Rodeos to ride on out

Banning rodeos in New Zealand would end the "inherent cruelty" to animals involved in the events, animal welfare advocates say. Animal welfare organisations presented a petition calling for a ban on rodeos in New Zealand to Parliament on Thursday afternoon. SPCA chief executive Ric Odom said the petition, signed by 63,000 Kiwis, sent a message that New Zealanders did not support rodeo events continuing in the country. Neither do I. When you see animals in the chutes that are prodded with electric prodders, or frothing at the mouth, or trying everything they can to get out of that confined place, that's not good. It would not be OK to chase a puppy on a horse, to rope them around the neck, then throw them on the ground and tie them up, so why do we do this to calves? And it would not be OK to get your cat and twist their neck 180 degrees so they fall to the ground, so why do we do this in steer wrestling? And tying a rope tightly around a horse or bull's balls so it will buck - would you do that to a pet? And what about the people that ride the animals then get seriously hurt when they fall off? It just needs to stop.