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It can be disturbing to meet animal rights activists at the picket line as you attempt to enter a rodeo or circus event. Some animal rights groups such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness), and the Humane Society object to all rodeo and circus animal performances.

Some animal cruelty concerns may be based on a misunderstanding. One example, is the wild bronco or bareback riding events. Some believe that these animals have never been ridden before and are frightened by the cowboy and the noisy audience. Some believe that the animals are tame and that some sort of torture device has been placed around the animal's genitalia to make them wild. The truth is that the rough stock are specifically bred and trained to behave in a certain way when they are mounted.

So what are the bucking straps for? They aren't protecting the genitals. Are the steers still given an electric shock when the chute opens to make them buck? Or do the broncos and steers know that they don't buck until they are in the arena? Don't the Rodeo Clowns still use cattle prods to protect the cowboy when he is down and direct the bull out of the arena into the chutes? The rough stock are visited by veterinarians and are well fed and humanely treated by their owners. Health regulations require vaccinations and testing for diseases before the animals cross state lines. If these animals were not trained they would be injured every time they were loaded into the stock trailers and the chutes. But you should ask yourself, how can we accept the breeding of horses and steers for rodeo riding events and then condemn raising fowl for cockfighting events? We don't kill the bronc or the steer, but the cocks fight until one of them dies? Didn't Michael Vic go to jail for dog fighting?

While the public would like to believe that the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) had something to do with the discontinuance of steer roping in the modern rodeo, we know that the event was discontinued because of the severity of the injuries and the fatalities to the rodeo contestants.During the event of steer roping, the cowboy roped the steer around the horns, then threw the rope around the steer's hip, and finally rode in a ninety degree angle on the opposite side from the roped hip. The ride made the steer's head move toward the back legs and made the steer trip. Once the steer was down, the rider could tie three legs together just as in the calf roping event. The steer is larger than a calf and not as limber. This practice was probably necessary on the range in order to brand cattle, but certainly not necessary with modern chutes and stalls. Rodeo events are supposed to award points for skills needed on a ranch.

Amateur events for children used for half-time entertainment are also disappearing from sanctioned rodeo events. These amateur events include tail twisting, mutton busting, calf riding, and chuck wagon races. The excited children cannot be counted on to treat the animals gently.

Learn more about this author, Helena Whyte.
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