Mt Isa Rodeo: PETA calls for event to be rebooted without animals, featuring hobby horse racing

In a move no one would have seen coming, animal activist group PETA has made a call to reboot a Queensland rodeo that recently went into administration, albeit with a very major twist. Here’s what they’re suggesting.

The Mount Isa Mines Rodeo went into voluntary administration on Monday. (Photo by Dan Peled/Getty Images)

Hobby horse racing would be the new event at the Mt Isa Rodeo if PETA gets its way.

As the rodeo enters voluntary administration, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wrote to administrators SV Partners and event chair Rowena McNally urging them to seize this opportunity to retool the event – and bring it back without animals.

In the letter, PETA Senior Policy Advisor Mimi Bekhechi notes that voluntary administration presents the perfect opportunity for the event to modernise and suggests some quirky activities to replace those that exploit animals, writing, “For example, a mechanical bull championship could replace bull riding and hobby horses could be used in barrel racing.

“Instead of traumatising and crippling baby animals with calf roping, competitors could instead ride electric bikes as they attempt to lasso remote control cars steered by their opponents!”

A rider takes part in a dressage event at the Finnish Hobbyhorse Championships

Horses, bulls, steers, and calves are prey animals who experience fear when chased, tackled, or thrown to the ground. According to PETA before a bull-riding event, bulls are shocked, jabbed, and kicked while in the chute and their delicate tails may even be twisted in an attempt to rile them up.

The organisation says calves and steers used for roping commonly suffer from soft tissue, bone, and windpipe injuries as well as choking, and the imprecise nature of lassoing a moving target often results in mis-roping, causing animals as young as four months old to fall, unnaturally contorted, resulting in neck and spinal damage. When animals are too old or injured to continue being exploited, they’re killed.

PETA claims this year a frantic steer tumbled over the barrier into the arena seating area while being chased by bullfighters.

In 2018, Animal Liberation Queensland investigators filmed the horrific death of two animals at the event: a horse who had flipped over and broken his neck during the saddle bronc event and a steer whose broken leg was dangling while a rider remained on his back.

In its letter, PETA notes that more people globally have viewed this footage than have attended the rodeo itself and urges administrators and event organisers to “end this national disgrace for good”.

Originally published as Mt Isa Rodeo: PETA calls for event to be rebooted without animals, featuring hobby horse racing