1995 rodeo video - Humane Society of the U.S.

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Rodeo is condemned by EVERY animal welfare organization in North America
due to its inherent cruelty. For most of these abused animals the rodeo
arena is merely a detour en route to the slaughterhouse.

Rodeo has little to do with either agriculture or life on a working
ranch, it's mostly macho hype. REAL cowboys/girls never routinely rode
bulls, or wrestled steers, or rode bareback, or barrel raced, or practiced
calf roping (babies!) as a timed event. Nor did they put flank straps on
the animals, or work them over in the holding chutes with painful
"hotshots," kicks and slaps.....Some "sport"!

Indeed, rodeo is not a "sport" at all. It's a macho exercise in
DOMINATION, and it needs to end. LEGISLATION IS IN ORDER. The United
Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales) outlawed rodeos back in 1934; Germany
and the Netherlands have since followed suit. Can the U.S. be far behind?
Rodeo has had its brutal day and now--like those Confederate statues--
belongs in the Dustbin of History, R.I.P.

"The last thing we would ever do is try to hurt or injure an animal in any way, shape or form," she said, adding that the animals are often treated better than many people.

Really? Try picturing a dog instead of a calf or cow in these events. Would we tolerate roping, jerking to the ground (which can incur neck and other injuries) and terrifying our beloved dogs?

Rodeos are nothing but barbaric displays of sheer power and domination over other Earthlings: “We're going to chase, rope and throw you to the ground – or take your milk - just because we're stronger and we can.” What type of message does this send to our children? If people treated their dog or cat this way they would go to jail. So why would we allow this for any other animal? What makes these creatures so much “less” in our eyes that we permit this?

COWBOY QUOTES

“Cowboys, sensing—like gorillas—that their time has passed, cling ever more desperately to anachronistic styles, not willing to admit that the myth has degenerated, the traditions eroded to a point where attempting to sustain them falls somewhere between silliness and the outright ridiculous. (--Larry McMurtry, in the book, RODEO, Aperture Books, NYC, 1994)

“No one on a working ranch would ever have any reason (or desire) to ride a bull, Brahma or otherwise. No one would ever be required to race a horse around three triangularly placed barrels, an activity that quickly ruins the horse for more productive activity. Bull riding and bqrrel racing are rodeo kabuki—their relation to anything that might happen on a ranch is confined to costume.” (--Ibid.)

“If ever there were a completely gratuitous abuse of animals, and often baby animals at that, all done for the sheer thrill and bravado of it, it is rodeo.” (--Matthew Scully, in his 2002 book DOMINION. Scully is a former speech writer for Pres. George W. Bush.)
“The single worst thing you can do to an animal emotionally is to make it feel afraid. Fear is so bad for animals I think it’s worse than pain.” (--Dr. Temple Grandin, world-renowned animal behaviorist)

“Do animals feel fear? Nah, they don’t feel fear. They’re an ANIMAL! (--Russ Fields, rancher and president of the Rowell Ranch Rodeo Committee, 5/19/18 KGO-TV segment)

“As a lawyer, the ‘wild cow milking contest’ reminds me of rape cases I have tried in state court. Appalling!” (--Dr. Peggy Larson, veterinarian & former bronc rider, in a 2015 letter to HARD)

“Women should not rodeo any more than men can have babies. Women were put on earth to reproduce, and are close to animals. Women’s liberation is on an equal to gay liberation—they are both ridiculous.” (--a Wyoming steer wrestler in the book, “RODEO: An Anthropologist Looks at the Wild and the Tame,” by Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence, Univ. Tenn. Press, 1982)

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