Humane society can't run ad advocating against rodeo event at Calgary Stampede
Published Tuesday June 30th, 2009
CALGARY - The Calgary Humane Society won't be following in the footsteps of another animal welfare group that is calling for an end to calf-roping at the Calgary Stampede.
The Vancouver Humane Society is lobbying for an end to the rodeo event, in which a calf is roped by a person riding a horse, thrown to the ground and then tied by the legs.
Peter Fricker, spokesman for the Vancouver society, said his organization is advocating beyond its borders because animal welfare groups need to target "the heart of rodeo in Canada" and that's not happening.
"We felt that there wasn't any other major animal protection group taking on that issue at the Stampede."
Calgary society spokeswoman Pamela Amos said her organization rejects any events that cause "stress, pain, injury or death" to animals, but won't take a stand against the Stampede.
"Our organization is more of a sheltering organization, we're not an avid activist," she said.
The Vancouver society is having trouble getting its message out to the public in Calgary, in part because it was turned down when it tried to place full-page ads in the two big daily newspapers in the city, said Fricker.
The ads feature a calf flying through the air at the hands of a checked-shirt cowboy, with hand-written letters spelling out "Bully" for the cowboy and "Baby" for the calf.
The text of the ad accuses rodeos of subjecting three-month-old calves to fear, pain and stress in the name of entertainment and concludes it's "no way to treat a baby."
The ads are aimed at reminding people that farm animals are not that different from dogs and cats, animals that Fricker says people wouldn't tolerate being treated in a similar way.
He said the Calgary Herald rejected the ad, even after all references to the Calgary Stampede were removed.
The Calgary Sun also rejected it, sending an email saying that while Fricker is entitled to his opinion, the newspaper does not share it and would therefore not run the ad.
"We thought that wasn't very fair because normally, in our understanding of journalist ethics, agreeing with the opinion of an advertiser is not usually the criterion for whether a newspaper accepts it or not."
Siobhan Vinish, vice-president of marketing for the Calgary Herald, would only say the newspaper "reserves the right to edit, revise or reject any advertisements - we chose not to run the ad in question."
The Vancouver society has run other controversial advertisements while protesting rodeos, he said. A newspaper in Abbotsford, B.C., ran an ad that depicted Jesus next to rodeo animals and asked people to imagine how he would feel about their treatment.
That ad generated controversy and discussion on both sides, something Fricker said he hoped would come from the Calgary ads.
The Calgary Sun didn't return calls seeking comment.
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