Crying animal cruelty, opponents are seeking to dislodge the first rodeo event in China, planned as one of the major cultural exchange activities during the high-level dialogue between US and Chinese leaders in October.

TIME is ticking away for the coalition of 71 non-governmental organisations in China, mainly animal rights groups, seeking to stop a controversial rodeo show from being staged in the country.

The Rodeo China, co-organised by Less Is Forever More Inc and the China International Friendship Cities Association, is scheduled for Oct 3-10 at the Bird’s Nest, the venue of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

The first-ever rodeo show in China, it will feature professional Tie-Down Roping rodeo rider Matt Shiozawa and 150 other cowboys and cowgirls along with 200 horses, bulls and other rodeo livestock.

The organisers hope that the event will be a good way to bridge the cultural gap between the United States and China, and provide an opportunity for Chinese to see how the rodeo continues to be enjoyed by farmers and ranchers today.

On paper, the event looks like a perfect cultural exchange project.

But, the question is whether a rodeo show is the best way to improve understanding of American culture, in view of what is perceived as animal cruelty in the sport.

The Capital Animal Welfare Association (Cawa), the main opposition in the coalition, wants the organisers to cancel the event for the sake of future generations.

“Through American films and novels, our impression of the cowboy culture of the Wild West is that cowboys were heroes who fought the bad guys and protected the weak,” Cawa president Qin Xiaona said in an interview.

“They would not be cruel to animals. I don’t think rodeo entirely reflects the true American spirit and culture, or at least is not considered mainstream.”

She said in rodeo shows or competitions, horsemen in cowboy gear would rope a charging bull in the arena and bring it down to the ground, with the bull injuring its cervical vertebrae in the process.

As for bareback horse-riding events, riders compete to see who can stay mounted on a bucking horse for the longest time.

Qin said it was a common practice for a flank strap to be tied around the horse’s sensitive hindquarters to make it buck, and electric shock devices were sometimes used to excite the animal.

“We should consider all factors before bringing the rodeo show to China, including whether it will help create a more harmonious society or otherwise.

“Sporting events that exploit animals for the entertainment of humans have gradually been eliminated,” she said.

“There are other means of entertainment. Why do we still live in the primitive age and entertain ourselves at the expense of the suffering animals?”

Animal researcher Liu Huili from Green Beagle, which is active in the anti-rodeo campaign, said they welcomed Sino-US cultural exchange programmes but not one which promoted animal cruelty.

“No matter how they defend the event, you cannot deny the reality of animal abuse involved in rodeo events,” she said.

Since the announcement of the event in April, Cawa and several other NGOs have expressed their objections to the show at press conferences and on their websites and blogs.

In May, the organisers posted a report on the protection of rodeo livestock and measures to be taken to ensure the show held in compliance with Chinese and international laws.

After two months of research, animal rights activists countered the organiser’s claims with their own report.

The report, among other things, said the organisers claimed only 0.078% of livestock in Australian rodeo events in 1994 were injured, but did not disclose the higher number of injured and dead rodeo animals in the US in the same year.

According to the report, the Showing Animals Respect and Kindness Organisation has over the past 16 years compiled more than 200 videos and articles on animal cruelty involved in rodeo events.

On July 8, the opponents met the organisers but the meeting resulted in a deadlock.

At the end of last month, the coalition sent an open letter to the newly-appointed US Ambassador to China Gary Locke, piling pressure on the US government to call off the event.

The organiser’s spokesman, Guo Tiefu, said the claim by the animal rights group that rodeo shows were excessively abusive to animals was unfounded.

He said the organisers had professional experience in holding rodeo shows that adhered to the rules and guidelines of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the American Humane Association to ensure the humane treatment of rodeo animals.

“The rodeo event is one of the major cultural exchange activities planned during the high-level dialogue between US and Chinese leaders.

“But, we may have to postpone the event to next year due to quarantine laws and requirements,” Guo added.

“I would like to stress that the delay has nothing to do with the protests.”

So far, the US Embassy has remained silent on the issue. It will be an extremely heavy decision for the US and Chinese sides to make as there is much money riding on the rodeo event, which will be broadcast to an estimated two billion viewers worldwide via television, the Internet and other media.

Qin said Cawa encouraged supporters of the anti-rodeo campaign to voice their opinions on the issue on the US embassy’s website and micro-blog.

“We have observers overseas helping us compile the latest data on the number of injured and dead animals in the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo carnival in Wyoming and other rodeo events,” she said.

“We will keep on sending such information to the US embassy hoping that they will have a real picture of rodeos and take heed of our views.”