Review says rodeo and chuckwagon events at Calgary Stampede getting safer

CALGARY – An annual safety review of rodeo and chuckwagon events at the Calgary Stampede suggests the sports are becoming safer.

An independent livestock handling specialist says new chutes installed on the rodeo grounds last year helped reduce the risk of injury to animals and people.

Jennifer Woods, who advises the Stampede on animal safety, saysthere will still be issues with the stock-handling facilities because the area is uneven.

Woods says closer monitoring of the health of chuckwagon horses seems to have made a difference as well.

She says the full examinations now required before a race saw 16 horses scratched from performing last year.

The number of animals that died due to structural breakdowns or heart conditions was down to zero last year from75 per cent in 2010.