Let's hoot 'n hollar, drink some beer and watch some critters die!

How about MMA and Boxing then? Or many pro sports.

You mean because we want to eat so many of them that we have to control them?

I have eaten lots of animals I never possessed or owned or controlled.

Granted when you are talking about hundreds of thousands it doesn't work to got out and shoot one when you need it.

Maybe we should just clone meat in a tank in convenient shaped lumps? That would make everyone happy…except the people who need to dominate other beings.

Somebody owned all of those animals you ate. The world would be a much better place if more people owned their own livestock and crops,but that would take hard work and not living near a starbucks.
Apparently you have forgotten that you are just an animal too.

How about MMA and Boxing then? Or many pro sports.

Or building pointless trails and riding pointless high zoot bikes on them….

Apparently you have forgotten that you are just an animal too

errr…. why would you say that?

I am acutely aware that I am which is why I don't understand the need to treat the animals we use as food as possessions.

Check this video but be careful it is pretty graphic, I wouldn't let children watch it.

Earthlings

Here are some quotes from people who's opinion you may respect.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

"Please put the ladybug outside without harming her. (to his butler)"- Winston Churchill

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."- Mohandas Gandhi

"The fate of animals is of greater importance to me than the fear of appearing ridiculous; it is indissolubly connected with the fate of men."- Emile Zola

"Men who have practiced tortures on animals without pity, relating them without shame. How can they still hold their heads high among human beings?"- Samuel Johnson

"Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."- Albert Einstein

"Perhaps the time has come to formulate a moral code which would govern our relations with the great creatures of the sea as well as with those on dry land. That this will come to pass is [my] dear wish."- Jacques Cousteau

"We and the beasts are kin."- Ernest Thompson Seton

"Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."- Albert Schweitzer

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."- Thomas Edison

"As custodians of the planet it is our responsibity to deal with all species with kindness, love, and compassion. That these animals suffer through human cruelty is beyond understanding. Please help to stop this madness."- Richard Gere

"In studying the traits and dispositions of the so-called lower animals, and contrasting them with man's, I find the result humiliating to me."- Mark Twain

"Human beings are the only animals of which I am thoroughly and cravenly afraid."- George Bernard Shaw

"What I think about vivisection is that if people admit that they have the right to take or endanger the life of living beings for the benefit of many, there will be no limit to their cruelty." -Leo Tolstoy, author

"There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties… The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery." -Charles Darwin

"The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? But rather, Can they suffer?" -Jeremy Bentham, 19th century Philosopher, Oxford University

"Cruelty has cursed the human family for countless ages. It is almost impossible for one to be cruel to animals and kind to humans. If children are permitted to be cruel to their pets and other animals, they easily learn to get the same pleasure from the misery of fellow-humans. Such tendencies can easily lead to crime. "-Fred A.McGrand (1895- )

"If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals." -Albert Einstein

"When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble. "-Buddha (563? - 483? B.C.)

"When a man wants to murder a tiger, it's called sport; when the tiger wants to murder him it's called ferocity." -George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Quote from Leonardo da Vinci: "The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men."

Quote from Abraham Lincoln: "I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."

George Bernard Shaw said, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Ghandi wrote, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Only humans have the arrogance and ability to deem another living thing "useless" and to condemn it to extinction simply because it's in the way of something we want more.

"For as long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love… Primoque a caede ferarum incaluisse puto maculatum sanguine ferrum ('I think the blood of animals was the first to stain our weapons')."Pythagoras (ca. 580-520 BCE).

"First it was necessary to civilize man in relation to man. Now it is necessary to civilize man in relation to nature and the animals."Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

"I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground" (President Lincoln's reply to friends who chided him for delaying them by stopping to return a fledgling to its nest). President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)??

"If [man] is not to stifle human feelings, he must practice kindness toward animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of man by his treatment of animals."-Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

"Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages." -Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President

"The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different."-Hippocrates (ca. 460-377 BCE).]

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."-Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Parts of Animals

How about MMA and Boxing then? Or many pro sports.

You mean where there are two or more willing participants competing in an event where all parties comprehend and agree to the rules before hand?

No, I don't think that's a remotely comparable either.

"JdanS beat me to it." _ Gandhi

yea its for the intellectual types…..

Yeah I can see it now, Margaret Atwood, John Ralston Saul and Pierre Trudeau's ghost……..all wearing spurs. :|

life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on this.

Or building pointless trails and riding pointless high zoot bikes on them….

How does that compare?

I think the fundamental question here is how much enjoyment does one get out of a creatures suffering? Or is it more a feat of cognitive dissonance to ignore the pain of the creature and to regale in the athleticism of the cowboy?

For the record, I prefer my meat free range.

So where does bull riding fit into every day life on a farm? Tying testicles and using other techniques to ramp the animals up just to see how long someone can sit on it while it has a tantrum must be a regular and productive part of a quiet fame life, as a 'cityfolk' I'm surely just uninformed. Can someone illuminate me?

LMGTFY.

It doesn't. It is a pure show of masculine bravado. I've never heard of a bull getting heart when something 1/10th of it's size rides it for 10 seconds.

On topic:

Chuck wagon races do have collisions. There are many rules in place to keep the amount of collisions to a minimum. Other events where animals are hurt that you bleeding heart idiots have probably enjoyed at some point include:

• most circus's
• zoos
• whale watching tours
• dolphin shows
• national parks (how natural is it for a bear to be comfortable with 10 tourists snapping photos?)
• your cars (oops, global warming reduces habitat)
• your clothes (deforestation for plantation crops reduces habitat)
• mountain biking (I know I've hit a frog before)
• golfing (again, habitat)
• driving… ya'll don't drive our highways do ya? how many animals are hit and killed annually so that we can vacation to other parts of the country or work?

The stampede is a huge business that is great for the tourism industry in our province, puts us on the map as a destination internationally, brings plenty of expense accounts to the city, and is an important part of the history of our province and the activities that created the culture that we have today.

Wanna take it away because a couple horses get hurt or die now and then? Why don't you play hide and go fuck yourself (not any one of you haters in particular; the whole lot of ya). The stampede is as important to Albertan culture as salmon fishing is to BCs. We couldn't care less that you think a couple of horses who die (very regrettably and always accidentally) for entertainment and sport purposes are any less humane than the trophy fishing that is undertaken as a tourist activity through so much of your province.

I'm guessing the typical Albertan ranch man weighs more than the typical NSMB forum member :P

I'm relatively sure the guy who's almost as broad as his horses is bigger than most here, yup.

How about MMA and Boxing then? Or many pro sports.

I'd love to see the lead up television shows of the calves talking about how they're going to give Ricky Bobby a run for his money, and the horses shittalking each other.

If you all are seriously against things like the stampede,racing chuckwagons and horses and such…may I suggest thinking globally and acting locally.

I'd like to see pics of the best of you all protesting the ponies out at Hastings park.

Put your money where your mouth is.

Oh, and what go-t said.

We couldn't care less that you think a couple of horses who die (very regrettably and always accidentally) for entertainment and sport purposes are any less humane than the trophy fishing that is undertaken as a tourist activity through so much of your province.

You very regrettably couldn't care less?

Chillaks, NBR isn't going to take away the Stampede today, we are just doing some investigation.

My vote hasn't been cast yet, but I admit I am uncomfortable with people causing duress to unwilling participants for entertainment purposes regardless of species.