Dear Eurobodalla Shire Council General Manager:
I’m writing with regard to the public notification of the licence for the Moruya Rodeo and to object to the granting of any such licence.
Rodeo entertainment is based on terrifying animals into a stress response. Calves are yanked violently with ropes and pinned down; bulls and horses are jolted with electric prods, spurred, viciously kicked; and straps are tightened around the animals’ abdomens to provoke them to bolt and buck – all in the name of putting on a show.
Human rodeo participants voluntarily risk injury, but the animals they use have no such choice. Countless animals in rodeos have sustained punctured lungs, deep internal organ bruising, haemorrhaging, ripped tendons, torn ligaments and muscles, and broken necks, ribs, backs, and legs. Animals have been known to run headfirst into the arena walls in an attempt to escape.
By reinstating the licence for the Rodeo Association of Moruya, the council would be putting Eurobodalla Shire behind the times. Your near neighbours in the Australian Capital Territory have banned rodeos, and calf-roping is outlawed in South Australia and Victoria. More broadly, traditional rodeo events are banned in England, Scotland, and Wales as well as in parts of Europe and the United States.
The Australian Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is opposed to rodeos “because of the potential for significant injury, suffering or distress to the animals involved” and notes that all “rodeo events will cause stress, fear and pain as well as injure animals”.
Residents of Eurobodalla Shire don’t need to inflict pain on panicked animals for entertainment, and approving this licence would be out of step with the broader expectations of the Australian public. There are plenty of other ways to bring communities together without resorting to cruelty to animals.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,