The horse killing Calgary Stampede is back
An Entertainment Abuses Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM The Fund for Horses
July 2021

While the newspapers cover related horse deaths now, the Vancouver Humane Society began recording the number of horses killed in the Calgary Stampede in 1986. You will see they are mostly chuckwagon horses.

Following protracted discussions with local officials, The Calgary Stampede was finally cancelled in 2020 because of potentially dangerous COVID-19 related complications. It was the first time the Canadian rodeo had been cancelled in more than a century.

The Stampede resumed this year on Friday, 9th July in a slightly altered edition of itself. We will be reporting the numbers of horse deaths, and will be greatly relieved if that turns out to be zero.

While the newspapers cover related horse deaths now, the Vancouver Humane Society began recording the number of horses killed in the Calgary Stampede in 1986. You will see they are mostly chuckwagon horses.

Stampede horses killed 1986 — 2020

1986 — 12
12 chuckwagon horses

1987 — 2
1 chuckwagon horse – collapsed and died
1 chuckwagon horse – broken leg, euthanized

1988 — 1
1 chuckwagon horse – broken leg, euthanized

1989 — 0
0 fatalities reported

1990 — 2
1 bucking horse – euthanized
1 chuckwagon horse – broken leg, euthanized

1991 — 0
0 fatalities reported

1992 — 1
1 chuckwagon horse

1993 — 0
0 fatalities reported

1994 — 1
1 horse (novice bronc) – broken hind leg, euthanized

1995 — 3
1 chuckwagon horse – broken leg, euthanized
1 horse (novice saddle bronc) – head injury, euthanized
1 horse (novice bronc) – front leg, euthanized

1996 — 4
4 chuckwagon horses killed:
1 down with a heart attack, 2 euthanized, 1 with broken neck and leg

1997 — 1
1 chuckwagon horse died

1998 — 0
0 fatalities reported

1999 — 2
2 chuckwagon horses euthanized

2000 — 2
1 horse died of pulmonary aneurism; 1 horse euthanized (fractured front leg)

2001 — 1
1 chuckwagon outrider horse euthanized July 15th, collapsed and broke right shoulder

2002 — 6
1 chuckwagon outrider horse died of a heart attack on July 5 after running in Heat 1
5 other chuckwagon horses killed, details not reported

2003 — 0
0 fatalities reported

2004 — 1
1 horse euthanized (broken leg in wild ride event)

2005 — 13
9 horses killed in stampede on Bonnybrooke Bridge July 3
1 show horse, heart attack, July 8
1 chuckwagon horse, heart attack, July 15
2 chuckwagon horses (behind the scenes)

2006 — 4
2 chuckwagon horses (July 7) heart attack, broken leg
1 chuckwagon horse (July 13) broke two bones in his lower left front leg (Gary Gorst’s team)

2007 — 4
1 chuckwagon horse (Darcy Flad) euthanized
3 chuckwagon horses (Gary Gorst) injury in crash, euthanized

2008 — 1
1 chuckwagon horse (Reg Johnstone) euthanized (July 10)

2009 — 3
1 chuckwagon horse (Reg Johnstone) heart attack (July 5)
1 chuckwagon horse (Barry Hodgson) euthanized (July 7)
1 chuckwagon horse (Ray Mitsuing) heart attack (July 11)

2010 — 6
6 horses in livestock, rodeo and chuckwagon events

Note: More than 50 members of the UK Parliament signed a motion calling “on the Canadian government to take steps to end the immense cruelty to animals” at rodeos including the Calgary Stampede.

2011 — 4
2 chuckwagon horses — 1 with catastrophic leg injury, euthanized
2 dying with no details reported

2012 — 3
3 chuckwagon horses dead, 1 injured (lead dropped, others followed; outrider horse crashed into wagon at high speed)

2013 — 1
1 chuckwagon horse died of pulmonary hemmorhage

2014 — 1
A chuckwagon horse belonging to Reg Johnstone collapsed and died after completing the team’s training run.

“The horse was a 12-year-old thoroughbred named Denny, which had been owned by Johnstone for approximately five years. He was acquired from another chuckwagon driver after his initial career as a racehorse in the Vancouver area. The horse had last raced about a week ago at the Ponoka Stampede,” officials said. CBC.ca report »

2015 — 4
4 chuckwagon horses

2016 — 1
1 chuckwagon horse

2017 — 1
1 chuckwagon horse

2018 — 1
1 chuckwagon horse

2019 — 6
6 chuckwagon horses

The 2019 Calgary Stampede rodeo event is tied for second place as the deadliest year for chuckwagon horses in more than three decades. The total tally of all animals killed at the Stampede has now surpassed 100. — Vancouver Humane Society.

2020 — 0
Cancelled due to Covid.

NOTE: The above figures are in-competition numbers. There are many more animals used behind the scenes to perfect the “cowboy’s” rodeo skills. These figures do NOT include horses who were injured and/or killed during these practices.

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