Montreal, May 24^th 2017 – This morning, an application for an injunction to put a stop to the urban rodeo planned by the City of Montreal in the context of its 375^th anniversary celebrations was filed in Superior Court by law professor Alain Roy and a group of law students from Université de Montréal.

The Montreal SPCA, which had already committed to preventing the event from being held with its campaign Montreal alive and rodeo free!, counting over 22,300 participants to this day, fully supports this initiative.

The NomadFest Urban Rodeo is scheduled to take place in the Old Port from August 24th to 27^th. NomadFest is set to feature bull and bronco riding, which are designed to provide entertainment based on the fear and domination of the animals used in the events.

Rodeos have no cultural or historical connection to our city, and, more importantly, subject animals to fear, stress, and undue risk of injury or even death. According to Professor Roy and his students from Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Law, who participated in the preparation of the lawsuit, the events scheduled to take place during the rodeo contravene the Civil Code of Quebec’s new provision granting animals the status of “sentient beings,” as well as certain provisions of the Animal Welfare and Safety Act, adopted in December 2015 by the National Assembly.

“The Montreal SPCA has always voiced our firm opposition to forms of so-called entertainment, such as rodeos, that subject animals to unnecessary physical and psychological suffering. This barbaric activity has no place in Montreal,” says Me Alanna Devine, Director of Animal Advocacy at the Montreal SPCA. “We fully support Alain Roy and his committed students’ initiative as we continue fighting against this absurd event,” she adds.

The Montreal SPCA invites the public to visit the campaign to:

• Learn the alarming truth about rodeos and read what experts have to say about this form of “entertainment”
• Take action by signing a letter to Mayor Denis Coderre and Montreal’s 375^th anniversary committee asking them to cancel Nomadfest Urban Rodeo
• Ask 375th anniversary sponsors to follow Loblaws’ example and disassociate themselves from the rodeo
• Share our campaign

Photo (from left to right): Salvatore V. Tedone, Michèle Chénier, Marie-Laure Généreux, Gynet Kozub, Alain Roy, Cara Parisien, Amélie Forand, Vanessa Hébert

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Media contact: Anita Kapuscinska, Communications Manager, Montreal SPCA, 514 656-2760, or anitak@spca.com.

About the Montreal SPCA Founded in Montreal in 1869, we were the first animal welfare society in Canada and our mission is to:

• protect animals against negligence, abuse, and exploitation;
• represent their interests and ensure their well-being;
• raise public awareness and help develop compassion for all living beings.

For more information about the Montreal SPCA, please visit our website at www.spca.com.