Manitoba Winter Fair downplays accusations of animal cruelty
Two animal rights organization are asking that the planned ‘barnyard challenge’ at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, which will include “calf scramble” and “sheep wrangling” type events, be pulled immediately, because of the harm they say those activities can do to young animals.
Animal rights organizations are accusing the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair of using animal cruelty to produce entertainment and they want to see two events planned for this year’s fair taken off the schedule before it kicks off next week.
On March 20, a joint press release from Animal Justice, a national animal welfare group, and the Winnipeg Humane Society (WHS) said that the fair, which is held in Brandon, and is one of Canada’s largest annual agricultural events, has events planned for this year which constitute cruelty towards animals.
The fair is set to run March 25-30, and the two organizations are asking that the planned ‘barnyard challenge,’ which will include “calf scramble” and “sheep wrangling” type events be pulled immediately, because of the harm they say those activities can do to young animals.
“These scrambles are unnecessarily cruel, and are increasingly out of step with the values of Manitobans,” WHS animal welfare specialist Brittany Semeniuk said in a statement. “Calf scrambles and sheep wrangling are exploitative events that cause juvenile animals to experience fear and distress, as they’re chased around a brightly lit, unfamiliar arena.”
The planned calf scramble will see 15 to 21-year-olds chasing and grabbing young calves and trying to remove a halter from the animal’s necks, while the mutton busting event will involve 5 to 8-year-olds being placed on the backs of sheep and attempting to hold on and stay on as long as possible.
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Animal Justice says both events will involve “grabbing” and “wrestling” animals, and can lead to “really serious stress, fear and panic.”
Sheep take the spotlight at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair
Heavy horses and cattle are making room for some smaller, fluffier fan favourites at this year’s Royal Manitoba Winter Fair.
The woolly wonders have long been part of Brandon’s winter fair, which is put on by the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, in an effort to celebrate the sheep industry across the Prairies and throughout Canada, said Simon Atkinson, chairperson of the Manitoba Sheep Association.
According to Animal Justice and WHS, the fair had previously held what were referred to as pig and calf scrambles, but those were stopped in 2022, after WHS and Animal Justice contacted law enforcement authorities, and began creating public awareness about what those events entailed.
The fair then had no animal scramble-type events at all in 2023, but Animal Justice and WHS said they believe this year’s barnyard challenge is simply a repeat of past events they say were using cruelty for entertainment.
“Slapping a new name on these outdated events does nothing to protect animals from cruelty,” Semeniuk said.
The organizations are also claiming that the events, if they go forward, could be a violation of animal rights laws in Canada.
“Federal and provincial laws are clear, It’s illegal to cause distress and suffering to animals in the name of entertainment,” Animal Justice Director of Legal Advocacy and Winnipeg-based lawyer Kaitlyn Mitchell said in a statement.
“If the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair chooses to go ahead with these cruel events, it is our expectation that the Fair’s organizers and the owners of the animals involved will be held to account for any violations of the Animal Care Act.”
On March 20, Mark Humphries, the general manager for the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, a not-for-profit organization that produces and runs the fair, denied accusations of animal cruelty at the winter fair and said there will be steps taken at this year’s fair to see all animals treated humanely.
He said the fair currently runs within the Animal Care Act and will expel any participant found to be abusing any animal, and he said the province’s chief veterinary officer (CVO) is invited and expected to come to oversee this year’s fair, as he says the CVO did last year.
According to Humphries, the CVO found “zero” instances at 2023’s event that constituted cruelty towards animals, and he does not expect any to be uncovered this year.
He said those in opposition to this year’s event are also welcome to come to the fair and see how animals are treated, although he said he doubts many will.
“It’s often the people who are doing the complaining have never been to the fair, and have no idea what happens at the fair or how the animals are treated, so it’s very frustrating,” he said.
Humphries said he will have to have discussions with the organization’s board of directors about the new accusations, but as of March 20 there were no plans to halt the barnyard challenge.
He also defended some of the events under scrutiny saying activities including haltering, moving or herding livestock are part of everyday life for many who live and work on a farm.
In an email, a provincial spokesperson confirmed that the CVO does plan to be in attendance at this year’s Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon.
This story was originally published in The Winnipeg Sun. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.
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