Vegan Rising activists occupied the arena at the Bendigo Rodeo on Saturday, bringing the ‘brutal display of animal abuse’ to a halt in what they described as a peaceful but determined action.
Wearing ‘Say No To Rodeo’ T-shirts and carrying red smoke to resemble the blood and violence perpetrated against the animals, the activists sat in a circle in the centre of the arena and chained themselves together before the event could commence.
In a statement, Vegan Rising said, ‘People must stop supporting acts of violence against animals and start supporting the limitless cruelty free forms of entertainment that exist. Bendigo is a creative and vibrant regional hub. It can do so much better than this, as can all of our regional towns.’
Beyond Victoria
The group says all state governments in Australia should make rodeos illegal. Vegan Rising is also calling on the public to ‘boycott this brutal form of entertainment that supports cruelty and violence towards innocent animals and to embrace the abundance of kind and creative activities available to them’.
Activists at Bendigo said, ‘The rodeo is one of the most blatant forms of animal abuse that exists in this country today.
‘These animals are tormented, terrified and physically abused by brutal cowards whilst the crowd cheers it on.
“Flank straps are tied tight around the animals’ sensitive underbelly. The addition of an unwanted rider on their back, often wearing spurs, forces them to buck violently out of sheer terror and pain.
‘Horses and bulls are flight animals so a tight strap around their body resembles an attack from which they will do all they can to escape whilst experiencing absolute panic and fear.
“Scared young steers run, pursued by a rider on horseback, before being lassoed. In Queensland, calves are captured, thrown to the ground, then bound, unable to move. Cattle prods are used to shock the bulls whilst they are trapped in the chute, their tails twisted and bent, so they emerge stressed and irritated.
‘It is a horrific experience for the animals and a sick form of entertainment for those who derive pleasure from watching such callous abuse. The message these events send to children encourages another generation to engage in brutality and cruelty to animals. We should be teaching children to protect and respect the vulnerable, not harm and exploit them.’
Vegan Rising described rodeos as ‘an absolutely vile form of entertainment that must be banned by all state governments. Regional councils also need to do their part by promoting kind forms of entertainment and working to find ways to prevent such brutal displays of violence occurring in their towns,’ they said.
The group have requested supporters to sign a petition directed at all state governments here.
Activists like this are essentially very good people. It’s about us humans doing as little harm as possible. I have known some who enjoy Rodeo, morons one and all.
Unfortunately, their “Doing as little harm as possible” method is actually destroying people’s livelihoods.. I doubt any of those vegans have been contributing to their local economy.
Nonsense.
Sometimes better to post nothing.
“… is actually destroying people’s livelihoods.”
If stopping cruelty to animals affects livelihoods, then B r i n g it on!
Horse racing and Dog racing, all just glorified gambling that we can do without, need to be ended as well.
They never hurt animals and contribute to local and international humanitarian, and environmental initiatives. These vegans make a positive difference. What do you do?
Well Well Well, haven’t we got a collection of ignorant posts, except Kristian. Do the rest of you know where rodeo fits into the history and today, of the Australian way of life. Those hire horses you ride at Centennial Park SYD and those on the beach at Byron (Seahorse) are broken-in & educated by such “morons”, cowboy types who can bend a tyre lever with their bare hands but are the most gentle, & patient when it comes to horses or any livestock type. Go & sit in the arena stands at Gatton, Warwick & places similar and really see what occurs, I’m talking about a multitude of equine disciplines that MANY of you ignorant types would sour your decafed latte. Why don’t you own your post with a surname. I suggest you ride your wind powered pushies out to SCU library and delve into GDP & macro economics. ps. Of the 30 subjects I did at SCU(NRCAE) Contract Law & Macro economics has served me very well, all the rest came a close 2nd, even that confounded Operations Research (Management Science) that, to this day leaves me with an ulcerated gut & gums. Good health & enjoy your day, hugging your pet.
Slavery was acceptable back in the day old fella.
Barry, 100%
Wild animals in circuses was also accepted back in the day.
Rodeos are banned in many countries! Why? Because they harm animals! You would not treat your pet dog they rodeo animals are treated. Animals deserve to be in safe habitats where they are not used to make money for humans. Please stay home to help stop this barbaric event.
Linda, 100%
You guys are idiots. Do the research before making accusations. Rodeo is not cruel to animals. It actually saves multiple animals as with horses who buck cant be used as riding horses and therefore would be dog meat. The snail says are better looked after than most house pets and you guys need to learn to tackle more pressing matters. Try the race horse industry. You were more cruel to the animals by making them have to wait in the pens because you wanted to pull this crap
WTF
Animals should not be injured or killed for entertainment and that is what rodeo is. It bears no resemblance to ranching. I grew up on a cattle ranch in North Dakota and spent 8 years as a ranch veterinarian there. My ranch clients did not ride bulls, speed rope calves or make their expensive horses buck. Rodeo is not American “tradition”.
As a former bareback bronc rider, pathologist and large animal veterinarian, I have both the experience and autopsy proof that rodeo injures and kills animals. Dr. Robert Bay from Colorado autopsied roping calves and found hemorrhages, torn muscles, torn ligaments, damage to the trachea, damage to the throat and damage to the thyroid. These calves never get a chance to heal before they are used again. Meat inspectors processing rodeo animals found broken bones, ruptured internal organs, massive amounts of blood in the abdomen from ruptured blood vessels and damage to the ligamentum nuchae that holds the neck to the rest of the spinal column.
As a former criminal lawyer, children that are exposed to and participate in animal abuse often grow up to abuse humans. I have seen children cry at rodeos when the calves are roped and slammed to the ground. It is time for this archaic rodeo “entertainment” to end.
Thanks Peggy!
Nuff said.
It’s time for this pointless cruelty to end. Bulls with snapped legs flailing around is a sickening sight and kids are seeing it.
Calves and steers pulled to the ground by the neck when the rope reaches its limit or a grown man jumps on them, horses with flank straps pulled tight so they buck trying to remove it… Then there’s the hidden electric devices and spurs.
In a world where we have boundless choices for entertainment it’s high time people chose something else.
Spot on.
Spare our animal friends and bring back the Roman Colosseum and put humans in the ring for entertainment.
All the things currently done to animals we can do with humans – How Good is a Human Rodeo!