlights the lie that cowboys say that animals aren’t hurt in rodeos,’’ he said.
‘‘There have been witnesses for deaths previously, 2014 in Christchurch a bull broke its back, and up at Mohaka in 2016, there were two deaths there, one horse who tore her hoof off in Te Anau and a bull that snapped its leg in half in Richmond in Nelson.
"It's sad seeing any animal put in that situation or to suffer that amount of pain."
Carolyn Press-McKenzie Animal rescue service HUHA
‘‘The animals are distressed and most of the time they are in a lot of pain that we don’t see. This is the more severe end when animals are hurt or killed.’’
Taito was optimistic the new Labour-led government would ban rodeos.
Spokeswoman for animal rights organisation SAFE, Mandy Carter, said these types of incidents often happened ‘‘behind the scenes’’.
‘‘But when you consider why it happens at all, this is something that goes on for basically some grown men to dress up as cowboys and go and have fun on a Saturday afternoon. There really is no justification.’’
Carter said her view was shared by most New Zealanders, and the number of people actively involved in rodeo were ‘‘very much a minority’’.
‘‘We’re hopeful given promises made previously by Labour and the Greens that there may be some restrictions on certain rodeo events or even certain events banned altogether such as calfroping. We’re really hoping to see some progress in this area soon.’’
President of the New Zealand Rodeo Cowboys Association Lyal Cocks said it was a ‘‘freak accident’’.
‘‘It is very regrettable, it doesn’t happen very often, it’s very unusual in rodeo and the process to deal with the situation was followed but we are carrying out an internal inquiry to make sure best practice was followed.
‘‘[It is] very disappointing for the owners, the competitors and the spectators, because we all love animals very much and the animals are a key part of the sport,’’ Cocks said.
❚ Editorial: Time for rodeos to ride into sunset ,A8