Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.
- Thomas Paine, Introduction to Common Sense, February 14th, 1776
Rodeos are the cruelest, ugliest form of animal torture man ever dreamed up. In an attempt to legitimize this horrendous cruelty, stock contractors, sponsors and ruthless contestants are desperate to align themselves with western tradition and cowboys are painted as heroic figures. In reality, rodeos are nothing more than a hellish detour to the slaughterhouse where torture is sanctioned and brutality is rewarded by winning scores and loud cheers from the stands.
Frightened, confused baby calves are trapped inside chutes while their tails are viciously twisted and grated repeatedly across a metal gate, they’re shocked with devices in clear view of the judges and contestants. Nobody is in the dark on this except, it seems, the audience.
After electrocuting the calf in the photo below with a “Hot Shot” device, the chute opens and the baby is allowed to temporarily escape –running at speeds of up to 25 MPH- only to be clotheslined and wrenched backward through the air by a rope around her neck, smashing her back to the earth only to be jerked back up again and body slammed to the ground while the contestant ties her legs together. Often their necks break, ribs are broken and spines are cracked.
Tiny goats are also tortured, dragged, roped and slammed to the ground. Baby calves and goats suffer excruciating pain – and for what?
Dr. C. G. Haber, a veterinarian with thirty years experience as a USDA meat inspector had this to say: "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. Bullfights are merciful compared to rodeos. It's high time this cruel sport be outlawed in the United States."
Roping events are the worst.
If these cowards jerked a puppy or a kitten backward through the air by a rope around their neck, slamming them to the ground, knocking the wind out of them then picking them up and smashing them on the ground again – breaking bones, fracturing ribs and puncturing lungs, then tying their legs together so they couldn’t move, the perpetrator would most likely be arrested, charged with animal abuse and do jail time. Witnesses to such an act would be outraged and there would likely be a hue and cry from the public. But because this baby is a calf – not a puppy or a kitten, it happens at a “sporting” event and the contestant is looked upon as a “hero”, the act is deemed acceptable and the witnesses whistle and applaud.
For a contestant to become proficient at roping, a great deal of time must be spent practicing. Baby calves (three to four months old) sold to practice pens are roped repeatedly until they are too crippled to get up or they are killed.
* Continued in part two
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