Calgary Stampede chuckwagon race kills second horse

Calgary Stampede kills horse number 2 in chuckwagon race. July 2019.

A second horse died after sustaining injuries during a chuckwagon race at the 2019 Calgary Stampede, Wednesday, July 10, 2019.

Here’s what local animal rights’ groups said about the dead horses.

“What we have to do is stop looking at horses as objects that we can look at for our viewing entertainment,” said Trev Miller, the media relations co-ordinator for Calgary Animal Rights Effort. If we can’t take care of them, we shouldn’t put them in that situation.”

Agree with the first sentence Trev. One of the most disappointing statements comes from Peter Ficker of the Vancouver Humane Society when he stated:

“The problem is there are just too many horses and too many teams going at high speed, taking tight turns at close proximity,” Ficker said. “Those are all things that could be looked at and perhaps the race could be made safer.”

“. . . perhaps the race could be made safer”. How about let’s call the whole thing off? Look what Ficker is quoted as saying in 2017 as reported by The Horse magazine:

Peter Fricker, spokesman for the Vancouver Humane Society, said 60 horses have died from chuckwagon race-related injuries since 1986. In response to the latest death, the organization called for the Stampade to suspend the chuckwagon races.

“Nearly every year horses die in this race, which clearly puts them at undue risk of injury and death,” Fricker said. “The Stampede has failed to stop horses dying and the public should let them know this is unacceptable.”

Anyone truly interested in the wellbeing of horses would call for a complete end to chuckwagon racing. How many horses need to die before you arrive at that conclusion?

What about the horses?

The horses used in this outdated, barbaric competition do not volunteer. They do not “enjoy it” or “love it” as some fools profess. The horses perform because they have no other choice. They can’t quit, ask for time off to recuperate, or simply not show up for work. They are stuck right where they are, and cannot determine their own fate.

Sadly many of the horses made to perform in chuckwagon racing have already suffered the horrors of the horse racing industry. Now they are living this nightmare.

Yet in comments to articles covering these horses’ deaths, you see statements like this:

The Stampede has Vets that do check ups before they are cleared to Race. This goes on every day before these horses are even hooked up. NO horse race track anywhere has these safety restrictions. Besides the horses that die at racetracks after 3 to 5 Years most racehorses are sold for Slaughter, unless saved by a chuckwagon owner.” (See Global News article)

Educate yourself. Calgary Stampede sends cast-off horses to the slaughterhouse »

You who buy tickets, attend and cheer this on are as complicit in all of this as the ones who put on these grisly spectacles. Without you, it would all come to an end. Companies who sponsor it, their blood is on your hands too.

SOURCE

• Second horse dies at 2019 Calgary Stampede chuckwagon races »