Stampede will look for signs of stress in the eyes of ‘bucking’ animals
Posted Jun 6, 2013 7:15 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Stampede officials will soon be looking into what they can find in the eye of the beholder.
They’ll be scanning the eyes of its ‘bucking’ animals, looking for stress with an infrared thermographic imaging machine, or ITI.
According to the Stampede, scientists have recorded the eye colour of the animals in stages, from the chutes before a performance, and then afterwards.
Stampede Vice-President Paul Rosenberg tells The Calgary Sun, that doesn’t mean an animal will be excused for exhibiting high levels of stress.
“That would depend on the animal and what type of stress caused it,” he explains.
Rosenberg says most of the animals experience very little stress and this is just to improve the current system and the programming.
The ITI is the latest in a series of new tools unveiled by the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth to address animal welfare concerns.
One of the Stampede’s largest critics, the Vancouver Humane Society, isn’t impressed.
Calling it a PR gimmick, the society’s Peter Fricker believes this is nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
“We’re concerned about the impact of the event itself, when the animal is being bucked or roped,” he tells 660News.
He believes the ‘bucking’ is an obvious sign of stress.
Fricker says the uncertainty around how they will use the data casts doubt on the entire program.
The advocate is calling on the Stampede to end roping events and tighten up safety requirements around the chuckwagon races.
