Legality of rodeo challenged in the High Court at Wellington

Animal welfare groups say rodeo goes against the Animal Welfare Act and should have stricter guidelines. Photo / Supplied

Rodeo has come under the scrutiny of the higher courts today, as animal welfare groups say the activity violates the Animal Welfare Act.

The New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) and SAFE say rodeo violates the Act set up to protect animals, and have taken their case against the Agriculture Minister and the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee to the High Court at Wellington today.

They are seeking a judicial review of animal welfare codes they say normalise the mistreatment of animals in rodeos.

Around 35 rodeos take place in New Zealand each year. They involve events including calf roping, bareback riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing, team roping, saddle bronc and bull riding.

The group argues that New Zealand rodeos, upon first glance, contravene several sections of the Animal Welfare Act 1999, including section 10, which says there is “obligation in relation to physical, health, and behavioural needs of animals”.

They say the Code of Welfare (Rodeos) 2014 set down by the Ministry for Primary Industry, looks to sanction and normalise the mistreatment of animals at rodeos and the 2018 review of the code isn’t up to standard.

Lead counsel for the welfare groups Victoria Heine QC said the practice of rodeo is one that attracts great public interest and both support and opposition to the controversial form of “entertainment” are polarising.

Heine said the groups weren’t in court to seek a legal ban on rodeo, but for a review of the laws around the Animal Welfare Act, and how the sport of rodeo goes against the welfare act.

“This court is not being asked to ban rodeo, that is a matter for the legislature,” Heine said. “[It is] not something the court can do and not something we are seeking from the court today.”

Justice Peter Churchman asked Heine about the success of their bid, and whether that would lead to a ban on rodeos.

Heine said there was nothing stopping rodeo from continuing, provided those who are practicing don’t breach the obligations they are under from the Act.

When Justice Churchman probed Heine on their stance regarding the 2014 welfare code, she said there were “serious questions of validity” to do with it.

NZALA and SAFE will also argue that The Code of Welfare for Rodeos does not meet the purpose of the Animal Welfare Act.

They say that because the Code allows rodeo events such as steer wrestling and calf roping to occur, it is inconsistent with the principles of the Animal Welfare Act – which deems the creation of unnecessary pain or distress of animals to be illegal.

“A correct application of The Animal Welfare Act would therefore make Rodeos unlawful,” the group say on the SAFE website.

In a Horizon Research opinion poll commissioned by SAFE in June 2020, results found that 51 per cent of respondents would support a ban on the use of animals in rodeo in New Zealand.

Twenty-five per cent were opposed to the ban and when poll takers were asked if they agreed that rodeo caused pain and suffering to animals and that suffering wasn’t worth it for entertainment, 66 per cent agreed.

This is the second time the two organisations have challenged the Codes of Welfare legally.

NZALA and SAFE filed a judicial review in 2019 which challenged the continued use of farrowing crates, used to confine mother pigs for a week before giving birth.

Their bid was successful and the courts ruled that the Minister of Agriculture and NAWAC acted illegally when they failed to phase out the contraptions.

The group say there has been growing criticism of rodeo in public opinion and said two bulls were killed during rodeo events in the 2019/2020 season.

A bull was euthanised at the Mid Northern rodeo after an injury during the 2020/2021 season.