What's wrong with the rodeo? The rodeo is a cruel sport in which an animal is tortured for 8 seconds just so that a profit can be turned.
Rodeos take normally tame, docile animals and provoke them into behavior that makes them appear to be fierce and aggressive.
Rodeos consider these animals to be cheap, expendable, and replaceable. They are used time and again before their bruised and battered bodies end up at a slaughterhouse.
Injuries to animals, such as deep internal organ bruising, hemorrhaging, bone fractures, ripped tendons, and torn ligaments and muscles, are all expected and anticipated in this violent tradition.
Here is a list of rodeo animal deaths and injuries courtesy of PETA2.com
The following is a partial listing of incidents since 1995 involving animals used in rodeos that includes countless human and animal injuries and deaths. June 9, 2006/Lewiston, Maine: When a rodeo bull escaped from a pen at a bull-riding event, police on horseback chased the animal and struggled with him in a local back yard before the bull was finally captured. April 28, 2006/Clovis, California: Two women sustained head injuries and had to be rushed to the hospital when they were trampled by two spooked horses who escaped a pen at the Clovis Rodeo. April 22, 2006/Byers, Colorado: A 17-year-old attending a rodeo clinic was killed while trying to get off a horse following a “bucking bronco” ride. The young man’s hand got caught in the horse’s harness, and the horse rolled on top of him, causing severe organ damage. March 16, 2006/Houston, Texas: During the steer-wrestling competition at a RodeoHouston event, a steer broke his neck and had to be euthanized.January 28, 2006/Ulver- stone, Tasmania, Australia: During a saddle bronc ride at the Ulverstone Rodeo, a 5-year-old horse fell and broke his leg. His injuries were so severe that he had to be euthanized. January 14, 2006/Carrick, Tasmania, Australia: A bull who was thought to have suffered a broken back at the Carrick Rodeo had to be euthanized. According to reports, the bull was kicked in the head in order to move him onto a truck and was left for an hour without veterinary care after sustaining the injury. September 18, 2005/ Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania: Two rodeo operators were cited for illegally transporting horses in a double-decker trailer. They were transporting rodeo bulls (lower level) and horses (upper level) to a Shriner’s fundraiser. A conviction carries a fine of $50 to $750.August 14, 2005/Omak, Washington: A horse was killed during the Omak rodeo after he broke his neck during the Wild Horse Race. July 3, 2005/Calgary, Alberta, Canada:While being herded to the Calgary Stampede fairgrounds, at least nine horses died after being spooked and falling 33 feet off a city bridge into a river. Approximately 200 horses were on a six-day, 125-mile journey from the Stampede ranch near Hanna, Alberta, to the exhibition site near downtown Calgary. Some animals tumbled down a steep embankment, and others jumped or fell over the guardrail. Some horses died on impact, others drowned, and one had to be euthanized later. April 16, 2005/Auburn, California: A horse was euthanized after breaking her leg at the PRCA Wild West Stampede. An 11-year-old girl who witnessed the incident said, “The leg was hanging loose, like it was not attached to the body, and blood was everywhere.” February 20, 2005/Cape Girardeau, Missouri: A steer was killed at a PRCA rodeo after the animal tripped and fractured his neck as he was being wrestled to the ground.January 31, 2005/Omaha, Nebraska: A horse being used in a stunt at the “World’s Toughest Bulls and Broncs” rodeo was badly injured and had to be euthanized. In a show called “the One-Armed Bandit,” a group of horses is herded on top of a specially made horse trailer. A rider comes up behind them and performs a series of turns as the truck and trailer drive forward. One of the horses fell from the trailer and had to be destroyed. December 21, 2004/San Angelo, Texas: Police shot a bull after he escaped from a rodeo and began to wander around a nearby neighborhood. Though the police reported that the animal had been killed, he actually survived multiple gunshot wounds to his shoulders and head and was found with gaping, bleeding bullet holes before being euthanized.December 9, 2004/Las Vegas, Nevada: A calf had to be euthanized after suffering a spinal injury during the National Rodeo Final’s calf-roping event.November 2, 2004/Calgary, Alberta, Canada: According to an article in the Edmonton Journal, the Calgary Stampede’s star attraction, a “virtually unrideable” bull named Outlaw, was euthanized after sustaining injuries in a fight with another bull. August 21, 2004/Payson, Arizona: A bull fractured his leg during the annual “World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo” in Payson, Colorado. August 14, 2004/Yakima, Washington:Three horses died after being forced to race down a steep slope at the annual Omak Stampede in Washington. July 29, 2004/Calgary, Alberta, Canada:Four horses at the Calgary Stampede suffered severe injuries when a pole that was being used to attach them to the wagon broke as the winning horses were being led from the race. They were euthanized as a result. July 27, 2004/Salinas, California: After running 5 miles through town, a bull who escaped from a Mexican bull-riding rodeo by jumping over a 7-foot gate was shot and killed. The bull charged a man who was trying to corral him, kicking and goring the man in the arm. The man was taken to a hospital. July 17, 2004/Salinas, California: A spokesperson for the Monterey County SPCA confirmed that a horse being used in a racing exhibition at the Salinas Rodeo broke a leg and was euthanized.July 10, 2004/Calgary, Alberta, Canada: A horse being used in a wild horse competition at the Calgary Stampede was euthanized after breaking a leg by colliding with another horse and being thrown into a rail. July 8, 2004/Morris, Illinois: According to the Grundy County Attorney’s Office, a rodeo contractor pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals for shocking bulls in the chute with an electric prod at the Big Bucks Rodeo in Morris, Illinois, in September 2003. He received six months of court supervision and was fined $300. May 23, 2004/Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: An 18-month-old steer was euthanized after his neck was broken during a wrestling competition at the Cloverdale Rodeo. February 27, 2004/Perry, Georgia: A bull leaped over a fence and plowed through a group of spectators at the Georgia National Rodeo, injuring 10 people, including at least one child, and sending two to the hospital. A rodeo official stated, “He won’t be back in the rodeo arena. If you eat McDonald’s you might run into him again.”
These animals should not be used for glory, their injuries are more important than a medal. This is a violent tradition that needs to be stopped and only you can help us.
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