Pamela Anderson Calls For Ban on Deadly Chuckwagon Races

Honorary PETA Director Urges Alberta Officials to End Cruel Races After Six Horses Die at Calgary Stampede

For Immediate Release:
July 25, 2019

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Canada native Pamela Anderson—who’s just moved back to her home country—has sent a letter on PETA’s behalf to the premier of Alberta and the province’s minister of agriculture and forestry urging them to direct the Calgary Stampede to end deadly chuckwagon races. Six horses died at this year’s races, three of whom were killed in a scene so graphic that organizers reportedly placed a tarp over their mangled bodies to shield them from public view.

“Global news headlines about the Stampede show that Alberta knows these races are deadly for horses but continues to allow them anyway. This cruelty and indifference do not represent the Canada I know and love,” writes Anderson. “Please use your authority to end chuckwagon racing before more horses die.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.

Anderson’s letter to Premier Jason Kenney and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Devin Dreeshen follows. 

The Honorable Jason Kenney

Premier of Alberta

The Honorable Devin Dreeshen

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry

Province of Alberta

Dear Messrs. Kenney and Dreeshen,

After recently moving back to my beautiful native Canada, my heart sank as I read about six horses who died in this year’s chuckwagon races at the Calgary Stampede. As an honorary director of PETA, I urge you to direct the Stampede to ban these deadly races.

Tightening the rules—as the Stampede did in 2010—isn’t enough. More than a dozen horses have died since then, because these races are inherently cruel and dangerous. Horses have suffered from fractured legs and broken backs, while others have had heart attacks. Anyone watching can see animals foaming at the mouth as their eyes roll back in their heads.

And the world is watching. Global news headlines about the Stampede show that Alberta knows these races are deadly for horses but continues to allow them anyway. This cruelty and indifference do not represent the Canada I know and love.

Please use your authority to end chuckwagon racing before more horses die.

Sincerely,

Pamela Anderson