Information About The Stock Show!

The Stock Show is In Town!
January 10-25, 2009



The Rodeo We all agree that animals should be treated humanely. Animals in rodeos, however, are treated neither humanely nor with dignity. They are treated roughly, some to the point of injury and death. There are obvious injuries and not-so-obvious injuries. Among the obvious: During the 1999 National Western Stock Show, a horse crashed into a wall and broke his neck, and another horse broke his back after being forced to buck. (Renate Robey, “Horse Euthanized After Show Accident,” Denver Post 16 Jan. 1999) Among the not so obvious: The late Dr. Cordell Leif told the Denver Post, “Bucking horses often develop back problems from the repeated poundings they take from the cowboys. There’s also a real leg injury where a tendon breaks down. Horses don’t normally jump up and down.” (Steve Lipsher, “Veterinarian Calls Rodeos Brutal to Stock,” Denver Post 20 Jan. 1991) Calves roped while running routinely have their necks snapped back by the lasso, often resulting in neck injuries. (Lipsher 1991) Electric prods, spurs, and bucking straps are used to irritate and enrage animals used in rodeos. The flank, or “bucking,” strap or rope—which is used to make horses and bulls buck—is tightly cinched around their abdomens, which causes the animals to “buck vigorously to try to rid themselves of the torment.” (Hattie Klotz, “Bucking Bronco Dies in Corel Center Rodeo,” The Ottawa Citizen 9 Aug. 1999.) The irritation causes the animals to buck violently, which is what the rodeo promoters want them to do in order to put on a good show for the crowds. The flank strap, when paired with spurring, causes the animals to buck even more violently, often resulting in serious injuries. (Dr. Peggy Larson, D.V.M., M.S., J.D., e-mail to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 15 Nov. 2001.) Cows and horses are often prodded with an electrical “hotshot” while in the chute to rile them, causing intense pain to the animals. Peggy Larson, D.V.M.—a veterinarian who in her youth was a bareback bronc rider—said, “Bovines are more susceptible to electrical current than other animals. Perhaps because they have a huge ‘electrolyte’ vat, the rumen [one of their stomachs].” (Larson 2001) The National Western Stock Show (NWSS) and the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association (PRCA) state that less than 1% of animals used in rodeo suffer injuries. There are a few problems with these assurances. First, we all know about “lies, damned lies, and statistics.” We doubt the veracity of these figures because of the heavy bias of these industry groups. This sort of self-reporting offers little comfort when it’s done by an industry group. Those involved with the reporting generally are not averse to standard animal husbandry practices such as castrating bulls and pigs without anesthesia. Colorado State Veterinarian John Maulsby has joined the apologists in defending rodeo. Mr. Maulsby should recuse himself from this discussion because he has a conflict of interest. On the one hand, he is supposed to promote animal agriculture; on the other, he is supposed to ensure animal welfare. Coloradans should not forget that it was John Maulsby, a trained veterinarian, who was punished by the state agriculture department after reports surfaced that he tried to euthanize an elk calf by cervical dislocation (see Westword, Antlers of a Dilemma, 1996). The NWSS and PRCA can put some argument to rest by allowing unannounced and unrestricted access to third-party observers. Second, the NWSS and PRCA give no accounting for mental anguish. Just because these animals show no outward signs of physical injury does not mean they aren’t suffering. The animals are constantly confined, trucked from event to event and forced into confrontation; few animals fare well under such circumstances. Third, the National Western and PRCA regurgitate the tired assertion that the animals must be well cared for because it would be bad business to do otherwise. These same people think it’s OK to keep pigs intensively confined in windowless sheds, to sear the beaks off of chickens before packing them into cages for the duration of their lives, to exterminate countless bears, wolves and coyotes to “protect” livestock, and to castrate bulls and pigs without anesthesia. PRCA rules are enforced by an industry that promotes rodeo activities. The rules hint at the division these persons place between humans and other animals. For instance, according to PRCA rules, animals cannot “be confined or transported in vehicles for a period beyond 24 hours without being properly fed, watered and unloaded.” Even if this rule is strictly followed and enforced, animals can be kept wallowing in their own filth without food and water for as long as 24 hours and still be used in PRCA-endorsed rodeos. Perhaps the position of the NWSS and PRCA on animals is best exemplified by the actions of one of the groups’ poster boys. In a trip to the high country during his National Western Stock Show visit in 1996, PRCA’s Ty Murray got on a snowmobile, chased down an elk and wrestled the animal to the ground. Fined $1,333 for the incident, Murray quipped, “I had about $50,000 worth of fun, so I figured I came out all right in the end.” A tip of the hat to our esteemed friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for the well-documented information in paragraphs 3 and 4. What can I do? Return to the top

The Rodeo

We all agree that animals should be treated humanely. Animals in rodeos, however, are treated neither humanely nor with dignity. They are treated roughly, some to the point of injury and death.

