RODEO – BULL INJURY AND DEATH Criminal charges in terms of the Animals Protection Act will be laid against all involved – including the attending Veterinarian - in the organisation and participation of a rodeo in Viljoenskroon in the Free State which took place on 29 November 2014: - the South African Rodeo Finals. The National Council of SPCAs has always maintained that rodeo is cruel, abusive and an exploitive form of “entertainment” which causes unnecessary suffering to animals. Personnel from the NSPCA’s Farm Animal Protection Unit had to intervene when a bull being “ridden” in the ring had sustained an injury that led to the animal having to be humanely euthanased by the NSPCA. The NSPCA obtained a warrant to prevent the use of bucking straps and / or spurs. These items are used to infuriate / torture the animal into rearing and kicking when the rider is on its back. Appreciation is expressed to the Viljoenskroon SAPS who assisted the NSPCA in terms of enforcing the warrant. The rodeo on Saturday 29 November 2014 began with a series of “extreme riding” events. Senior Inspectors from the NSPCA’s Farm Animal Protection Unit were present in a monitoring capacity and intervened when the bull shattered the bones in his hind leg whilst being ridden in the ring. The NSPCA objected to no avail when the injured bull was loaded onto a trailer. This took place in the presence of Veterinarian Dr Nadia Engelbrecht of the Bothaville Dierekliniek. Although the attending Veterinarian administered pain treatment, the bull should not have been moved as he was clearly in extreme distress and pain. The bull was taken an estimated one to two kilometres on a dirt road before being humanely euthanased. The organisers justified this by stating that this must be undertaken out of sight of any members of the public. The NSPCA position is that transporting a severely injured animal in this way caused further unnecessary suffering. The organisers had no provision for the handling of an emergency situation involving an animal. If the public wish to frequent gatherings and watch animals being abused, then neither they nor the organisers should be concerned or supposedly sensitive when the suffering of animals is ended in their presence. NSPCA personnel approached the organisers to appeal for the event to stop, in the interest of the animals and to prevent any further injuries or incidents. This was refused and the rodeo continued with further timed events of bulls being ridden. Two High Court Rulings have been issued regarding rodeo:- the most recent in 1994 when the NSPCA obtained High Court interdict against organiser Dirk Dippenaar. He was duly restrained from “organising, conducting, promoting or otherwise participating or assisting in the organisation and promotion of any event, the purpose of which is entertainment or the holding of a competition or rodeo” which involves “the riding of bovine which have not previously been ridden or which are not accustomed to being ridden.” The fact is, that if animals are not used to being ridden, they must not be used in rodeos and no appendages / attachments or tools / equipment on the animals are to be allowed either. Senior Inspector Nazareth Appalsamy of the NSPCA’s Farm Animal Unit stated that the public had fuelled a blood sport by paying to watch animals being exploited and often left with extreme injuries. “This is the reality. Far from being harmless fun, as the promoters would have us believe, rodeo carries serious risks to the animals, and is a form of animal abuse. This is not the first time that there has been a fatality. In addition to animals sustaining injuries and cases of fatalities, there was a human fatality following an accident in the ring in 2008 in the North West Province.”
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 09:12:15 +0000
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