Clive Dalton: Animal rights in short supply at rodeo time

COMMENT

Hi bronco - have I got a deal for you.

The late Dr Ron Kilgour taught that the relationship between man and animals was based on a domestic contract.

When our farm animals were domesticated, a win-win contract had to be negotiated between both sides. Both man and the animal had to give something away to get the benefits they sought.

The animal couldn't do its own bargaining so man had to be the advocate for both parties. So before we eat lamb, for example, we have to provide the sheep with feed, water, shelter, disease prevention, regular shearing, social contact with other sheep, and protection from predators, low stress management and so on.

In return, the sheep has to accept being fenced in, limited breeding opportunities and an early but guaranteed painless death. It has the legal right to a fair deal under the Animal Welfare Act 1999, and the farmer must ensure it gets this, as the act protects us as an export country from world criticism of our farming.

Now consider the barbaric practice of rodeos which, sadly, have had top billing over the holidays in newspapers and on TV, as they make great copy and pictures when real news is scarce.

Admittedly, rodeo animals are well managed between events, but what can an animals' advocate offer them in return?

How about a stressful muster and journey to the event, ever-increasing fear from smells and sounds in anticipation of the event, and a period of downright terror trying to get rid of a predator from their backs or hitting the ground at full speed with a rope around their necks? If the animal could negotiate its own deal, would it agree to all this for the benefits received? Pigs might fly! Their human negotiators could not allow this part of the deal.

This is where the real mystery comes in, as rodeo animals do have an advocate in the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (Nawac), which is a gathering of eminent people with great expertise in animal welfare.

To the dismay of Peter Blomkamp, chief executive of the SPCA, Nawac has approved an updated version of the code of welfare for rodeos but with little alteration. We were hoping they would enter the 21st century and ban them, as they have in Britain.

The weakest argument I ever heard in support of rodeos came from a Rodeo Cowboys Association president talking on Holmes, who said rodeos were justified as they were part of the Kiwi tradition. What rubbish. Kiwi pioneers never needed to rope stock in wide open spaces or buck-jump horses till they accepted a rider. And there was certainly never a need to ride a bull.

How to fix things? Never go to rodeos and never take kids. Lobby local authorities to ban rodeos on public areas, and don't hire your private land for rodeos. Tell your local paper editor if he/she reports rodeos and prints pictures of terrified animals, you'll stop buying the paper. Lobby your local MP to tell ACC to stop paying for rodeo accidents, and lobby the Veterinary Association to stop sending vets to rodeos. Rodeos can't operate without a vet. If vets from your local clinic support rodeos, change to another clinic. Remember we are telling the world that we're clean, green and humane. How can we possibly do this with rodeos still being legal?

* Dr Clive Dalton, former scientist and Waikato Polytech tutor, is technical editor of www.lifestyleblock.co.nz