An extremist organisation called Animal Liberation Queensland (ALQ) is calling on the state government to ban calf scruffing after it released footage from Quamby Rodeo last weekend showing the event which it claimed showed people “roughly handling and tackling the animals used in this contest.”

ALQ vice president Gayle D’Arcy said she attended the Quamby rodeo and the calf scruffing was a free for all.

“It’s just a bit of a bogan event and there was definitely no animal welfare in evidence,” Ms D’Arcy said.

“With children we tell them not to pull the tails of dogs and cats and here we have adults constantly pulling on their tails, I don’t think that’s nice treatment of animals and if prolonged it can cause injury.”

She said rodeo goers tend to see it as fun but are not considering animal welfare.

“We oppose all rodeos but we’re realistic that they are entrenched in Queensland but two events particularly are poor, the calf scruffing which is not an APRA-approved event and the other is calf rope and tie, which is banned in Victoria.”

The Quamby All Sports Association refused to comment on the claims.

Calf scruffing is an event for two, where one person seizes and hangs on to the head of a calf after it leaves a chute, while their partner grabs the tail, with the goal being to bring the animal to ground in the fastest time.

Calf scruffing comes from the old way of branding when if it got away it would have to be scruffed.

The ALQ is already crowing after the Boonah Show bowed to pressure and banned calf scruffing earlier this year. Ms D’Arcy said the Boonah Show Society’s response was commendable. 

“‘We would urge Quamby to follow suit and remove this event from its program next year,” she said. “Similarly to Boonah, the animals used at Quamby in the calf scruffing were being deliberately manhandled and frightened, supposedly in the name of entertainment.”

“This treatment of animals is quite at odds with an event which promotes itself as family friendly.”