Calgary Stampede Rodeo Under Fire For Animal Abuse

Horses used for entertainment are routinely put in harm’s way, especially during rodeos. This paper explores media accounts of the use of horses in the annual Calgary Stampede (a large-scale Canadian rodeo that has come under fire for animal welfare concerns). The article reviews the arguments presented for and against putting horses in danger during the Stampede, particularly in the chuckwagon races.

“As one example of how modern Western societies are increasingly obliged to reconcile questions of civility and justice against common, indeed revered, practices that compromise nonhuman animals, this paper examines the recent history of public debate regarding the use of animals for public entertainment in the Canadian West. Using media-based public dialogue regarding the annual Calgary Stampede (and especially chuckwagon racing) as a case study and couching the high-risk use of horses in the sociological language of “sports-related violence,” the paper explores the various arguments for and against the continued use of horses at the self-proclaimed “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” despite unambiguous evidence of the harm that regularly, and sometimes graphically, occurs.”