America’s Sport
Rodeo is not as cruel as it is made out to be. The PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) has strict rules on animal treatment. Several rodeo companies have been fined and removed from the sport for mistreating animals. Methods of which these rules are enforced vary in multiple ways from the judges watching the event to the PRCA employees behind the chute. The cowboys and cowgirls of the PRCA take animal abuse very seriously and these men and women are committed to the care and welfare of animals used in rodeos such as Cheyenne Frontier Days or the Greeley Stampede. Rodeo is not as cruel as people make it seem.
At any rodeo event that is PRCA sanctioned a vet must be on site at all times. Vet inspections are performed
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prior to and after the animal performs. Animals are athletes and the owner of these animals depend on them to make a living. Contestants must obey rules established by the PRCA. Some of these rules are as follows; No spurring to the face, flank straps must be neoprene or fleece lined, and stimulating such as hotshots are not to be used. A cattle prod, also called a stock prod, is a handheld device commonly used to make cattle or other livestock move by striking or poking them. An electric cattle prod is a stick with electrodes on the end which is used to make cattle move through a relatively high-voltage, low-current electric shock The electric cattle prod is said to have been invented by Texas cattle baron Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. of the King Ranch around 1930, although versions were sold as early as 1917.These rules do not just apply to the contestants, but to the stock contractors as well. Any stock contractor caught using unnecessary roughness or abusing an animal will be immediately punished or fined (“Animal Care.”). Animals in PRCA are documented as having rodeo injuries less than 1% of the time. The same animals are used for many years and have a good life. Most horses retire from bucking at age eighteen and bulls are retired at age fifteen. The lifespan of these animals can vary. Most horses live to be around twenty five while most bulls live to be around the age of twenty. If these animals are properly taken care of, they can live to be well beyond the average ages. Many of these animals are retired to breeding use where they produce more prime bucking stock to be used in PRCA events (Friends of Rodeo). The PRCA enforces their rules very strictly.
The association enforces these rules with several judges and corporate employees that watch for cruel acts towards animals. If an act of abuse is reported the punishment and fine will be enforced to the full extent. The owners of Big Hat Rodeo, the company that put on a rodeo at the Kane County Fair, have paid a $200 fine for violating a St. Charles city ordinance against animal cruelty. Big Hat owner Rudy Clazavara was issued, and ultimately paid, four $50 animal cruelty citations, said Robert Surratt, St. Charles' code enforcement officer (Kobliska, Michael)( Laybourn, Pete).
Not all stock contractors and contestants abuse these animals. Cowboys care for their stock. This is how they make their living and they depend on the health and welfare of these animals to do so. Many of these animals are rotated through the rodeo season. This ensures that the animals get a break from performing. Animals do not perform more than once at a two day rodeo and no more than three times at a ten day rodeo. Ten day rodeos such as the WNFR (Wrangler National Finals Rodeo) only allow an animal to buck 3 go arounds out of a total of ten. There is one go around each night for ten days (Friends of
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Rodeo). Animals are treated with respect from the PRCA. With the strict guidelines that the PRCA provides, animal abuse is very rare in the sport of rodeo. The PRCA will continue to enforce its strict rules and regulations and fine those who disobey their policy. Many organizations such as PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) will continue to try and ban the sport of rodeo but the PRCA will remain enforcing all regulations of animal treatment and welfare. People make rodeo seem like a cruel way to treat animals, but this is not the case. Therefore, rodeo will remain America’s Sport. Works Cited “Animal Care.” Cheyenne Frontier Days, www.cfdrodeo.com/animal-care/.
Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
“Chapter 5 ProRodeo Livestock Video - Rules.” YouTube, 10 Jan. 2012, youtu.be/YoPFY2x2OMI. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
Friends of Rodeo, www.friendsofrodeoinc.com/humane-facts. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
Kobliska, Michael. Rodeo Company Fined for Shocking Animals, www.sharkonline.org/index.php/more/783-rodeo-company-fined-for-shocking-animals. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
Laybourn, Pete. “Animal use is not animal abuse.” Casper Star-Tribune Online, 31 July 2013, trib.com/opinion/columns/animal-use-is-not-animal-abuse/article_e125208b-7083-59f8-8aba-4e53c5e6e3e2.html. Accessed 12 Sept.
2017.
It is not just the animals who are being treated wrongly. The workers are vulnerable and suffer from injuries on a daily basis. This workforce requires so much protection, such as chainmail outfits to protect themselves from tools. From cuts, sprains, to amputations, “ The injury rate in a slaughterhouse is about three times higher than the rate in a typical American factory.” (238). Many immigrants come to the states, some illegally. Companies give their supervisors bonuses when they have little reported injuries as a reward for a spectacular job. Regardless, these supervisors do not make attempts to make the work environment safer. They threaten the employees with their jobs. They will put injured employees on easier shifts to heal so it will not look suspicious as to why they are in pain. Next to failing to report injuries, women in the slaughterhouses suffer from sexual assault. Male coworkers pressure women into dating and sex. Reported cases include men using animal parts on them in an explicit manner, making work another kind of nightmare. All this corruption and lack of respect for workers is all for a cheap meal people buy when they have the
Luba, N. (2007, September 10). PRO: Strict codes followed by equine ranchers in U.S., Canada. Tuscon Citizen. Retrieved February 9, 2014, from http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue/2007/09/10/62383-pro-strict-codes-followed-by-equine-ranchers-in-u-s-canada/
Rodeos go out of their way to protect the animals during their performances. For example, the flank strap is said to be sharp and painful. However, in reality it is made up of sheepskin which protects the animal from cuts, and sores. There are actually rules against flank straps causing pain to any animal. It has also been said that animals are shocked with hot shots when they are to slow to start performing. This is false due to the fact that there is now a law banning any hot shots or electric prods on livestock during a rodeo. Not only are there rules during before the events begin there are rules also during the events. During the events if a cowboy is seen being to rough with the cattle they will receive a no time. This is another reason why they are so careful with the cattle. Having one no time can result in last place at a rodeo, so cowboys will go out of their way to insure no animal is injured. It is also said the care of livestock is horrible. This is false because stock contractors can get fined up to $20,000 for not treating the animals with good care. Not only do the cowboys, and stock contractors care about the animals the whole rodeo community does. Profits from most rodeos are sent to organizations to help injured bulls, and also provide then with everything they could ever
Animal abuse can be looked at in many different forms but it’s mostly up to you to determine if you agree or disagree with it. Many people believe rodeos should be outlawed because of the visible abuse. It could be from a steer getting drug behind a horse or from probes that make bucking horses and bulls buck. Others believe that all actions are taken to insure the safety of the animals and the contestants. The real question is what do you believe?
