Group says rodeo animals were shocked

By Ian Schwartz
January 15, 2008
HOI-ABC, Channel 19, Peoria, IL

Click here to learn more about David Morehead's animal abuse record.

PEORIA -- One local group said horses and bulls were shocked with 5000 volts of electricity during a rodeo in Peoria Saturday night. The group, Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, or SHARK, said video they shot during the rodeo shows a man using a taser on several animals.

According to SHARK, the man who shocked the animals is David Morehead, owner of Three Hills Rodeo Company.

Three Hills Rodeo Company put on the event at the Peoria Civic Center.

The Illinois Humane Care Act for Animals states no person or owner may beat, cruelly treat, torment, starve, overwork or otherwise abuse any animal.

The Humane Care Act does not specifically mention shocking, but in 2004 two men were prosecuted under the act for shocking animals in Grundy County according to the Grundy County officials.

A spokesperson for The Illinois Department of Agriculture said Morehead has been warned about shocking animals in the past.

The IDOA said shocking can be interpreted as abuse under the law.

Monica Ball with Peoria Area Voices for Animals said something needs to be done. “I would like to see Peoria ban the use of electric prods at the rodeo at the minimum,” Ball said. “I would like people to research the issue on their own, to become educated, so they are not unwittingly supporting cruelty to animals through their admission to theses types of shows."

Calls to David Morehead and Three Hills Rodeo Company were not returned.