Calls for end to chuckwagon races renewed after horse dies at Stampede

Calls for an end to the Calgary Stampede chuckwagon races have been renewed following the death of a horse during an event late last week.

The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) is again calling on Calgary Stampede organizers and Calgary City Council to remove the Chuckwagon races from the event program.

On Friday, a horse was euthanized after becoming injured during the seventh heat of the races. VHS says that since it began tracking chuckwagon horse fatalities in 1986, 75 horses have died, including two since the event’s structure changed last year from four wagons per heat to three.

“The reality is that despite efforts over the years to make the event safer, horses continue to die nearly every year in the chuckwagon races,” said VHS campaign director Emily Pickett.
“The nature of this event means that any race could quickly turn fatal.”

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2016 was the last year that Stampede chuckwagons were not associated with horse deaths.

VHS describes the chuckwagon races as inherently dangerous due to the event’s structure.

“The high speed of the race and the close proximity of the horses and wagons to each other presents a risk of creating a chain reaction if one horse falls or is injured,” VHS wrote in a statement.

“Furthermore, experts have raised concerns about the use of thoroughbred horses as they are often overbred for speed rather than skeletal strength, making their legs susceptible to injury.”

The VHS is also calling for an end to calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling and bucking events at the Stampede, nothing that the events “rely on the use of fear, stress and discomfort to make the animals flee and buck for sake of public entertainment.”

“It’s time for the Calgary Stampede to move away from these dangerous and inhumane events and to instead focus on the many alternative events and activities that already attract hundreds of thousands of attendees to the Stampede every year,” added Pickett.