FacebookTwitterRedditYoutube

Rodeo Cruelty

Anyone with a heart knows it's wrong to clothesline a baby animal, body slam it to the ground, tie its legs so it can’t move, and drag it by the neck. If this were done to a puppy or kitten, the offender would understandably be charged with a crime, and likely be jailed. In rodeos, however, it's called calf roping, and supporters claim it’s a sport. But the abuse of baby cows is just one of rodeo’s cruelties. 

Cruel Tierra Caliente Rodeo

On May 17, 2015, the Tierra Caliente Rodeo was held at the Dream Park in Gloucester County New Jersey. Acting on a tip, SHARK sent an investigator to the rodeo.

Watch the video HERE

Read SHARK's letter to the facility, Dream Park, that hosted this cruel event here.

The bulls were whipped and electroshocked with abandon. Additionally, the bulls were kept in miserable conditions. The arena was very hot and some of the bulls foamed from the mouth. In the entire four hours we were present, we saw no water given to the animals.

SHARK sues Salinas rodeo, head veterinarian

Salinas, Calif. — SHARK is suing the California Rodeo Salinas – the largest rodeo in California and one of the largest rodeos in the U.S. – for failing to report animal injuries to the state veterinary medical board, as required under California law.

“California law requires the reporting of rodeo animal injuries,” said Steve Hindi, founder and president of SHARK. “The intent was to make rodeos transparent. Instead, the law has not been enforced, but rather, manipulated to make rodeos appear harmless."

Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) filed the suit (12-17-14) in Monterey County Superior Court on behalf of SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness). Also named as a defendant is California Rodeo Salinas head veterinarian Tim Eastman.

Read the rest of SHARK's press release here. 

Read the media coverage here.

Read the full lawsuit here.

Read more ...

The American Veterinary Medical Association Supports Animal Abuse

DOES YOUR VETERINARIAN CARE ABOUT ANIMALS? Not if he or she supports the guidelines and policies of the American Veterinary Medical Association!

You can check out the AVMA website listing all AVMA official policies at: www.avma.org

The American Veterinary Medical Association has an Animal Welfare Committee which is supposed to write animal welfare policies to protect animals from inhumane treatment. However, the makeup of the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee uncovers a club for good old boy, pro-industry veterinarians with vested interests in the status quo who have far more interest in economics than the humane treatment of animals.

According to the AVMA, "The Committee has 13 members who represent small animal practice, swine practice, private equine clinical practice, private food animal clinical practice, poultry medicine, laboratory animal medicine, government service, humane or animal welfare organizations, industrial veterinary medicine, veterinary education and research, pet bird medicine, zoo and wildlife medicine, and the student AVMA." (1)

Unfortunately this constitutes the proverbial fox guarding the chicken coop. But wait, it gets worse! The AVMA does not recognize the rights of any animal and has been a scathing critic of anyone wishing to address the inherent needs of animals. Read on!

Consider the fact that the fast food giant McDonalds required its suppliers to enlarge the size of the hen's cage and to stop forced molting. However, the AVMA still supports both forced molting and tiny cages.

The AVMA states, "Housing Layer Chickens in Cages: The current use of cages to house layer chickens should be continued, and present knowledge is not sufficient to support a radical change or ban of this system."

Why would the AVMA take such a heartless view on such recognized cruelty? The obvious answer is that a poultry industry veterinarian is on the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee. (2)

The AVMA has been presented with graphic video documentation of abuse of animals in rodeo events, and additionally supplied with an extensive record of injuries and deaths of animals in rodeo. Dr. Peggy Larson, a large animal veterinarian and former rodeo participant, addressed the AVMA with expert testimony on the treatment and conditions of animals in this industry. (Read what Dr. Larson says about her experience with animal abuse in rodeos HERE.) Yet, the AVMA continues to adamantly support rodeo.

The reason for this outrageous position is that a pro-rodeo veterinarian, who is also a spokesperson for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, is on the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee. (3)

The AVMA does consider the steel-jaw leghold trap to be inhumane. However, the wildlife veterinarian sitting on the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee wants that policy changed to allow use of the steel-jawed leghold trap. This is the same individual who advocated shooting feral cats as a solution to reducing their numbers. What ever happened to "First, do no harm"? Are lap cats and family dogs the only sentient animals? Or is sentience only associated with paying customers? Unconscionable!

