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Header image: Composition of several photos taken at the “Festival Western de Saint-Tite” in 2017, during “steer wrestling” events – Droit Animalier Québec.

Rodeos: Entertainment at the expense of animal suffering

Published by the BESA team

October 23, 2025

In the fall of 2025, BESA released exclusive footage of a rodeo held just a few weeks after the adoption of Quebec’s new Rodeo Code of Practice, published by the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ).

What these images reveal is unmistakable: animals that are stressed, panicked, and manipulated to provoke defensive reactions in the name of entertainment. They also highlight several clear violations of the recently adopted code.

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The images

The videos highlight a disturbing reality: frightened and agitated horses in their pens before being forced into the arena. Stressed bulls drooling and desperately trying to escape while humans torment them. Every year, animals are injured in this type of event and some have even lost their lives. This is why veterinarians and animal welfare advocates denounce it as a source of significant suffering and risk, without any justification.

A largely symbolic code of practice

But beyond the animal cruelty issues common to all rodeos, our footage documents direct violations of Quebec’s own Rodeo Code of Practice.

The code is presented as an animal protection tool. However, it was developed in collaboration with companies that organize or host rodeos, which raises a significant conflict of interest. The violations observed just a few weeks after its publication illustrate its limitations: it serves more to legitimize the practice than to protect animals and relies partly on industry self-regulation.

Extended lockdown before the event

The Quebec Rodeo Code of Practice clearly states: “Place horses in the starting chute 10 to 15 minutes before the start of the event.” The captured footage shows horses being kept in these starting chutes for over 40 minutes, which is three times longer than the recommended duration. This prolonged confinement increases stress and agitation.

Abnormal behaviors ignored

The Quebec Rodeo Code of Practice defines the following horse behaviours as abnormal: “A horse that is excessively agitated or excited or that appears to be in danger of injuring itself; a combative horse that tries to jump out of the chute.” The footage shows exactly these behaviours in some animals. Yet, they were forced into the arena despite these signs of distress.

A suffering inherent to the practice

Beyond code violations, rodeos rely on techniques that intentionally cause stress, fear, and discomfort: transport, confinement, forced handling, and a noisy, chaotic environment. This suffering has no functional justification. It is unnecessary, as its only purpose is to produce a spectacle. Several jurisdictions have chosen to ban or strictly limit rodeos for these reasons, including the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, as well as several cities in the United States and elsewhere in Canada.

The worst rodeo practices already banned in several countries

Across the world, cities and even entire countries have already banned the worst rodeo practices.

Rodeo is already banned in England and the Netherlands, but the city of Vancouver, Canada, has already passed an amendment to ban its worst practices.

Moving towards a Quebec that doesn't make animals suffer for entertainment

For generations, rodeos have been portrayed as a harmless tradition, a celebration of rural heritage. However, the footage we recorded tells a completely different story: rodeo relies on the exploitation of stressed and frightened animals for human entertainment, and it was popularized in Quebec for essentially marketing reasons.

But what makes this investigation all the more concerning is that it documented violations of Quebec’s Rodeo Code of Practice, just a few weeks after it was published.

If the industry doesn’t follow its own rules and the MAPAQ doesn’t step in to enforce them, the question remains: who is actually protecting these animals?

It is time for our society to evolve and move away from these outdated practices, which reflect an era when animals were considered mere objects to be disposed of at will and when their guardians held all the rights over them. Quebec has already recognized in its laws that animals are sentient beings.

If we reject dog fighting or bullfighting for ethical reasons, it is legitimate to question the place of rodeo in a society that claims to respect animal welfare.

You want to do more?

Whether it’s by reducing your consumption of animal products, or by using your passion and talents to defend their rights, there are many ways to help animals in Quebec.