Though website polls often disappear before we can
advise our subscribers, please give the one a try at
http://www.standard.net/opinion.html
While you're at it, let the Olympics committee know how
cruel rodeo is to the animals and that the last thing we need right now
is the world seeing (and emulating) our cruelty. How can we ask other
nations to curtail their own animal cruelty when we are so free to show
ours to the world? Cruelty for entertainment has no merit whatsoever.
As Steve Hindi of SHARK says:
Dear Friends,
I have returned from just over four weeks of travel,
having made stops with the Tiger in Atlanta (GA), Raleigh (NC), St.
Louis (MO), Colorado Springs and Denver (CO), Salt Lake City (UT), Las
Vegas (NV), and Los Angeles (CA). This was a long and productive trip.
So much has happened, and is still happening, I will write about it in a
few posts over the next few days.
The Tiger's stops in Colorado and Utah were aimed at
exposing the Olympic rodeo. The truck grabbed a lot of attention from
residents, the media, and the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee. The
Committee showed its clout by trying to have the Tiger blocked by a
utilities truck when we were in front of Olympic headquarters, and then
with a trumped up complaint to police for allegedly obstructing traffic
the next night.
Neither tactic worked. Fortunately, the police were very
professional, and they realized that this was not their fight. In fact,
one cop shut down attempts by rodeo hooligans to cause trouble.
The media loved the truck. One television station
interviewed a man on the street, and he said rodeo contestants should be
roped and dragged just like the animals. That's quite a comment from a
place acknowledged to be rodeo country! The Tiger showed people the
truth, and they realized that rodeos abuse animals.
As soon as possible, I will bring the Tiger back to Salt
Lake City, well in advance of the Winter Games in February. I think we
really have a chance to dump the incredibly stupid idea of an Olympic
rodeo, but if not, at least we will expose rodeo to the world media as
the act of cruelty and cowardice that it truly is.
Former Olympian Scott Hamilton's public letter urging
the cancellation of the Olympic rodeo because of animal abuse is a great
development. I urge everyone to write the Governor of Utah, the Salt
Lake City Committee, and local newspapers to let them know just what you
think. Here is contact info:
Governor Mike Leavitt
210 State Capitol
Salt Lake City, UT 84144
801-538-1000
Fax: 801-538-1528
email: [email protected]
Salt Lake Organizing Committee
Mitt Romney
299 S. Main St., Ste. 1300
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
E-Mail:
[email protected]
You can also send letters to the editor of the following
local Salt Lake City area newspapers. It is important to remember to
include your full name, address and telephone number. E-mail letters
lacking full name, postal address and daytime telephone number and those
sent to other e-mail boxes will be deleted. E-mail with attachments will
be deleted.
The Deseret News:
E-mail: [email protected]
Fax: (801) 237-2530
The Salt Lake City Tribune:
Email: [email protected]
Fax: 801-257-8950
Points to make:
Rodeo is NOT a legitimate sport, nor does it accurately
reflect American history, or the culture of the Salt Lake City region.
Animal protectors regularly demonstrate that rodeo
animals are not provided with proper care and treatment at rodeos, and
that includes rodeos sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys
Association (PRCA), which is putting on this obscene exhibition of
cruelty.
The PRCA has consistently refused to release
documentation of its false claims that animals are not injured in
rodeos, because they know our video documentation would expose their
lies.
The vast majority of people do not support rodeos, or
other forms of animal abuse, and cruelty should have no representation
at the Olympic games.
Here is a sample letter:
Dear Mr. Romney:
I am outraged and utterly repulsed at the thought of the Salt Lake
Organizing Committee including a rodeo as a part of the Arts and Culture
Festival. There is no "sport" in a rodeo, only cruelty. Rodeos do NOT
demonstrate either the US or Canada's western heritage. In fact, a rodeo
will embarrass both countries.
Animal protection groups regularly demonstrate that the
PRCA's "humane rules" are a public relations sham, and the PRCA will not
release its animal injury/death records, for fear of having them exposed
as fraudulent.
I am part of the vast majority of the American and
Canadian population who do NOT support cruelty and violence. In closing,
I urge you to dump the rodeo from the Winter Games.
Sincerely,
Finally, and this is very important, please forward
copies of your letters to SHARK. You can E-mail us at <[email protected]>,
or send them to SHARK, PO Box 28, Geneva, IL 60134.
When the Tiger returns to Salt Lake City, we will bring
copies of your correspondence to show the media. It is vital that we
demonstrate that compassionate people are the majority.
Come on folks! Let's kick the rodeo animal abusers right
out of the Olympics!
Kindest Regards,
Steve Hindi
SHARK
[email protected]
Go on to Endless
Lesson
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