Why is the AVMA so weak on the issue of trapping? Because a pro-trapper is on the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee! (4)

The AVMA acknowledges that there are "spectator events involving animals where injuries may occur." Nevertheless, the AVMA but continues to support these events, including Greyhound racing, the Iditarod, roadside animal parks (notorious for their poor animal care), rodeo (five horses were killed in rodeo events last year and the dead and injured bovines are not even counted), polo, horse racing (a dirty business where horses are sometimes killed by veterinarians for insurance money), cutting, reining, jumping and field trials. The status quo "tradition" of beating up on animals in the name of entertainment is morally and socially unacceptable. The Europeans recognize that animals are sentient and is acting accordingly, but the AVMA disagrees and does nothing.

The AVMA merely condemns the practice of "soring" horses but does not consider it inhumane even though the federal government (USDA) considers this practice in violation of the Animal Welfare Act. "Soring" is deliberately causing pain in the front feet of Tennessee Walkers to make them step higher.

Why doesn't the AVMA take a stronger stance against practice that are cruel and in some cases illegal?

Did you know that the AVMA supports the "Use of Random-Source Dogs and Cats for Research, Testing, and Education?" According to its own policy, "The AVMA believes that there is ample justification for the prudent and humane use of random-source animals in veterinary medical education and biomedical research."

So why does the AVMA condemn stray and abandoned animals to such horrors? Because a research veterinarian is on the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee. (6) No pound dog or cat is safe from the AVMA!

The AVMA also supports the use of biologic specimens, cats, frogs and other animals, in pre-college education. However, and with the help of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, many educational institutions are opting for non-animal specimens.

So why doesn't the AVMA "get it?" The answer is that a research veterinarian is on the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee. (7)

The AVMA "defends and promotes the use of animals in meaningful research, testing and education programs." Education programs use either live or dead animals as teaching aids.

WHY? Because a research veterinarian is on the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee. (8)

The "AVMA commends livestock and poultry producers, animal scientists, and veterinarians who have advanced the science of animal agriculture to the benefit of animals and mankind." To this end, the AVMA supports the confinement rearing of livestock and poultry.

The AVMA supports raising veal calves raised in tiny stalls and provided with poor nutrition to make "white veal," pigs deprived of exercise by confinement in crates, calves fattened in feedlots where they are fed antibiotics as growth stimulants, laying hens confined in tiny cages, and PMU farming where pregnant mares are confined to small stalls for 6 months and their foals are sold to slaughter.

Why does this indefensible policy exist? Because livestock industry veterinarians are on the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee. (9)

The evidence makes clear that:

If you care about animals and don't want them to continue to suffer, you must contact the American Veterinary Medical Association. Let them know what you think about their heartless and hopelessly outdated policies. Tell them that condoning and promoting animal abuse is unacceptable and that the AVMA must change their policies to protect animals, not harm them. Here is the AVMA's contact information:


AVMA
1931 North Meacham Road, Suite 100
Schaumburg, IL 60173-4360
Phone 847-925-8070
Contact via the web by clicking here.

SOURCES OF THE ABOVE INFORMATION:

(1) Information on the composition of the Animal Welfare Committee was taken from the AVMA Directory and from the AVMA website.

(2) Quoted from the official AVMA Animal Welfare Position on the AVMA website

(3) This information was provided by Dr. Peggy Larson who addressed both the Animal Welfare Committee.

It should be noted that although three people from the rodeo industry were allowed time to speak to the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee, only Dr. Larson was allowed to speak on behalf of animals. Steve Hindi, who requested an opportunity to speak, was denied.

(4) The provider of this information wishes to remain anonymous because he is an AVMA member.

(5) The harm caused by these events are well-known and documented. The veterinarians who killed horses for insurance money were tried in Illinois and convicted.

(6) Quoted from the official AVMA Animal Welfare Position on the AVMA website

(7) Quoted from the official AVMA Animal Welfare Position on the AVMA website

(8) Quoted from the official AVMA Animal Welfare Position on the AVMA website

(9) Quoted from the official AVMA Animal Welfare Position on the AVMA website

Malheur County, Oregon Pays for Deputies’ Bad Behavior

In 2013, during the Jordan Valley Big Loop Rodeo, Malheur County sheriff’s deputies decided that it was more important to follow the directions of the rodeo board than the laws of Oregon, or the protected rights of US citizens under the Constitution of the United States.

As SHARK YouTubes have exposed, Malheur sheriff’s deputies conducted an illegal traffic stop based on an order from the rodeo board, committed intimidation, police brutality, and illegally used a police computer to gain unwarranted access to personal information about SHARK personnel.


Malheur County Sheriff Deputy Brian Beck, after realizing his dashboard camera was still recording.


