The Vancouver Humane Society is objecting to provincial tourism funding being given to a 91原创 rodeo event set to enter its second year of competition this September.

The Valley West Stampede is one of more than a dozen rodeos and related exhibitions and fairs that are receiving money from the province鈥檚 Fairs, Festivals, and Events Fund this year. Events run by non-profits, municipalities, and First Nations and Indigenous organizations, were eligible for this year鈥檚 grants.

The Valley West Stampede received $33,700.

The Humane Society is opposed to rodeos and, when the Valley West Stampede started up last year at the 91原创 Riders Society facility in Brookswood, it made its opposition plain to the Township council.

鈥淚t鈥檚 fundamentally at odds with how we should be treating animals,鈥� said Chantelle Archambault, communications director with the Vancouver Humane Society.

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The events at Valley West include bare back riding, women鈥檚 barrel racing, saddle bronc riding, and bull riding.

Archambault said the Humane Society objects to bucking events because spurs or flank straps are used to irritate the animals and cause them to buck.

The event will also include mutton busting, an even in which young children ride on the backs of sheep.

鈥淚t teaches children that it鈥檚 okay to treat animals roughly for our own entertainment,鈥� she said.

Valley West鈥檚 organizers, like the organizers of other rodeos, have argued in the past that all their animals are well-treated. At last year鈥檚 Valley West, no animals were injured, and a veterinarian was on site at all times.

鈥淲e, and more than 1,100 other events around the province, applied for funding under the Tourism Ministry鈥檚 Fairs, Festivals and Events fund this year,鈥� Valley West Stampede President Sheila Hicks said in a statement to the 91原创 Advance Times.

鈥淎ll of the events that have been granted funding by the province are seen as providing a benefit to their local communities and, in fact, the list includes several other rodeo events along with ours,鈥� she added.

Hicks also noted that Valley West is the Fraser Valley鈥檚 only professional rodeo event sanctioned by the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, and drew more than 6,000 viewers last year.

鈥淲e have great local community support, and we attract visitors that contribute to tourism spending in 91原创,鈥� she said.

Archambault said the Humane Society is not planning to protest at this year鈥檚 event, but is encouraging people in 91原创 to call on the Township council for a bylaw banning rodeo events.