Calgary Stampede should join the ban on steer wrestling

SUNDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — Nobody knows exactly what went wrong, but a steer had to be euthanized after being injured Saturday at the Calgary Stampede.

The animal suffered a serious neck injury after being thrown to the ground in the steer wrestling event. The cowboy involved, Casey Martin of Sulphur, La., didn’t feel anything unusual happened and was surprised the steer was injured.

It was a little more than a month ago when we wrote about the annual controversy over rodeo events. Animal welfare groups have long demanded an end to rodeos or, at least, an end to rodeo events that put animals at risk of injury and death.

One of the events under a microscope is steer wresting. As we pointed out in a June 6 editorial, it parallels no activity in ranch life. The B.C. SPCA said steer wrestling imposes “an unacceptably high risk of injury” to rodeo animals and “the potential for pain and fear experienced by the animals for the purpose of entertainment is unjustified.”

Some rodeos have banned steer wrestling. The big Cloverdale Rodeo did it in 2007. It’s time the Calgary Stampede did the same.