The 2020 Alberta Budget has sparked more calls for the province to cut funding to the Calgary Stampede’s chuckwagon races, as animal activists argue that the event is an unnecessary danger to the animals that take part.

The budget cut the 2020-2021 grant down to $6.25 million from the $6.7 million seen in 2019 and $7.7 million included in the 2018 budget.

PETA states that all funding should be cut from the chuckwagon races as a way to meet the province’s “financial restraint and prevent horses from suffering and dying.”

Last year was one of the Stampede’s deadliest for horses, with six dying throughout the 10-day event.

Baywatch star and animal rights activist Pamela Anderson sent a letter to Jason Kenney in the weeks following the 2019 Stampede calling for an end to the races.

Following the recent budget announcements, PETA’s Senior Manager John Di Leonardo sent a similar letter to Travis Toews, Alberta’s treasury board president and minister of finance.

The letter can be read in full below: