Every year for the past 100 years the small town of Cooma in NSW, Australia, holds a rodeo.  It is held under the banner of the Australian Bushmen's Campdraft and Rodeo Association (ABCRA).

Rodeos are a form of entertainment (or “sport”), usually advertised as community events. But these events are hardly fun for the animals forced to participate.

Typical events held at rodeos include animal roping, bucking and steer wrestling. Devices such as flank straps, spurs and electric prodders are used to encourage the animal to buck and react. All these activities are cruel and cause significant distress, pain and potential ongoing suffering to the animals.

As clearly depicted in the Animals Australia’s video (http://vimeo.com/45347541), in rodeos, horses, bulls and steers are goaded into 'wild' behaviour, and frightened calves are bullied and tormented.

Calf roping involves releasing a calf from a chute and then chasing it on horseback. Once the calf has been lassoed around the neck, the horse skids to a halt, the calf is strangled to a halt by the rope, the rider then “slam-dunks” the calf onto its side and ties three of its leg together. This type of activity can cause serious injuries to the calf as they are suddenly thrown to the ground or jerked in another direction by the rope around their neck, often with great force. Calf roping not only causes physical pain and injury but also subjects the calf to serious mental stress as the frightened animal runs away from the contestant. In some cases the animal is pulled backwards off its feet which can cause very severe injuries that may be fatal.

All this in the name of 'entertainment'!

Due to animal cruelty, rodeos are completely banned in Britain and in parts of Europe, and the United States of America. In Australia, rodeos are banned in the ACT, and calf roping is banned in VIC and SA.  It is our hope that Australia will move towards a total ban on rodeos in the near future.  

Rodeos and the animal cruelty they encourage, have no place in this current day and age.  We need your support to stop these types of events, initially in the Cooma-Monaro region of NSW (Australia), starting with the annual Cooma Rodeo.    

Please HELP stop senseless animal cruelty happening by adding your name to our petition asking the Cooma-Monaro Shire Council to ban the annual Cooma Rodeo.

We know we cannot achieve this without the support of the general public, so please sign and "share" wisely. If the Cooma Rodeo is banned, then it could set a precedent for other regions to follow.