SHARK videos exposing the cruelty and corruption of the Malheur County and the Big Loop Rodeo have garnered some three million views on YouTube, and even more on some other Internet sites. The public responded with outrage at the police misdeeds.

I filed a lawsuit against the Malheur County Sheriff’s Department. I am happy to announce that suit has now been settled. Malheur County paid $12,500 for illegally stopping me at the behest of the Big Loop Rodeo board. I didn’t want Malheur’s money, so I gave it to SHARK.

Interestingly, the sheriff’s department sent only professional officers to the 2014 rodeo. Gone were the badge-carrying rodeo minions. What a difference a year can make, especially when you file a federal lawsuit!

Some people think you can’t stand up to corrupt police, but we’ve done it successfully time and time again. Not all police are corrupt, but when you find those that are, I believe it is a duty to stand up for what is right.

Also very different was the rodeo itself, because Oregon passed a law banning horse tripping. Going by the performance of sheriff’s deputies in 2013, we thought they would not enforce the ban this year, but they did, and we applaud Sheriff Wolfe for getting the job done this time around.


A horse being “tripped” and brutalized at the Big Loop Rodeo in 2012


Some people think that rodeos can’t be changed, but the Big Loop Rodeo has proven otherwise, and it is just the latest example. SHARK’s exposure of rodeo animal shocking has  knocked most of that particular abuse out, and we continue to expose it on the rare occasions that we still find it. The same goes for tail twisting and tail raking over metal bars. Rodeos throughout the US have changed for fear of being exposed by SHARK cameras.

SHARK’s efforts have knocked some rodeos into the sunset on a permanent basis, such as the Lake County Sheriff’s Rodeo in Illinois, or the Flat Rock Rodeo in Flat Rock, Michigan.

Rodeo sponsors have also felt the bite of our rodeo videos, and a number of them have bailed on the phony cowboys, including Macy’s, Trader Joe’s, Starbucks, GEICO Insurance, Southwest Airlines, Campbell’s Soup, and Choice Hotels.

While corporate thugs such as Coca-Cola, Les Schwab Tires and others still support rodeos, and much abuse remains, SHARK will continue to do everything we can to bring relief to rodeo animals.
 
You can see the videos and read the entire story here.

Frank Feldinger & Hard Copy

In 1996 a team of journalists led by Frank Feldinger, a producer of the nationally syndicated television news show Hard Copy, joined SHARK for an investigation of rodeos. SHARK and Hard Copy attended a rodeo in Big Bear, California, produced by the Honeycutt Rodeo Company, a PRCA stock contractor.

SHARK video cameras exposed the usual abuses of the Rodeo Mafia, including animals shocked with 5,000 volts of pain while trapped in chutes. They also documented tail twisting, tail pulling and tail raking over fences. All of these abuses are designed to make the tame, domesticated animals act wild and mean from pain and fear. All of these abuses are denied by the Rodeo Mafia.

Immediately following the rodeo, SHARK investigators and the Hard Copy crew approached the owner of the rodeo company, who at first made the Rodeo Mafia's standard denials of abuse. When confronted with video evidence of animals being shocked, the owner said he did not know who the shocker was. That's interesting, since the shocker was the owner's son.

Once confronted, the rodeo people became very threatening. The Hard Copy crew was surprised by the viciousness of the rodeo people. One rodeo thug menaced interviewer Ed Miller with a beer bottle. Another thug made a death threat against SHARK president Steve Hindi. Their threats, vulgarities and obscenities -- caught on camera -- demonstrated the true nature of the Rodeo Mafia.

The resulting Hard Copy story exposed the Big Bear rodeo, and video clips of other rodeos around the country left no doubt in viewers' minds about the violence and cruelty of the rodeos everywhere.

At one point, the Hard Copy story split the television screen, showing the owner of the rodeo company denying any abuse of animals on one side, while video clips of those very abuses played on the other side.

The story also included the comments of veterinarian Peggy Larson, whose personal experience with rodeo animal victims added greatly to the impact of the investigative report.

The Hard Copy rodeo story caused a massive public outcry, and sent the Rodeo Mafia running for cover. Frank Feldinger produced the most accurate and damning nationally televised story exposing rodeo cruelty ever seen in the US. His work earned Hard Copy a Genesis Award from the Ark Trust, an organization that recognizes the best work on animal issues by media worldwide.

The story caused such an uproar, Hard Copy replayed the episode numerous times in the months that followed the original airing.

More Videos

To see even more documentation and video exposés please visit SHARK's YouTube account to watch any of our over 1000 videos!

Click Here

Follow SHARK on Social Media