EDMONTON—National animal law organization Animal Justice is raising the alarm over several rodeo events taking place at the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) – events that may violate Alberta’s Animal Protection Act. The group has submitted a complaint urging the Edmonton Police Service and the City of Edmonton Animal Care & Control to monitor the events, which are taking place October 1-4, and take enforcement action as needed.
The CFR includes events like calf roping, steer wrestling, goat tying, and bull and bronc riding. These spectacles force animals—often juveniles in many circumstances—to endure fear, stress, and physical danger for entertainment in front of noisy crowds. Animal Justice is strongly urging authorities to consider prohibiting the steer wrestling and calf roping events entirely, as they appear to conflict with Alberta’s Animal Protection Act.
The CFR will also include simulated branding and “doctoring” events which, despite their name, involve the same high-speed pursuit, roping, rough handling, and forced restraint involved in other calf roping events.
“Chasing a terrified young animal at high speed, slamming them to the ground and restraining them in a noisy arena is not only deeply inhumane, it appears to contravene Alberta’s Animal Protection Act,” said Jessica Schwarz, Animal Justice’s Edmonton-based staff lawyer.
“Events like tie-down calf roping, steer wrestling, and goat tying are particularly outdated. At a minimum, these events should be closely monitored, if not cancelled, as they are likely at odds with Alberta’s Animal Protection Act and increasingly out of step with Albertans’ values of compassion and care for animals,” Ms. Schwarz said.
Most Canadians oppose rodeo cruelty, with only 37 percent of Albertans supporting the use of animals in these events, though that support is likely even lower when it comes to particularly violent events such as calf roping.
Calves suffer from distress, fear, and the risk of injuries and even death throughout the various stages of roping events. Due to its inherent cruelty, tie-down calf roping is banned in several jurisdictions in Australia, Brazil, the United States and Canada, and in the whole of the United Kingdom, Germany, and The Netherlands.
Likewise, steer wrestling is incredibly violent and dangerous for the animals involved. A young steer died in 2024 at the Calgary Stampede Rodeo after his neck was broken during a steer wrestling event. Both calf roping and steer wrestling events were eliminated by one of Canada’s largest rodeos, the Cloverdale rodeo, in 2007.
Contact:
Josh Lynn
Public Relations Manager
306-203-2373