In reading the Sept. 5 Hollister Free Lance I was encouraged by the fact that you are allowing protests against rodeos. I have long felt they should be banned due to the horrific cruelty inflicted on helpless animals.
Years ago, a young calf died during a rodeo and a necropsy was performed. The results showed that every part and tissue of the poor little calf’s body was badly bruised indicating multiple hits and slam downs to the body. For Americans who claim to be animal lovers and will go to great lengths to care for our pets, how can you stand by and allow this horrible abuse.
If these wannabe cowboys were treated this way, you can bet there would be an uproar.
I am ashamed of the people who think there is something noble and entertaining about watching animals being abused and in severe pain. What can we do to stop this atrocity? I intend to let my political party leaders know that I want to see rodeos completely banned in this country.
Please do the same and let our voices be heard for those who are being tortured and ignored.
Carolyn James
Hollister
The United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales) outlawed all of rodeo back in 1934. Can the rest of the world be far behind? Just imagine the public outcry if pet dogs were substituted for the terrified roping calves or wrestling steers….
Legislation is in order: local, state, federal. Let your state reps hear from you! EMAIL PATTERN FOR ALL: se**************@*******ca.gov; as*********************@*********ca.gov
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Eric Mills, coordinator
ACTION FOR ANIMALS
Oakland
Dr. Robert Bay from Colorado autopsied roping calves and found hemorrhages, torn muscles, torn ligaments, damage to the trachea, damage to the throat and damage to the thyroid. These calves never get a chance to heal before they are used again. Meat inspectors including Drs. Haber and Fetzner who processed rodeo animals found broken bones, ruptured internal organs, massive amounts of blood in the abdomen from ruptured blood vessels and damage to the ligamentum nuchae that holds the neck to the rest of the spinal column.
Dr. C. G. Haber, a veterinarian with thirty years of experience as a USDA meat inspector, stated “The rodeo folks send their animals to the packing houses where I have seen cattle so extensively bruised that the only areas in which the skin was attached was the head, neck, legs, and belly. I have seen animals with six to eight ribs broken from the spine and at times puncturing the lungs. I have seen as much as two and three gallons of free blood accumulated under the detached skin.” Time to end rodeo forever!
Three cheers for common sense. What about dominating, abusing, and injuring, animals is fun? Stop the madness and abuse. Go ride the Ferris wheel.
Rodeos are just a horrible man made form of animal torture and, many countries have banned them due to animal cruelty. Rodeos must be banned ASAP. How would you like your dog to undergo the tail twisting and electrical shocks and be separated from the people who love him or her. YOU would not allow it. The animals you abuse in rodeos are in pain, suffering immensely, and deserve to be protected, not harmed by indifferent humans who are just making MONEY off the back of abused animals.
Animals never “buck” as violently as they do in rodeos. In fact, unless they are incited by pain (flank straps, spurs, cow bells attached to bulls, and/or illegal electrical shocking), they may flinch but will not buck for the “show.” Thus, to keep rodeo’s bogus hype alive, innocent, docile animals must be tortured into a “fear-flight” panic.
Rodeo’s cruel, barbaric practices are inflicted solely to create a sham show intended to convince gullible, naïve audiences that rodeo animals are “wild” (which they are not).
Rodeos epitomize cruel, violent, and sadistic pathological behavior so that contestants can abuse, dominate and bully otherwise docile, innocent animals. If this grossly unacceptable mistreatment was inflicted on any other animals, it would violate animal welfare laws and could/should be cited and prosecuted as felony animal abuse.
Rodeo announcers often claim, “Don’t worry, folks, these animals LOVE to buck,” which is simply not true as evidenced by the injuries and death in the arenas and later outside.
Worse, the link between animal abuse/cruelty and human violence is well established. Rodeo teaches children that abuse is not only OK, but also it is rewarded.
Do not condone or allow such bogus brutality to continue at the expense of animals. Instead urge laws and legislation to ban rodeo cruelty just as heinous dog fighting is now.
I agree with the letter writer 100 percent. tormenting animals for “fun” in the rodeo is condemned by anyone with a conscience.
How is it possible that rodeos are legal? Abusing and torturing animals is a crime.
Rodeos should be banned!
It’s truly embarrassing that Colombia just outlawed steer tailing, and here we sit with our rodeo abuse as vile and violent as ever.
There are ways to demonstrate equestrian ability without torturing little animals in the process.
Write to your legislators and ask them to outlaw rodeos in your state.
all I see commenting are Karen’s, I bet you also protest Israel and anything good. Nothing wrong with rodeos. Maybe go protest kids stealing cars and doing sideshows you know actually committing crimes and injuries real people. But you are all turds hateful people who hate seeing people enjoy themselves