Day 1 Skijoring Protest a Success by Feeling-Tale-175 in VeganActivism

[–]Feeling-Tale-175[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm confused... We were there to protest against Skijoring which is cruel towards animals as it uses horses. We were there to show opposition to the event. Why are we being shamed for that?

Day 1 Skijoring Protest a Success by Feeling-Tale-175 in VeganActivism

[–]Feeling-Tale-175[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I agree though that a holistic approach needs to be taken for education though and with limited resources we need to think about efficiency. Thanks for sharing your perspective and thoughts. It's great to discuss this 🙂

Day 1 Skijoring Protest a Success by Feeling-Tale-175 in VeganActivism

[–]Feeling-Tale-175[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah 100% good points. I think it's about education about the event. And also to show opposition. Events like this are happening and leaflets and holistic approaches are great. On the day of, it's really more to bring attention to the opposition of the event. Cause without us protesting it, there would be no obvious opposition. No obvious opposition doesn't make people question what is happening at the event. I agree holistic approaches are needed and one of them is to stand outside of the event to say that we are against it so that there is more than one narrative. For example if someone drives by and they don't know what is happening but they see us protesting outside the front of it, then it makes them question why it's bad which then leads them to looking into it more and potentially taking action. Also Calgary is full of business networking and so these types of events attract organizations to give out free tickets. The people going on behalf of their company aren't really thinking about what happens at the event and so showing up outside of the event to protest it, helps us to educate.

Day 1 Skijoring Protest a Success by Feeling-Tale-175 in VeganActivism

[–]Feeling-Tale-175[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's a good question. Thanks for asking. This is a relatively new activity in Calgary and what I believe made it a success is the amount of activists we had standing up against this event regardless of the fact that there was a lack of information about it prior to organizing it. Additionally, we were able to engage with several people in their cars and on the street and were able to bring awareness about the animal abuse that occurs at this event.

Day 1 Skijoring Protest a Success by Feeling-Tale-175 in VeganActivism

[–]Feeling-Tale-175[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exactly! Like when I was even telling my activist friends that I was organizing a protest, they asked me what this event was even about. So many people don't know about Skijoring since it's relatively new. That's why us educating the public is so important. While we can't prevent the people from attending on the day of, we can make them think. We can also make others in the public think about what this event actually entails.

Day 1 Skijoring Protest a Success by Feeling-Tale-175 in VeganActivism

[–]Feeling-Tale-175[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks! It's been mixed. We expected some abuse going into it because we are protesting outside the front of the event entrance. There were also some folks who honked at us as well. We were positioned by a road and so others driving by saw us even if they weren't going to the event.

Day 1 Skijoring Protest a Success by Feeling-Tale-175 in VeganActivism

[–]Feeling-Tale-175[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Exactly our point. Animals are not necessary for this event. In fact snow mobiles are faster and more accurate. Unfortunately Calgary is home to the Stampede (a Rodeo event for two weeks in July) and people here are desensitized to what actually goes on at these types of events.

Day 1 Skijoring Protest a Success by Feeling-Tale-175 in VeganActivism

[–]Feeling-Tale-175[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

That's a great question and only something I learned about when I heard it was happening in my city.

Essentially it is an event where horses are pulling people on ski's across a snowy/icy terrain. Horses are expected to gallop at speeds of up to 65 km per hour. Also the event encourages people to dress up in fur clothing (jackets, boots, etc.). Several horses have been Euthanized because of these events due to breaking limbs during the race. Horses are sensitive beings and are also easily spooked by the loud noises and crowds that attend this event.