There are obvious injuries and not-so-obvious injuries. Among the obvious: During the 1999 National Western Stock Show, a horse crashed into a wall and broke his neck, and another horse broke his back after being forced to buck. (Renate Robey, “Horse Euthanized After Show Accident,” Denver Post 16 Jan. 1999)

Among the not so obvious: The late Dr. Cordell Leif told the Denver Post, “Bucking horses often develop back problems from the repeated poundings they take from the cowboys. There’s also a real leg injury where a tendon breaks down. Horses don’t normally jump up and down.” (Steve Lipsher, “Veterinarian Calls Rodeos Brutal to Stock,” Denver Post 20 Jan. 1991)

Calves roped while running routinely have their necks snapped back by the lasso, often resulting in neck injuries. (Lipsher 1991)

Electric prods, spurs, and bucking straps are used to irritate and enrage animals used in rodeos. The flank, or “bucking,” strap or rope—which is used to make horses and bulls buck—is tightly cinched around their abdomens, which causes the animals to “buck vigorously to try to rid themselves of the torment.” (Hattie Klotz, “Bucking Bronco Dies in Corel Center Rodeo,” The Ottawa Citizen 9 Aug. 1999.) The irritation causes the animals to buck violently, which is what the rodeo promoters want them to do in order to put on a good show for the crowds. The flank strap, when paired with spurring, causes the animals to buck even more violently, often resulting in serious injuries. (Dr. Peggy Larson, D.V.M., M.S., J.D., e-mail to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 15 Nov. 2001.)

Cows and horses are often prodded with an electrical “hotshot” while in the chute to rile them, causing intense pain to the animals. Peggy Larson, D.V.M.—a veterinarian who in her youth was a bareback bronc rider—said, “Bovines are more susceptible to electrical current than other animals. Perhaps because they have a huge ‘electrolyte’ vat, the rumen [one of their stomachs].” (Larson 2001)

The National Western Stock Show (NWSS) and the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association (PRCA) state that less than 1% of animals used in rodeo suffer injuries. There are a few problems with these assurances.

First, we all know about “lies, damned lies, and statistics.” We doubt the veracity of these figures because of the heavy bias of these industry groups. This sort of self-reporting offers little comfort when it’s done by an industry group. Those involved with the reporting generally are not averse to standard animal husbandry practices such as castrating bulls and pigs without anesthesia.

Colorado State Veterinarian John Maulsby has joined the apologists in defending rodeo. Mr. Maulsby should recuse himself from this discussion because he has a conflict of interest. On the one hand, he is supposed to promote animal agriculture; on the other, he is supposed to ensure animal welfare. Coloradans should not forget that it was John Maulsby, a trained veterinarian, who was punished by the state agriculture department after reports surfaced that he tried to euthanize an elk calf by cervical dislocation (see Westword, Antlers of a Dilemma, 1996).

The NWSS and PRCA can put some argument to rest by allowing unannounced and unrestricted access to third-party observers.

Second, the NWSS and PRCA give no accounting for mental anguish. Just because these animals show no outward signs of physical injury does not mean they aren’t suffering. The animals are constantly confined, trucked from event to event and forced into confrontation; few animals fare well under such circumstances.

Third, the National Western and PRCA regurgitate the tired assertion that the animals must be well cared for because it would be bad business to do otherwise. These same people think it’s OK to keep pigs intensively confined in windowless sheds, to sear the beaks off of chickens before packing them into cages for the duration of their lives, to exterminate countless bears, wolves and coyotes to “protect” livestock, and to castrate bulls and pigs without anesthesia.

PRCA rules are enforced by an industry that promotes rodeo activities. The rules hint at the division these persons place between humans and other animals. For instance, according to PRCA rules, animals cannot “be confined or transported in vehicles for a period beyond 24 hours without being properly fed, watered and unloaded.” Even if this rule is strictly followed and enforced, animals can be kept wallowing in their own filth without food and water for as long as 24 hours and still be used in PRCA-endorsed rodeos.

Perhaps the position of the NWSS and PRCA on animals is best exemplified by the actions of one of the groups’ poster boys. In a trip to the high country during his National Western Stock Show visit in 1996, PRCA’s Ty Murray got on a snowmobile, chased down an elk and wrestled the animal to the ground. Fined $1,333 for the incident, Murray quipped, “I had about $50,000 worth of fun, so I figured I came out all right in the end.”

A tip of the hat to our esteemed friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for the well-documented information in paragraphs 3 and 4.

What can I do?

Return to the top