Calgary Stampede

[Sir Bandelot]

Sixth horse dies at Stampede; euthanized

The show must go on.

But not in the UK:

Death of 6 horses stirs animal-rights debate at Stampede

The League Against Cruel Sport began a petition, encouraging British members of parliament, to condemn the rodeo at the Stampede. The league also lobbied travel agents to stop arranging tours to Alberta during the 10-day-long Calgary event.

League spokesman Steve Taylor says fellow Britons are “surprised they still have rodeos.”

Rodeos were banned in the U.K. in 1934 — as a result of one of the league’s first actions. “People are genuinely shocked that this is still going on.”

Taylor doesn’t buy the argument that the rodeo should be supported because of its roots in farming tradition. The league, he points out, successfully lobbied for the ban against another long-standing tradition that it also deemed cruel: fox-hunting in the U.K.

Calgarians, looks to me like it's time to grow up and join with the rest of us in the real world.

[Jack Weber]

Sixth horse dies at Stampede; euthanized

The show must go on.

But not in the UK:

Death of 6 horses stirs animal-rights debate at Stampede

The League Against Cruel Sport began a petition, encouraging British members of parliament, to condemn the rodeo at the Stampede. The league also lobbied travel agents to stop arranging tours to Alberta during the 10-day-long Calgary event.

League spokesman Steve Taylor says fellow Britons are “surprised they still have rodeos.”

Rodeos were banned in the U.K. in 1934 — as a result of one of the league’s first actions. “People are genuinely shocked that this is still going on.”

Taylor doesn’t buy the argument that the rodeo should be supported because of its roots in farming tradition. The league, he points out, successfully lobbied for the ban against another long-standing tradition that it also deemed cruel: fox-hunting in the U.K.

Calgarians, looks to me like it's time to grow up and join with the rest of us in the real world.

Did you barbecue hamburgers tonight?

[Sir Bandelot]

Yeah but I went to the farmer and asked him if he kills his cows humanely. He said yes. So I told him I'd only buy his meat if he whipped the cows first.

[Jack Weber]

Yeah but I went to the farmer and asked him if he kills his cows humanely. He said yes. So I told him I'd only buy his meat if he whipped the cows first.

Nothing wrong with whipped meat...

Texture of the 'burgers...Texture,my man...

[stamps]

Nothing wrong with whipped meat...

Texture of the 'burgers...Texture,my man...

I have always wondered what horse meat would taste like.... maybe we could have an onsight butcher ready to carve-up each and every animal that dies at the Stampede, we could sell or raffle off the meat and donate the proceeds to whichever animal rights group pays the Stampede the right to be honored that particular year.... we could even grade the meat by how they actually die, if a horse dies in competition then it's meat gets the highest grade(DDD), if we have to shoot it because of an injury sustained in competition then the meat would be graded a DD, if it just drops dead from natural causes in the barn or pen we'd give it a single D grade..... all this attention we are getting over the deaths of these animals might be a blessing in disguise....

[kimmy]

Yeah but I went to the farmer and asked him if he kills his cows humanely. He said yes. So I told him I'd only buy his meat if he whipped the cows first.

Serious question: are you a vegan?

If not, what steps do you take to make sure that the meat and dairy products you consume are produced humanely?

I think that people who advocate that others act on behalf of some value (in this case, opposing animal cruelty) ought to be able to demonstrate that their own actions are consistent with that value as well.

I suspect that many who oppose the Calgary Stampede can only rationalize their own food (and clothing) choices in terms of "out of sight, out of mind."

-k

[bloodyminded]

Serious question: are you a vegan?

If not, what steps do you take to make sure that the meat and dairy products you consume are produced humanely?

I think that people who advocate that others act on behalf of some value (in this case, opposing animal cruelty) ought to be able to demonstrate that their own actions are consistent with that value as well.

I suspect that many who oppose the Calgary Stampede can only rationalize their own food (and clothing) choices in terms of "out of sight, out of mind."

-k

Absolutely. If someone is consistently and in a lived way opposed to animal cruelty, then their stance on the Stampede is principled. (I'm not quite feeling it myself, but I don't doubt their intent or basic decency at all.)

If you buy meat at the grocery store, however, there is no longer any excuse for ignorance, since the practices of procuring meat are well-documented and are becoming broadly known...and animal-rights-wise, the two situations are not even comparable.

[kimmy]

And again, I'm all in favor of a ban on chuck-wagon racing, which clearly places the animals at an unreasonably high risk. But complaints based on the emotional well-being of the animals rather than the chuck-wagon carnage are much harder to justify.

-k

[Jack Weber]

And again, I'm all in favor of a ban on chuck-wagon racing, which clearly places the animals at an unreasonably high risk. But complaints based on the emotional well-being of the animals rather than the chuck-wagon carnage are much harder to justify.

-k

What is GWEMAC's stance on vegans?

[Sir Bandelot]

Serious question: are you a vegan?

If not, what steps do you take to make sure that the meat and dairy products you consume are produced humanely?

I think that people who advocate that others act on behalf of some value (in this case, opposing animal cruelty) ought to be able to demonstrate that their own actions are consistent with that value as well.

I suspect that many who oppose the Calgary Stampede can only rationalize their own food (and clothing) choices in terms of "out of sight, out of mind."

-k

The legitimacy of this issue goes beyond the behavior of just one person, in this case the original poster. But since you insist that its important to know, yes I am a vegetarian. I do not believe that meat is unhealthy to eat, but choose not to eat it for the reasons you gave. However I am not overly fanatical about it. In other words sometimes I break the "rules", like when I visit other peoples homes. I will not insist that they prepare my meal separately, and then sit there sanctimoniously eating my vegetables while they eat meat, because I don't want them to feel that I am judging them. So at times I will eat it, because I know that such occasional "transgressions" if thats what I can call it, have very little impact on the larger issue.

If it were up to me the whole system of industrialized food production and slaughterhouses would be reformed. I am no expert on how best to do that of course. But most people don't care much, what they want is a cheaper piece of steak and most people have more immediate problems to solve, than worry or even give a damn about animal welfare. That doesn't mean that the rest of us should ignore the problem and do nothing. And first of all, where there is something happening that's unreasonable or unnecessary, something that could be changed, it is right to do so. Like the chuck wagon races. Society's cruelty to animals reaches its culmination in the slaughterhouses, but it begins at the circus.

[Sir Bandelot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UpyyooUtMI[/media]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTcp26zsZPc

Indeed.

Your leader, I presume?

[jbg]

I have always wondered what horse meat would taste like....

The members of the Lewis & Clark expeditions (yes I know this is U.S. history) sure liked it. In fact they purchased horses from the First Nations (yes a Canadian term) as a moving source of food.