Glamorised in Western movies, rodeos have spread across Europe, but now a dedicated couple of animal lovers from Southport want them banned. David Charters reports THEY greased the piglet so he would slip easily through the fingers of the laughing boys chasing him round and round the ring. Sometimes, the mockery in the eyes of his tormentors turned to anger when he managed a particularly good swerve and left them in the dirt. But his frightened squeals became shriller as his breath ran low, until he was running slowly enough for one of the children to grip him tight. This child was called the winner and he was given a prize for catching the piglet, who was then allowed to rest before the next entertainment. Catch the Pig was just a side show to the main rodeo being held in a German town. Of course, rodeo is mostly associated with the cowboys of the USA and Mexico, riding bucking bulls and horses to see who can hang on longest. Maybe it’s a continuation of the “macho” qualities once demonstrated by those who opened the West and fought the native warriors regarded by some as the finest light cavalry the world had ever seen. A highly romanticised version of those times was given in the novels of Karl May (1842-1912), a fervent believer in the supremacy of the white race who, nonetheless, admired the nobility of the tribes clinging resolutely to their ancient ways. May, a descriptive writer in the fine tradition of James Fenimore Cooper, fed his stories with spirituality touched by a passion for the free prairie. He was the favourite writer of young Adolf Hitler, who thrilled to the adventures of the pioneer Old Shatterhand and Winnetou, the Apache chief. To the end, Hitler kept volumes of these stories at his bedside. And they continue to appeal to Germans, having been made into films and comic-strips. Matilda Mench, the animal rights’ campaigner, brought up in Munich, believes they are a reason for the continuing popularity of the rodeo in her native land. But rodeos are staged in many other European countries. Now Matilda lives in Southport with Tony Moore, founder of Fight Against Animal Cruelty in Europe, the charity which marks its 20th anniversary next month. Together they are also working in the European Anti-Rodeo Coalition. Its campaigners say that the horses, bulls and calves featured in rodeos suffer appalling pain and indignity to amuse people. More sinisterly, the organisers encourage the next generation of rodeo fans with activities for children such as riding sheep (called mutton bustin’) and chasing piglets. The couple have secretly, and sometimes publicly, filmed and photographed the events, preparing dossiers on the cruelty involved. These have been sent to the authorities and governments in countries which permit rodeos. As a result some have been banned. The efforts of Tony and Matilda have won support from the European Commission. A letter to them from the cabinet office of Commissioner Markos Kyprianou read: “The images on your DVD are revolting and the scientific data that you provided to the Commission indicate that a number of practices in rodeos in Europe are seriously detrimental to the welfare of animals. This way of treating animals is clearly not in line with the principles that the Community has developed for the protection and welfare of animals. In particular, it does not correspond to the spirit of the Treaty, where the protocol on the protection and welfare of animals recognises animals as sentient beings.” Directive 98/58/EC lays down standards for the protection of animals bred or kept for farming purposes, but it does not apply to animals intended for use in competitions, shows, cultural or sporting events or activities. The letter continues: “Therefore, the organisation of competitions and similar events using animals is largely a matter for the member state concerned and unless divergent national approaches were hindering the functioning of the internal market, the Community’s power to act is unfortunately rather limited. We appreciate your commitment on animal welfare and strongly encourage you to pursue your efforts with the national authorities.” So Tony, Matilda and supporters across the Continent are presenting their evidence of cruelty to the authorities responsible for permitting or monitoring rodeos. In Scandinavia and the UK, rodeos are almost unknown, but they are still big business in other countries, including those which have joined the EU since the collapse of the Iron Curtain. Legal proceedings in Mannheim, Germany, could be important to the cause. A preliminary hearing has suspended a stock contractor’s right to provide animals to rodeos, but this is to be further considered a full hearing at a date to be fixed. Whatever happens, it is unlikely that there will be total ban against rodeos. But activists hope bans will be imposed on certain practices, which make the events more spectacular. For example the animals buck when they enter the arena because a “flank-strap” is pulled hard and tight at the moment they leave the chute or pen. Electric