BRANDON—Animal Justice has filed a formal complaint with the Chief Veterinary Office (CVO) against the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair (RMWF), submitting a disturbing video that shows a calf’s back legs flipping completely over their head after being grabbed and tackled during the Fair’s controversial calf scramble.
“The video speaks for itself—the distress and fear caused to these animals is inexcusable,” said Kaitlyn Mitchell, lawyer and Animal Justice’s Winnipeg-based director of legal advocacy. “This event is cruel, outdated, and likely violates Manitoba’s Animal Care Act. It’s time for a stop to this unnecessary suffering.”
The calf scramble—rebranded as the “barnyard challenge” in recent years—forces young calves into a chaotic arena where they are chased, grabbed, and tackled by teenagers and young adults in a frantic attempt to remove halters from their bodies.
Footage recorded by Animal Justice at this year’s event, still referred to as a calf scramble by an in-house announcer, shows calves visibly frightened even before the scramble begins, huddling together and searching for an escape as they are surrounded by participants and event staff.
When the scramble starts, the video shows calves being aggressively chased and tackled. Once the animals are caught, many participants struggle to remove the harnesses, tugging and pulling at the calves’ necks and faces for extended periods, causing significant distress, which appears to violate Manitoba’s Animal Care Act, which forbids actions that resulting in “acute suffering, serious injury or harm, or extreme anxiety or distress.” Animal Justice is urging the CVO to take immediate action to prevent further violations.
“The calf scramble is an inherently cruel event that causes significant distress to young animals,” Ms. Mitchell said. “Manitoba’s animal protection laws exist to prevent exactly this type of unnecessary suffering. It’s time for the government to step in and ensure the Fair stops violating the law.”
In addition to the calf scramble, the complaint also highlights concerning conditions documented at the RMWF’s petting zoo, including chicks in various stages of hatching placed in a display case and exposed to constant noise and jostling by children, and rabbits kept in open wooden boxes, allowing children and adults to freely grab, handle, and pick them up with no supervision.
Additionally, Animal Justice observed cows in a livestock show being hit in the face by handlers using their hands or sticks when they failed to move in the desired direction.
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Josh Lynn
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