Animal Use in Sport

Daniel Boucher

Calf Roping at the Calgary Stampede

• “[Calf Roping] requires a unique partnership with a working horse and excellent hand eye coordination on the part of the cowboy.”

• “A great run is a well choreographed ballet.”

-calgarystampede.com

The Rules of Calf Roping10 feet

Framing the Debate

That last slide was a tongue-in-cheek version of the way rodeo is usually framed in ethical discussions.

Vs.

Framing the Debate This is not the way I want to talk

about the Calgary Stampede. Differences in viewpoint in this

debate are not pre-ordained based on social position.

Thesis Statement

The Calgary Stampede has a moral obligation to remove calf roping from its event list.

Does Animal Welfare Matter? No matter the ethical framework with

which you choose to view the world, there are prominent, convincing arguments against unnecessary cruelty to non-human animals: Utilitarian / Consequentialist – Peter

Singer (1973)

Kantian – Christine Korsgaard (2012)

Care/Virtue Ethics – Hursthouse (2006)

Rodeo and Recollection (Rollins, 1996)

The culture of ranching is often considered secondary to the welfare of animals when arguments against rodeo are taken up.

This is a mistake Ranching culture is famous for its

practice of animal husbandry. The unique consciousness of caring about animal welfare.

Animal Husbandry “We take care of animals […] and

they take care of us.” (Rollins,1996, p. 6)

You can’t both say animal welfare doesn’t matter and represent ranching culture at the same time.

Considering Calf Roping

Calf Roping does not belong in rodeo culture because it unnecessarily hurts the animal. Calf roping is downplayed by PRCA

(pcra.com/eventcategory)

There are other, related events which harm the calf less (breakaway roping)

Counter Argument

“What if modern rodeo represents a newer, more important culture than ranching culture?”

This might be the case, here I think ethicists will need to swallow the more philosophical arguments I outlined at the beginning.

It should be noted that, if this is true, ranching culture provides a similar, aesthetically pleasing, and more ethical alternative to modern rodeo culture.

Conclusion

Remove/Replace Calf Roping in the Calgary Stampede BECAUSE

It is inconsistent with ranching culture, which is the progenitor of modern rodeo MAYBE WE COULD

Replace it with breakaway roping which does not harm the animal