An animal welfare group is calling for a ban on rodeo events, saying the current review of the industry's welfare code will be ineffectual.
The draft of the Code by the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) would implement several minor changes that include shortening rodeo events and technical adjustments to spurs used on animals.
The director of animal welfare group SAFE, Hans Kriek, says rodeo animals are known to have been injured or killed.
"We will be making NAWAC and the Government well aware that rodeos have no place in New Zealand. It's nothing to do with tradition. It is just a cruel spectacle and we should get rid of it."
NAWAC chairman John Hellstrom says members of the parliamentary committee have attended rodeos throughout the country, and he is satisfied the industry is safe.
Peter Greenwood, president of Canterbury Rodeo, says the industry works with NAWAC and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to ensure all rodeo events comply with the code and that animals aren't harmed.
Thirty-five rodeos will be held throughout New Zealand over the next six months.
Public submissions on the code's review close at the end of November.