Stop the Hurstville rodeo (this Sunday!)

3dayz

Please click and sign, send automatic letter HERE

Background

Urgent –On the 23rd of September the Australian Lugarno Lions Club, with the approval of Hurstville City Council, have organised a rodeo as the main attraction of their annual Spring Festival. The Australian Bushmen’s Campdraft and Rodeo Association (ABCRA) invited themselves to the party and will demonstrate how to be cruel to animals during a bull-riding and saddle bronco riding event.

To force a bronco or bull to come out of the chute bucking a flank strap is pulled tightly around their groin. When pulled tightly, the flank cuts into the sensitive area, irritating them and causing them to buck in an attempt to relieve the discomfort. Once the flank strap is removed, the animal stops bucking. To further increase bucking, riders are allowed to wear metallic spurs with loosened rowels (star shaped wheels). Just prior to being released the rider digs his spurs into the animal’s side cause further aggravation, as well as help him stay on the animal. Another widely used method to get the animal to buck is using an electric pod… without fear and pain, there is no rodeo.

Check out this video of Australian rodeos as organized by groups such as the ABCRA!


What you can do

Please contact the Lugarno Lions Club and Helen Dickenson-Panas, the Events and Protocol Officer at Hurstville City Council and ask them to cancel the rodeo from the Spring Festival’s program! Simply fill in the form HERE and click ‘Send’. You can also edit the letter to your liking – personal letters carry much more weight and prove more effective than form letters.


Petition text

Dear representative,

I am writing to urge you to cancel the rodeo from the program of the Lugarno Lions Spring Festival this Sunday, the 23rd of September.

It is unacceptable for animals to be subjected to deliberate cruelty for no other purpose than so-called entertainment. Video footage from recent rodeos in Australia clearly demonstrates that the horses and bulls (among other animals) involved are stressed and fearful. Injuries and even deaths are not uncommon.

Rodeos are banned on cruelty grounds in the ACT, in the United Kingdom, and in parts of Europe and the USA. This is 2012 – surely as a society we can now agree that it is unacceptable to subject animals to cruelty and distress in the name of entertainment.

Please take action immediately to stop this rodeo from happening at this festival! Thank you for taking the time to consider this important appeal.

imagine if you were this horse
or a bull
at this rodeo.
hurstville is the last place
you would want to go!

Karen Lyons Kalmenson