SAFE is calling for rodeo riders to be excluded as contenders from all future rounds of the New Zealand Rural Sports Awards, saying the inclusion of rodeo legitimises animal cruelty.

SAFE Campaign Manager Emily Hall says the organisation was shocked to learn 20-year-old bull rider Rylee Ward has been named as a finalist for ‘Young New Zealand Rural Sportsperson of the Year.’

"Sport involves a fair competition between willing participants. The animals forced to participate in rodeo events are suffering and dying in the name of entertainment," says Hall.

"This is not the first time rodeo riders have been included as contenders in these awards, and no activity built on animal abuse should ever be celebrated."

SAFE says the way animals are handled in the rodeo industry directly contradicts best-practice handling of horses, bulls, cows, and calves, with rodeo having no authentic connection to the real rural New Zealand.

"The pain and torment these animals endure is absolutely appalling. Steers and calves are chased, choked, and violently thrown to the ground, with painful equipment used to provoke fear responses in horses and bulls."

"Rodeo only exists for the entertainment of a very small minority and is significantly at odds with most Kiwi’s expectations of animal welfare."

Highlighting the deaths of four animals so far this rodeo season, SAFE adds that most rodeo practices breach New Zealand’s Animal Welfare Act which states that any physical handling of animals must be done in a way that minimises the likelihood of unnecessary pain or distress.

"The New Zealand Rural Games Trust should not be endorsing or rewarding activities that cause harm to animals or breach our animal welfare laws," says Hall.

With the 2025 award ceremony set to take place tonight, SAFE has written to the chair of the New Zealand Rural Games Trust urging them to exclude rodeo riders from all future awards.

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SAFE is Aotearoa’s leading animal rights organisation.

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Notes

• There have been four deaths so far during the 2024/25 rodeo season; The first fatality was of a horse rendered lame following the Taupō rodeo on 29 December who was killed the following day. The second death on December 30 occurred at the Te Anau rodeo, where a three-year-old bull’s hind leg was dislocated during the bull riding event. He was killed on-site. A steer then died prior to the Oruru Valley event on 3 January after being transported from the Warkworth and Far North events. The fourth fatality occurred at the Mad Bull rodeo in Otago on 2 February where a bull died after being ridden the previous day.
• Whilst vets are required to be on-site at all rodeo events, rodeo clubs are not obliged to report injuries or deaths sustained during events.
• In July 2022, SAFE and the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) jointly contested rodeo in the High Court. The court ruled that the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) must determine appropriate animal welfare guidelines. However, neither NAWAC nor Andrew Hoggard have provided a justification for the significant delay on the revised rodeo code of welfare.
• Visit SAFE's website to learn more about our campaign and view our submission form calling on NAWAC and the Animal Welfare Minister to release the draft rodeo code for public consultation.

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