The Far Left - ranging from elected Democrats to their preservationist environmental friends - are determined to ban rodeo events across the U.S.
On October 17th, 2023, the San Diego County Democratic Central Committee unanimously voted in favor of a resolution condemning an upcoming rodeo event scheduled for January 2024 at Petco Park. What’s their beef? The SDCDC equated rodeos to “animal torture devices.”
The San Diego Rodeo is tentatively scheduled for January 12-14, 2024, at the scenic ballpark in downtown San Diego.
“The San Diego County Democratic Central Committee condemns the plans of the Padres and City of San Diego to bring a rodeo to PETCO Park and encourages the San Diego City Council to immediately pass an ordinance banning animal torture devices used at rodeos,” the resolution read.
“Cute, innocent, docile farm animals should not be subjected to cruel treatment and torture devices used at rodeos!” Bryan Pease, the lead author of the resolution, wrote. “There has not been such a cruel event in the City of San Diego since the 1980s, and never before at PETCO Park.”
These attacks on rodeo events, however, aren’t new. These campaigns started to ramp up in the early 2000s. More recently, anti-rodeo efforts have materialized several hours north of America’s Finest City in Los Angeles.
The Democrat-majority city council has been toying with a ban for several years. The body passed an ordinance in December 2022 aimed at these events and could spell doom for the annual February Professional Bull Riding (PBR) event at Crypto.com Arena. This past October 10th, the L.A. Board of Animal Services Commissioners unanimously recommended by a 5-0 vote the city ban rodeos within city limits—alleging they promote “animal cruelty.”
Thankfully, not all Angelenos agree with this misguided campaign. Different cowboy organizations - including organizations boasting Hispanic, Black, and Native American members - have sounded the alarm over L.A.’s obtuse ordinance.
Sixth-generation cowboy and professional bull rider Dakota Louis, who is Native American, defended his way of life to Los Angeles Magazine, saying: “The cowboy way is always going above and beyond and taking care of everyone else before you take care of yourself, and that’s exactly how it is at our dinner table. Our animals are taken care of and fed before we eat dinner.”
In February 2022, the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo- named after legendary black cowboy and rodeo performer Bill Pickett- urged its Facebook followers to “step up and help keep the LA city council from passing a ban against rodeo and equestrian events.”
Which groups are behind the anti-rodeo pushes? Townhall readers will recognize two familiar groups.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) - a serial alarmist organization - is a big proponent of rodeo bans, writing on their website: “Countless animals have paid with their lives to satisfy humans’ desire to play cowboy in events such as calf roping, bull riding, steer wrestling, and bronc riding.”
PETA also advocates banning the American pastime by urging its supporters to “work to institute a state or local ban on calf roping, the event in which cruelty is most easily documented. Since many rodeo circuits require calf roping, eliminating it can result in the overall elimination of rodeo shows.”
Animal Legal Defense Fund is a litigious outfit behind the bans. The group is also vehemently against predator management, hunting, and wildlife management.
Their workplace culture is similarly hostile to meat products and animal agriculture, with their mission statement reading like this: “Consistent with this mission, the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s staff and volunteers agree that they will not introduce into any Animal Legal Defense Fund office, or at any Animal Legal Defense Fund function outside the office (e.g., staff lunches, meetings, etc.), products that are derived, in whole or in part, from an animal. Such products include, but are not limited to, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products (including milk, yogurt, and cheese), leather, and wool. This prohibition does not apply to products to be used for the purpose of educating the public about animal cruelty.”
Interestingly, suing in the name of “animal rights” is very lucrative. ALDF reportedly has net assets worth nearly $20 million (as of 2021). But the group, nonetheless, isn’t without internal strife either and has been seen as insufficiently woke and progressive. A June 2023 report revealed former employees found ALDF to employ “union-busting tactics while perpetuating a transphobic, racist, and retaliatory work culture that undermined the organization’s mission and pandered to conservative donors.” Ouch.
Protect the Harvest reminds us that today’s cowboys and cowgirls are “demonstrating their skills across the country, bringing our rich history and culture to cities and towns across America.”
Much to the chagrin of anti-rodeo activists, rodeo events like PBR are quite popular. Bullriding T.V. events are watched by millions. Paramount Network’s hit show, Yellowstone, and its spinoffs have reinvigorated interest in the sport and accompanying culture. And even unlikely venues –including Madison Square Garden in far-left New York City – are holding sold-out events.
Rodeo, like hunting and fishing, is pure Americana. It must be protected and preserved at all costs.