TORONTO – Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee appealed to Alberta premier Alison Redford this week to put a stop on the chuckwagon races at the Calgary Stampede.
“The only way to make these races safe is to cancel them,” he wrote in a letter to Redford. “There was a time when cowboys respected their horses, instead of riding them to death just to show off for a crowd.”
Lee’s ex-wife, Canadian actress Pamela Anderson, made a similar plea last year.
In an interview with Global News last year, the B.C. native said she recognizes the century-long history of the Stampede and its economic benefits but stands firmly against it.
“Tradition does not justify cruelty,” she said. “Because of the Calgary Stampede countless animals suffer broken bones, punctured lungs, torn ligaments and muscles, snapped necks, and agonizing deaths.”
Anderson urged Canadians to boycott the Stampede.
“Rodeos teach gratuitous violence, and it’s just unacceptable to abuse animals for entertainment,” she said.
Alberta-born actress Tricia Helfer also said she had a beef with the Stampede. Earlier this year, she told Global News she doesn’t support most of the animal events.
“Calf-roping, for example, is not something I am a fan of,” Helfer said. “Anyone who says animals can’t feel, or don’t have emotions, has obviously not spent any time with them.”
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