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Home Page We advocate on all animal protection and exploitation issues, including experimentation, factory farming, rodeos, breeders and traveling animal acts. Animal Defenders of Westchester |
Articles Bull dies at Rodeo Published in the SACRAMENTO BEE News, July 24, 2006: Cal Expo officials call request to ban rodeo events unnecessary.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14281253p-15089436c.html
The crowd of rodeo fans watched in dismay as the bull writhed in the
dirt. The half-ton animal had broken his back chasing see-sawing cowboys
during an event called "Cowboy Teeter-Totter." "He was spitting stuff out of his mouth, rolling around, trying to get
his legs to move," recalled Miles Young of Pleasant Hill, a retired state
fish and game warden who attended the California State Fair that day in
2004. "The crowd saw the whole thing and went dead silent." The announcer, Young recalled, continued as if everything was okay,
saying over the loudspeaker that sometimes bulls pull a muscle. But the bull wasn't OK. His back was broken. The bull was hauled off in a
rodeo company ambulance. He was shot dead the next day at a ranch near
Marysville. Animal rights leaders say the case highlights the danger animals face at
rodeos. As the 153rd California State Fair gets ready to open next month at
CalExpo, animal groups are pushing for an official ban of events such as
elephant rides and the "Cowboy Teeter-Totter," which they say put animals at
an unreasonable risk. "Some of these practices are simply abusive," said Eric Mills of Action
for Animals, an Oakland-based animal rights group that has spearheaded rodeo
reform legislation in recent years. "This is not the CalExpo state fair this
is the California State Fair -- you're supposed to be representing the
citizens here. Citizens don't want to see animals harmed." Fair organizers say such criticism is misplaced -- the fair didn't have
elephant rides or the teeter-totter event in 2005 and there are no plans to
have them this year. They say critics are focusing on an isolated incident
to fuel a larger agenda: A ban on rodeos. "Let's just say they're out of touch," said Norb Bartosik, president of
the State Fair board of directors. Bartosik said the fair takes great care to ensure animals are treated
humanely. For instance, he said animals are kept in clean, well-maintained
environments. A vet is present 24 hours. "The fair is all about the promotion and education of agriculture and
showcasing livestock," Bartosik said. "That's what we do and we think we do
it very well." In an era of strip malls, corporate jobs and interstates, rodeos are a
link to California's cowboy past. California has 43 rodeos sanctioned by the
sport's largest body, plus countless high school and college rodeos and
charreadas, or Mexican rodeos. Rodeo events like bull-riding are often
featured at county fairs. Animal rights groups like Mills' say they aren't out to ban rodeos --
they simply want organizers to make sure animals are treated with care. They've had some success. Action for Animals was instrumental in getting a state law in 1994 that
banned las manganas, a charreada tradition in which charros trip a horse by
roping its front legs. A 2000 state law requires a veterinarian to be on
site at all rodeos and to report any injuries to the state. Mills' group is working with the Humane Society of the United States and
Animal Switchboard, a San Francisco animal rights group, to put pressure on
the fair. The coalition has received letters of support from two ex-officio
members of the fair board: Senator Deborah Ortiz and Assemblyman Dave Jones.
It's hard to tell how dangerous rodeos are for animals because there
hasn't been a major independent study. Cindy Schonholtz, animal welfare coordinator for the Colorado
Springs-based rodeo association, said the chance of a rodeo animal getting
hurt during a particular performance is "less than five-hundreths of 1
percent." She bases that figure on a 2004 survey of rodeo companies. The state has received 10 rodeo injury reports since 2002. But Gina
Bayless, enforcement manager at the state veterinary medical board, said she
suspects many injuries go unreported. She said the law is vague and many
rodeo producers are unfamiliar with it. "This is a problem," said Bayless. "I mean, ultimately this law was
passed so we could compile statistics." One of the most publicized cases was the death of a bull at the 2000
Grand National Rodeo at San Francisco's Cow Palace. The bull hurtled into the metal base of a teeter-totter, snapped its
neck, lost consciousness and had to be put down. The teeter-totter was the
same one used at the fair in 2004. Called the "Cowboy Teeter-Totter" or the "Bucking Bull Teeter- Totter,"
the contraption is featured by Marysville's Flying U Rodeo Company at rodeo
productions throughout the state. It's basically a large, spinning metal
apparatus that allows four cowboys to bounce up and down as a bull, taunted
by a rodeo clown, gives charge. Cotton Rosser, Flying U's longtime owner and a legend in rodeo circles,
said he added padding to the teeter-totter after the Cow Palace incident,
and that now it's as safe as any other rodeo event. Rosser said most rodeo companies take extra precautions to make sure
their bulls aren't harmed. After all, it's in their best interest. Bulls are increasingly expensive,
often worth $10,000 or more. "You injure 'em, you pay for 'em," said Rosser, who has dealt with animal
rights activists for decades and invited some of them to tour his Marysville
ranch. Mills said he believes Rosser has the animals' best interest at heart.
Still, he maintains rodeo events like the teeter-totter are simply too
dangerous and unfair for the animals. "It's not a sport, it's an exercise in machismo and man's supremacy over
beast," said Mills. "In a real sport, competitors choose to be there and are
equally matched. That's not what this is." Bartosik said he's miffed by Mills' demands, since the fair no longer
uses Rosser's teeter-totter and hasn't had elephant rides for four years.
"Why would I recommend to the board of directors a ban of something that
doesn't happen at the fair?" Bartosik asked. "There's no reason for it. Mills, who is also seeking a resurrection of an animal welfare committee,
among other things, sees it differently. "The board could keel over and bring these events back," Mills said. "You
need to have things in print for continuity". Whatever the policy, Bartosik said, the fair is never going to be able to
eliminate injuries entirely. "It's unfortunate, but livestock have injuries that happen to them," "You could have a champion steer, it could step funny and bang up its
heel. It may have to be put down for that. There's not really much you can
do." Young recalled that day at the fair in 2004. He said the crowd of 300 or so was on hand, eating popcorn, drinking
lemonade and enjoying the afternoon show when they heard a big thump. Young said he was horrified to watch as the bull rolled around and the
announcer tried to make light of the situation. He became frustrated when he read the official report. The report,
written by a veterinarian who was there, said the bull was injured from
"normal animal behavior." Young wondered how chasing cowboys around a teeter-totter was "normal
animal behavior" so he sent a letter to Mills about what he saw. Young said he's not especially interested in the fair's official policy.
He just wants the fair to make sure that something like what he witnessed
doesn't happen again. After all, the fair is a great way to showcase animals "Why should we patronize these guys if they're allowing this to go on?"
asked Young, who hasn't been back to the fair since the incident. "They've got to be able to do better." Fair Use Notice: This document may contain
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