Presentation - LICENCE FOR MORUYA RODEO

PUBLIC FORUM

Council Meeting 22 November 2022

Psr 22/059 – LICENCE FOR MORUYA RODEO

Louise Webb

Good morning, Mayor and Councillors, and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.

I would like to address the issue before councillors regarding the future of the Moruya rodeo. This has been an annual event, held in conjunction with the Eurobodalla Show, for many years – around 50 years, I understand. I imagine that, each time in the past that the licence for this event has come up for renewal, it has been fairly automatic for that renewal to be approved.

This time, however, I would ask that councillors reflect more deeply on what it is they are being asked to approve. The event involves a display of riding and handling skills, which are useful to many people living on the land. But it also involves distress, fear and the risk of serious injury to animals. I would suggest that, in 21st century Australia, no thinking person would regard the use of animals in such a way as appropriate entertainment.

Let’s just look at the sorts of activities rodeos involve:

Bronco and bull riding: Rodeo horses and bulls buck repeatedly as an instinctive reaction to being repeatedly kicked with metal spurs and to the tightened flank strap around their sensitive underbelly. Horses and cattle are prey animals and their reaction to being ridden in this way is the same as their reaction to being attacked by a predator, a situation where they experience increased fear, stress and panic. It is not uncommon to see horses and bulls hurl themselves at solid objects in order to rid themselves of the rider

Calf roping: Injury risks include damage to the calf’s neck (soft tissue, windpipe and spine), bruising, broken ribs and choking. A Queensland study has shown that rodeo calves experience stress. A further study by the University of Sydney has also revealed that observers who assessed still images of calves being chased could recognise that they were frightened, stressed and anxious.

Steer wrestling: As well as the fear of being chased and forced to the ground in a rough manner, steers have had their horns damaged with deaths occurring due to their neck being broken. Other injury risks in steer wrestling include damage to the animal’s windpipe and muscle and tissue bruising.

This information comes from the RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase. Unsurprisingly, RSPCA is totally opposed to rodeos, as are Animals Australia and many other animal welfare organisations. RSPCA is not by any measure a radical body; I have been a volunteer with the local RSPCA branch for nine years, and in my view the organisation is well attuned to current general community attitudes and expectations about how we interact with animals, domestic, wild and farmed. Rodeos are banned in the ACT and in the United Kingdom. Why? Because they are cruel, unnecessary and inhumane. If we just open our eyes to what actually happens at these events, we will be sadder, wiser, and better placed to make an informed judgement about the appropriateness of such so-called entertainment in this day and age.

As to the argument that this is a longstanding attraction for locals and tourists, I would say, look around: our shire is a stunningly beautiful part of the world, with magnificent scenery, heritage sights, and a wide range of activities to engage everyone who lives or visits here. Animal cruelty does not need to be part of that.

I am, therefore, asking councillors to reflect deeply before they give carte blanche to an event involving pain, distress, fear and potential serious injury to innocent animals. What are our values here in Eurobodalla? What do we stand for, and what do our actions say about us? To be proud of our shire we need to be proud of what we do here, and how we treat everyone and everything that lives here. And we need to keep up with changing views, and the greater knowledge about animals – all animals – that science has revealed to us.

In making a decision on this issue, each one of you councillors can change an animal’s life for the better, and make us all better people at the same time.

Thank you for your time today.

Video: When they thought no-one was watching. 2 YEAR ALQ INVESTIGATION UNVEILED

Electric prodders and 'jiggers' have been used on rodeo horses on multiple occasions during 2021-2022. These incidents were documented by Animal Liberation Queensland volunteers attending various rodeos across the state. The use of electric prods on horses has been prohibited in Queensland since August 2020.