The League Against Cruel Sports is chiefly famous for its longstanding campaign against fox hunting here in the UK but this only constitutes a small portion of its work. Some of the other so-called sports where it seeks complete abolition internationally include bullfighting, dogfighting, greyhound racing, any sort of shooting or snaring, and trophy hunting. In short, wherever animals are made to suffer for recreation or entertainment the League will seek to end it.
So all eyes are on Canada this month. It's not the controversial seal hunts that continue to vex other animal welfare charities and that has done so much to stain the nation's international reputation but rather famous annual rodeo festival the Calgary Stampede which has spurred the League into action.
It's the nature of the events at the Alberta-based show that are proving particularly provocative, with great stress placed on the animals forced to take part. Take calf-roping, for example; in this event the young calf is goaded and prodded to ensure that it bursts out of its chute at full speed. The animal is then chased by a mounted rider who must lasso it, jump off his horse and pick it up, slam it to the ground and then tie three of its feet together. The well-being of the animals involved is rarely considered, which goes some way in explaining why it has been banned in the United Kingdom since 1934. Behind the romantic mythology of the 'Old West' lies an industry of very real animal abuse.
The main stumbling block facing opponents of the Stampede - aside from an immediate short-term financial gain for its organisers - is the defence that such events are an intrinsic part of the local culture, an argument employed by supporters of bullfighting in Spain and of similar activities in other parts of the globe. Albertans, so the reasoning goes, would be denied a part of their heritage if the show was not allowed to go on.
But cultural tradition is no justification for the harming of animals for sport, and one has to wonder whether any culture that wishes - nay demands - to express itself in such a way is morally lacking. Rodeos, bullfighting and all the rest should exist only in history books, a closed chapter of a shameful past.
Comments
A concise but informative reminder that our recreational needs must evolve as we do. Although animal sports which involve cruelty are part of each country's heritage such as those you have mentioned like Spanish bullfighting, English fox hunting or American rodeos the argument that such traditions add to a country's cultural diversity does not outweigh the fact that such sports are cruel and outdated and to quote you 'should exist only in history books'. Well done!
A concise but informative reminder that our recreational needs must evolve as we do. Although animal sports which involve cruelty are part of each country's heritage such as those you have mentioned like Spanish bullfighting, English fox hunting or American rodeos the argument that such traditions add to a country's cultural diversity does not outweigh the fact that such sports are cruel and outdated and to quote you 'should exist only in history books'. Well done!
Glad you liked it, Sarah, and a very good point you make too. It's absolutely right to argue that "our recreational needs must evolve as we do." I just hope more people begin to realise it.