City Of Peace Not Bucking Brutlity
MEDIA RELEASE
13 November
2008
City Of Peace Not Bucking
Brutlity
Christchurch City Council is being pitted against
Auckland City Council in a wrangle over the use and abuse of
rodeo animals. Animal advocates say Christchurch is promoted
internationally as the City of Peace, but compared with the
City of Sails, Christchurch is the City of
Brutality.
National animal advocacy organisation
SAFE is calling on the Christchurch mayor, Bob Parker, to
withdraw the council’s support of rodeo events to uphold
the city’s zero tolerance of violence and abuse.
Christchurch City Council declared Christchurch a Peace City
in 2002 in order to promote a more peaceful
community.
Christchurch will host New Zealand’s
only international rodeo this Saturday, an event touted as a
star attraction of the council-sponsored New Zealand Cup and
Show Week. The rodeo is promoted as “man versus beast in
the biggest wild west stand-off ever staged in New
Zealand.”
Auckland city mayor Hon John Banks QSO
supports SAFE’s call for other cities to ban rodeo events.
“The gross spectacle of animal torture masquerading as a
rodeo would never happen in this city,” says Mr
Banks.
ACTION: NOON FRIDAY 14 November
SAFE has
chartered a small aircraft to fly over Christchurch from
noon tomorrow towing a 50-metre banner. The message will
read ‘AKL CAN, WE CAN, CCC BAN RODEOS.’ This action will
signal the start of a campaign to make Christchurch rodeo
free.
“The flight path over Christchurch will
include passes over the council-sponsored Royal New Zealand
Show. This will send a clear message that rodeo cruelty has
no place in Christchurch,” says SAFE campaign director
Hans Kriek.
“Rodeos are a brutal display of
people’s dominance and abuse of animals. These animals are
forced to endure needless suffering and gross mistreatment,
all for the sake of so-called entertainment,” says Mr
Kriek.
ends