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Animal treatment in rodeo


The welfare of animals in rodeo has been a topic of discussion for the industry, the public, and the law for decades. Protests were first raised in the 1870s, and, in the middle twentieth century, laws were enacted to curb events using animals. The American Humane Association (AHA) has worked with the rodeo industry (specifically, the PRCA) to establish rules improving animal welfare in rodeo and the treatment of rodeo animals.

Today, animal cruelty complaints in rodeo are still very much alive. The PRCA (which governs about a third of the rodeos conducted in the United States annually) has provided rules for its members regarding animal welfare. Some local rodeos have banned the use of certain rodeo tack including flank straps and certain events such as steer tripping. Some charreada events staged in the United States saw a crack down in the early years of the twenty-first century.

James Serpell stated in his In the Company of Animals:

"It is perhaps exaggerated to claim, as one author has, that the rodeo is 'the modern equivalent of the public hanging'. Nevertheless, these performances hinge on the violent subjugation of living animals, some of which are deliberately incited to frenzied violence by raking them with spurs, constricting the genital region with leather straps, or by thrusting an electric prod into the rectal area. At the same time they are often given bogus, malevolent names in order to deflect sympathy from their plight. Occasionally, they are maimed or killed, and many are forced to undergo the same terrifying ordeal several times a day. Yet the rodeo is presented to the American public as a harmless, red-blooded entertainment in which the cowboy – the epitome of wholesome, manly virtue – uses his courage and skill to overcome and subdue untamable, outlaw stock. Doubtless, the Romans employed similar fantasies to justify their activities in the Circus Maximus.

Protests were first raised regarding animal welfare in the 1870s, and, beginning in the 1930s, some states enacted laws curtailing rodeo activities and other events involving animals. In the 1950s, the then Rodeo Cowboys Association worked with the American Humane Association (AHA) to establish regulations protecting the welfare of rodeo animals that were acceptable to both organizations. These regulations appear in the PRCA's annually-updated rule book. Rodeo saw its greatest growth in the 1970s and with it a rise in animal cruelty complaints. The PRCA and AHA have insinuated that these charges exist solely for the fund-raising purposes of other humane interest groups. The protests and complaints have made the PRCA realize that public education regarding rodeo and the welfare of animals needs to be undertaken if rodeo is to survive.


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