Calgary, Alta Submerged

[Raggedyann]

I agree ethically however I respect tradition too. I have many dichotomies in me.

Hemingway is one who taught me respect and deeper meaning in bullfighting. I still don't agree with it necessarily, just like I don't agree with warfare, but I respect both great bullfighters and great soldiers. Animals always have been used as workers (slaves) in our history, and to me this is a holdover from olden times celebrating this history.

I have personally never seen anything that I thought was cruel in a modern (Calgary-type) rodeo. We are pretty careful in Canada about animal cruelty... the Shriner's circus was banned here.

I don't know. My summed up thoughts are that a rodeo as I know it is no different than using racehorses or racedogs (maybe better), plus I eat animals killed for food, and I consider killing worse than what I have seen from rodeos or dogshows. Pets or meat. Which is worse? This is an eternal question, and one we ourselves must face I think.

We should rise above our past barbaric practices, not celebrate them. I'm an animal lover and with all due respect, tradition be damned. Killing for food, if its carried out humanely, is kinder than what takes place at rodeos.

If you read the article at the link I posted above, you will see there is quite a difference between dog shows and rodeos.

[Fan]

We should rise above our past barbaric practices, not celebrate them. I'm an animal lover and with all due respect, tradition be damned. Killing for food, if its carried out humanely, is kinder than what takes place at rodeos.

If you read the article at the link I posted above, you will see there is quite a difference between dog shows and rodeos.

I don't trust PETA reporting on those things, they are not always... truthful. But yes, I can imagine there is some bad stuff. I realize my position is just one of many, and that is why I won't try to impose it on others. I don't really buy that killing something humanely is better than doing sports or even other bad things I can think of. In one of those activities the animal ends up dead, that is pretty final.

I just heard from my friend in Calgary that the waters near him have receded a bit and things may be looking up. If only the rain would stop for a week it would be OK.

[Raggedyann]

I just heard from my friend in Calgary that the waters near him have receded a bit and things may be looking up. If only the rain would stop for a week it would be OK.

Speaking of nature...although I don't know how natural these disasters really are, I hope the Calgarian's get respite soon.

[voguy]

They sure could use a break.

When I was in North Dakota, the Mouse River in Minot was running near flood stage already, and if you recall that dashcam video, when we crossed into North Dakota the water was right up to I-94 in most places.

We sure have seen our precipitation for a spring. If there is anything good about it, thankfully it was not snows.

Here I am complaining about snow and I still want to move north.

[Raggedyann]

I don't trust PETA reporting on those things, they are not always... truthful.

You may have good reason for not trusting Peta. I don't know much about this org.

Since 1986, fifty horses have been killed during the Chuck Wagon race. Three died at last years event alone. I watched calf roping at the Williams Lake Stampede years ago. Call me a sap but I sat there and cried.
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Vancouver Humane Society regarding the Calgary Stamped.

The Calgary Stampede, like all rodeos, is a cruel spectacle of animal abuse. Fear, pain and stress are used to coerce animals into performing for the entertainment of human beings – a barbaric concept. Yet here in Canada, in the 21st century, we offer this as a tourist attraction and as a symbol of our culture.

Perhaps the most inhumane of all rodeo events, calf-roping remains a big part of the Stampede. The Vancouver Humane Society is calling for a ban on calf-roping at rodeos across Canada and is asking the Calgary Stampede to show the way by dropping this event. In 2009 and 2010, VHS’s campaign against calf-roping drew massive public and media attention. Now it’s time for the Stampede to listen to Canadians who oppose abusing animals for entertainment.

The cruelty of fear

All cattle are “prey” animals and research has shown they are particularly sensitive to fear. Dr. Temple Grandin, the distinguished animal behaviourist, has written that fear is “so bad” for animals it can be worse than pain. There can be little doubt that a three-month-old calf, goaded and chased into an arena with a shouting crowd is suffering even before the rope pulls him off his feet. How can tormenting an animal in this way be acceptable as entertainment? Treating a dog this way would result in cruelty charges. Sadly, farm animals in Canada have no such legal protection – apparently even when they are used for mere entertainment.

More...
http://www.vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca ... -stampede/