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More than 70 animals have been killed during the Calgary Stampede’s reckless chuckwagon races, including six who died in one week alone during the 2019 Stampede. The first horse died from a serious internal medical condition after he collapsed during the second heat of the races. Two days later, a horse was euthanized after sustaining a fracture during the race, and the next day, another horse died and three others were injured in a collision. On the final day of the event, three more horses died in an incident so gruesome that a tarp was used to shield the scene from public view.
In this dangerous event, teams of horses are forced to pull covered wagons around a track at breakneck speed. They have sustained fractured legs and broken backs and experienced heart attacks. Throughout the ordeal, they can be seen foaming at the mouth with their eyes rolling back in their heads. Rules were tightened after six horses died at the Stampede in 2010, then again in 2015, and again after the carnage of the 2019 race, yet the death toll continues to rise. The Stampede was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, and there were no chuckwagon races in 2021—but the races have since resumed, and so have the deaths. One horse died in 2022, and another died in 2023.
Animal protection organizations across Canada as well as countless Canadian citizens have called for an end to the chuckwagon races at the Calgary Stampede. Please urge the premier of Alberta and the minister of agriculture and irrigation to end this deadly event before more horses die.