shocks and a sudden stabbing from the spurs can achieve the same effect. If these activities were stopped and rodeos involved only riding games, which did not distress the animals, they would lack the “excitement” that attracts certain sections of the public – in the same way as attendances at circuses fell when animal acts were stopped. Photographs taken by Matilda and Tony are used by the authorities considering rodeos cases, often showing worse examples of cruelty than those shown on these pages. Also, on their DVDs, the cries of the suffering animals can be heard over the whoops of the spectators. For 27 years, Tony was married to the animal rights’ campaigner Vicki Moore. She died, aged 44, in February, 2000, following a massive haemorrhage, which resulted from the injuries she sustained five years earlier during a blood festival in the Spanish town of Coria, when she was gored by a bull being chased down a street by a drunken mob. In 2001, Tony met Matilda in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they were both gathering evidence against rodeos. Now Matilda’s biography of Vicki is with a publisher. Though a romantic and loving couple, they are driven by a passion to end blood sports across the world, as well as the many other ways in which humans degrade animals. Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Belgium (which has just banned the flank strap and spurs) Portugal, Spain and Slovakia are among the countries which stage rodeos. “The animals are travelling all the time and they don’t live normal lives,” says Tony. “They get transported to the venue of the rodeo, but they don’t go in a field, they stay in little pens. “The horses are just normal riding horses. They are not wild horses at all. But they manipulate them to make them appear wild. “A flank strap is placed just in front of the back legs. As they go out of the chute the men hold onto the strap to make it very tight. The horse can’t help but buck. Sometimes they rear up and fall over backwards, suffering serious injuries. The riders hang on to the blunted spurs which they dig into the animal’s shoulders. They score points that way. “On the bulls, they pull the flank strap tight under the urethra. They do the same thing with the spurs. “We’ve managed to stop pig-catching as a game for the children in some German regions now. But when we saw it, they had basket full of greased piglets which were released into the arena and the children had to hold them and grab them. The piglets were tiny and they were getting squashed and bashed around.” In Hungary, a slightly different game with piglets still goes on despite efforts by the authorities to stop it, as does mutton-bustin’. The sheep are not shorn even in hot the weather, so their riders have some wool to hang on to. “I grew up in West Germany,” says Matilda, 45, a clergyman’s daughter. “When the former Communist countries opened up, they thought that everything American was wonderful. Karl May novels were sent to the German Democratic Republic (East Germany, where they were banned). These books had fantasies about what the Wild West would be like. The people went crazy for them and when the borders were open, the first thing they had was rodeo. “The court hearing to be held in Mannheim at a date to be fixed is crucial. For example, the Hungarian cowboys look up to what is happening in Germany. But even if we lose that case, we will win in the end.” And so Matilda and Tony disappear into another sunset, determined to continue their campaign against man’s cruelty to animals. DONATIONS to Fight Against Animal Cruelty in Europe are received at 29, Shakespeare Street, Southport, Merseyside. PR8 5AB. RODOES can include the following activities Bareback-riding: horses are ridden without a saddle, the rider has to stay on for eight seconds. Saddled bronc-riding: horses are ridden with a saddle, the rider has to stay on for eight seconds. Horse-tripping: a Mexican speciality, horses are thrown to the ground. Bull riding: bulls are ridden for eight seconds. Wild horse race: a team of three men tries to break a horse, one has to be on the horse in the end. Steer-wrestling: a steer is wrestled to the ground. Calf-roping: a calf is roped from horseback and thrown to the ground. Break-away roping: a calf is roped from horseback, the rope falls from the saddle. Team-roping: a calf is roped by two riders and thrown to the ground. Steer-tripping: larger calves are thrown to the ground and dragged through the sand. Ribbon-roping: a young bull is caught with a rope, a prior attached ribbon has to be taken off his horns. Barrel-racing: horses race around barrels at high speed. Pole-bending: horses race around poles at high speed. Mutton-bustin’: sheep are ridden by young children. Wild Cow-Milking: Men chase a herd of non-dairy cows around, forcibly hold and try to milk them. Wild boar-chasing: pigs or piglets are greased and chased by children. Wild boar-chasing and wild cow-milking were banned in some German regions in 2004. A nationwide ban is expected soon. | 
