When you think of New Zealand, you probably don’t think of cowboys. Despite the number of cows that are farmed here, cowboy culture is distinctly out of place in Aotearoa.
Nonetheless, a small population of self-styled “rodeo cowboys” regularly get together to participate in violent events such as bull riding, horse bucking and calf roping. Although rodeo events are not nearly as popular as sports such as rugby and netball, they still attract crowds – especially in rural communities.
Rodeo originated in the United States two centuries ago, but it was only introduced to New Zealand in the 1960s. In recent years, it has come under scrutiny. Prominent animal rights organisations like the SPCA, as well as veterinarians and former rodeo riders, have criticised it for welfare violations, and protesters regularly demonstrate on event days.
It is right that animal advocates are drawing attention to rodeo. The animals used in it are unwilling participants. They are frequently subjected to intense pain, many are intentionally injured, and sometimes they die.
Rodeo conveners use violence to provoke aggressive responses in otherwise docile herd animals. Bulls, cows, calves and horses are singled out and subjected to horrific treatment using tools such as electric prods and spurs, and forced to perform.
With bull riding, for example, contestants aim to stay on a bucking bull for as long as they can – but the bulls are deliberately aggravated to make this more challenging, and they often suffer injuries. Calf roping is similarly abusive: it involves chasing young calves at high speed, throwing ropes around their necks and forcing them to the ground.
The suffering these animals are made to endure is even more appalling when you realise how unnecessary it is. As any Kiwi will tell you, there is no shortage of sports here in Aotearoa – almost all of which can be enjoyed without harming animals.
Next month, SAFE and the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) will take the government to court. They contend that rodeo activities breach the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and they are seeking a declaration from the high court that regulations which allow such practices are unlawful and invalid.
Their challenge has already met resistance: in November last year, the New Zealand Rodeo Cowboys Association, which runs rodeo events around the country, asked if it could be involved in the case. The association has previously downplayed injuries and deaths suffered by animals used in rodeo as one-off incidents or “regrettable” mistakes, and has said that the sport is scrutinised by officers from the Ministry for Primary Industries to ensure full compliance with welfare regulations. Prior to the 2017 election, the Labour party promised to ban flank straps, electric prodders and calf roping. But in 2018 when the government’s National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee assessed welfare at rodeo events, it stopped short of banning those practices, and instead encouraged the association to set up a welfare committee with independent members, to facilitate better monitoring and reporting.
However, SAFE and the NZALA are unlikely to be discouraged. This is not the first time they have partnered to secure justice for animals. In 2020, the high court ruled that farrowing crates and mating stalls for pigs are illegal – a victory for both organisations, as well as animal rights.
Rodeo is one of the most egregious examples of animal cruelty that is perpetrated in New Zealand, but it is far from the only one. As I have previously written, many of New Zealand’s animals are treated inhumanely – not only in sport, but also in agriculture, scientific research and pest control.
As New Zealanders, we tend to think of ourselves as animal lovers. This makes sense when you consider that Aotearoa has one of the highest numbers of companion animals per capita and that blatant acts of animal abuse often inspire outrage.
Increasingly, however, Kiwis are acknowledging that animal cruelty is much more widespread than we previously admitted. This is prompting changes in behaviour, and it is impacting government policy, too. Among the clearest examples are consumers’ growing preference for products that involve little or no suffering – such as plant-based milks and meat-free pies – and the ban on live exports by sea, which was announced last year.
Some rodeo events have already been banned overseas, including parts of the US, Europe and Australia. It is time to ban rodeo here in Aotearoa, too. Most New Zealanders already believe the pain and suffering that rodeo causes animals is unjustified. As more of us become aware of what rodeo involves, opposition to it will likely intensify.
This increasing criticism of rodeo may even encourage us to challenge similarly exploitative practices, such as horse and greyhound racing. Of the two, horse racing is more popular; like rodeo, it involves the infliction of pain, and the animals used in it are frequently euthanised. Although greyhound racing is perceived as more “humane” than rodeo, it is already under scrutiny in New Zealand after the racing minister, Grant Robertson, put it “on notice” last year following a review into its animal welfare standards.
It is right that we should focus on preventing and mitigating the suffering animals are subjected to – but the harms they experience at our hands go far beyond pain. Ultimately, these harms stem from the right we assume to use them for our own purposes.
We have a responsibility to imagine a future in which animals are valued for who they are, not simply for how we might use them – and to work towards realising that future. Rejecting rodeo, and similar “sports”, is a tangible step we can take towards it.
