Montreal, April 11, 2018 – The Montreal SPCA has reviewed the report by veterinarian Dr. Jean-Jacques Kona Boun on Montreal and St-Tite rodeos, as well as the footage shot during these events, which was released earlier today by law professor Alain Roy. This report and footage document the inherent cruelty of rodeos and will be submitted to the advisory committee in charge of examining the safety and welfare of animals used in Quebec rodeos set up by the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ).

Last May, Professor Roy and a group of law students filed an application for an injunction aiming to put a stop to the urban rodeo planned as part of the City of Montreal’s 375th anniversary celebrations. Professor Roy obtained permission to send observers to the Montreal and St-Tite rodeos with unlimited access to the facilities to document the treatment of the animals as part of a settlement agreement between him and the event organizers.

According to the report, “the training activities conducted during the rodeos held in accordance with Montreal and St-Tite standards subject horses and bulls to a risk of fractures or other serious injuries. The same is true of calf roping and steer wrestling activities. The psychological distress experienced by the animals used in such activities is also very real.”

“The report and footage released today confirm what we already knew: rodeo events are based on exploiting animal reactions to pain, fear and panic and are therefore fundamentally incompatible with animal welfare,” says attorney Alanna Devine, Director of Animal Advocacy at the Montreal SPCA. “We hope that the advisory committee set up by the MAPAQ will take note of the overwhelming evidence of abuse revealed by Professor Roy and his team today and recommend that the government of Quebec ban the rodeos, as many other jurisdictions have done, including England, Scotland, the Netherlands and the City of Vancouver.”

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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.