An excited crowd waits expectantly to see the horse, cowboy, and calf burst out of the chute. Within seconds, the cowboy has the calf roped, on the ground, and tied. The action appears effortless. Two wranglers release the calf, and it trots out of the arena, seemingly unharmed. The question remains, are rodeos humane? That does the calf think of all this excitement? Contrary to what many people assume, PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) sanctioned rodeos treat their livestock humanely.
eople riding bulls, wrestling steers, and roping calves all in one sport? What kind of game is this? It’s called rodeo. Rodeo consists of all different kinds of events to choose from, and can be competed in all over the United States, even Canada. These events include bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, team roping, calf roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, and for the girls, barrel racing. This sport is becoming very unique in today’s world. It opens a window to the past, but still provides an exciting atmosphere.
By universal definition, "sport" is listed as "an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively." Football, basketball, baseball, soccer and other primary activities have always been concretely defined as sports in society. However, one of the most physically demanding activities is constantly forgotten when it comes to the realm of sports- dance. Dance requires a tremendous amount of training and creates an aura of competition in which people compete to be the best, win, and take home the trophy- just like in traditionally accepted sports. These sports, however, do not possess an element of psychological health threats that some competitive dancers unfortunately must account for due to the emphasis placed on physical appearance.
More than 100,000 U.S horses are sent to slaughter each year for their meat. The meat is then shipped overseas to Europe for human consumption. Horse slaughter is a big issue in the equine community. Many people in the equine community say it’s inhuman by the way the horses are killed, but many equestrians also say its moral due to population control. so which is it, is horse slaughter bad or good? This report will look at what horses usually go to slaughter, how the U.S and other countries view horses, how different people view horses and what would happen if slaughter ended.
Have you ever felt stuck? Wherever you are, it’s the absolute last place you want to be. In the book Into the Wild, Chris McCandless feels stuck just like the average everyday person may feel. Chris finds his escape plan to the situation and feels he will free himself by going off to the wild. I agree with the author that Chris McCandless wasn’t a crazy person, a sociopath, or an outcast because he got along with many people very well, but he did seem somewhat incompetent, even though he survived for quite some time.
Grand champion! I was riding Fancy, a paint horse, at the Dallas County Fair in the Horsemanship class. In this class, I had to complete a pattern and it was judged on how well each horse and rider completed the pattern. The judge felt that Fancy and I performed best and awarded me with a big purple ribbon and a trophy with a horse on top. At the end of the fair, all of the grand champions were announced before the races. That was the final reward for successfully showing a horse in competitions.
... rodeo as cruel and abusive. But the rodeo today is changing with the hope of getting better. The bucking and roping stock are treated as prized animals. They even have their own bucking champions. The solution to any kind of animal abuse is in the continued scrutiny of the sport by the PRCA. As the sport evolves and the animals become more valuable it should cause better care for the animals.
Animal abuse is described generally as any act or omission that causes unnecessary or unreasonable harm to an animal. Animal abuse are vary and can lead to different forms. These may include, tormenting or beating an animal, executing an animal in a harsh way, binding or transporting an animal in a way that is improper for its welfare, neglecting to give fitting living conditions, neglecting to give proper or satisfactory sustenance or water for an animal and neglecting to give suitable treatment to infection or injury (Animal Cruelty, n.d.). In general, for an act to be considered as animal cruelty, it must be a non-accidental, socially unacceptable, enacted on a vertebrate animal, causing pain, suffering and distress or death. (Battle, 2013).
Equestrian Riding, also known as horseback riding is a sport. Some people may argue that is not because they think the horse is doing all of the work. However that is not true. People do not realize that it takes a lot of to ride a horse and the rider does a lot of work as well and its good exercise too.
Tom Regan, “The Case for Animal Rights,” in In Defense of Animals, ed. Peter Singer (Oxford: Blackwell, 1985), 21. U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistical Services, Livestock Slaughter. 2005 Summary, March 2006: USDA, NASS, Poultry Slaughter: 2005
The article “Animals Used as Entertainment” lists rodeos, circuses, bullfighting, horse racing, cockfighting, dog fighting, and zoos as examples of the many ways animals are used in entertainment. Circuses and zoos are the two most relevant forms of animal mistreatment. Both of these are sources of entertainment for children and adults. Zoos declare that the...