Model turned actress and noted animal rights activist, Pamela Anderson, has penned a letter to Alberta's premier and the province's minister of agriculture and forestry in an effort to halt chuckwagon racing.
The letter, posted on the Pamela Anderson Foundation's website Thursday morning, was addressed to Premier Jason Kenney and MLA Devin Dreeshen and reads as follows:
Dear Messrs. Kenney and Dreeshen,
After recently moving back to my beautiful native Canada, my heart sank as I read about six horses who died in this year's chuckwagon races at the Calgary Stampede. As an honorary director of PETA, I urge you to direct the Stampede to ban these deadly races.
Tightening the rules—as the Stampede did in 2010—isn't enough. More than a dozen horses have died since then, because these races are inherently cruel and dangerous. Horses have suffered from fractured legs and broken backs, while others have had heart attacks. Anyone watching can see animals foaming at the mouth as their eyes roll back in their heads.
And the world is watching. Global news headlines about the Stampede show that Alberta knows these races are deadly for horses but continues to allow them anyway. This cruelty and indifference do not represent the Canada I know and love.
Please use your authority to end chuckwagon racing before more horses die.
Sincerely,
Pamela Anderson
Anderson's call for a ban on chuckwagon racing in Alberta follows six horse deaths during the 2019 Calgary Stampede's Rangeland Derby.
Dreeshen replied to Anderson's letter on Twitter Thursday afternoon.
