| Stampede Horse Deaths Criticized
The Humane Society of Canada is asking Canadians to boycott the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede due to the recent deaths of nine horses at the end of what the Stampede dubbed Trail Ride 2005.
During the six day trail ride 200 rodeo horses were delivered from the Stampede Ranch in Hanna to Calgary. Nine of the 200 horses died after jumping off the Bonnybrook Bridge in Calgary. Witnesses say the horses jumped after being spooked by the sound of a train.
The Calgary Humane Society is investigating the deaths and Stampede president and CEO Steve Allen is promising an internal review. Allen has told the media he feels "deep sorrow" about the accident.
Al Hickey, the western regional director of the Humane Society of Canada describes the incident as a "disaster looking for a place to happen."
"This many horses are usually trucked to the Stampede grounds and with good reason. Horses are herd animals which react with fear and flight at the first sign of danger," says Allen.
The society is opposed to the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, claiming any rodeo promotes animal cruelty. The society is asking Canadians to boycott not just the annual Stampede but also any businesses that support or promote it. The Humane Society of Canada is also calling on the CRTC to "prohibit scenes showing cruelty to animals" including all rodeo events. It also planning to try and convince municipalities to pass local bylaws that prohibit rodeos and to encourage insurance companies not to provide insurance coverage for rodeo events.
Learning Centre Cuts Staff
A funding shortfall has forced the Calgary Learning Centre to make significant cuts in staff and services that will affect hundreds of people.
The Centre offers programs and services to people with learning, literacy and attention difficulties. Four employees are losing their jobs, three are having their time reduced and the Centre’s 1,000-member library resource centre will be closed to the public.
The Centre estimates that over 400 families in literacy programs all over the city will no longer be able to use programs as a result of the cuts.
"It will have an effect on the community for sure," says Anne Price, the centre’s CEO.
The centre has also had to cut down on for presentations and workshops for other organizations and educators who work with people with learning difficulties.
Price says the centre is hoping to get funding to reinstate some of these programs.
"We’re concentrating on keeping alive, but we hope to grow again," she says.
The centre is funded mostly through the federal and provincial governments as well as service fees.
Folk Fest Will be On Prince’s Island
The Calgary Folk Music Festival will not have to move from Prince’s Island Park despite recent flooding damage.
Last week there were concerns the festival might have to be relocated because the causeway to the island was washed out by recent flooding. But Dave Breckon, director of city parks, says the city will build a temporary causeway to be used during the festival to bring needed supplies and equipment across to the island.
No Moratorium on Development in Threatened Caribou Habitat
Environmental groups are criticizing the Alberta government for not agreeing to a moratorium on forestry and oil and gas development within the habitat of threatened provincial caribou herds.
The Alberta Woodland Caribou Recovery Plan, which was put together by a multi-stakeholder group including environmentalists, representatives from the oil and gas and forestry industry and government, recommended the moratorium until recovery plans are put into place.
Glen Semenuk, executive director of the Alberta Federation of Naturalists, and a member of the recovery plan team, says the future of caribou is seriously threatened in the province because their habitat has been increasingly fragmented by oil and gas and forestry developed and he’s disappointed there will be no moratorium on development to protect caribou. He points out that the Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) recently approved a Suncor pipeline through sensitive habitat used by the threatened Little Smokey caribou herd.
The Alberta Wilderness Association and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Association are also upset by the decision.
Woodland caribou are listed as threatened under Alberta’s Wildlife Act. It’s estimated there are between 2500 and 4200 caribou left in northern and central Alberta. |
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