Is Rodeo Cruel Towards Animals

Is Rodeo Cruel Towards Animals? Organizations like PETA have been trying to get rodeo events banned because they think rodeos are cruel towards animals because of the rough nature of the sport. Those of us who have grown up in the ranching and rodeo industry know that the animals involved in rodeo are extremely healthy and are taken care of better than a lot of other animals, because the rodeo animals have to be in peak performance. If the animals are injured or unhealthy they won 't be able to make money for the rodeos and the rodeo contestants. We believe that rodeo should continue because it is a sport of tradition and teaches people about how life was in the old west and in some cases how cowboying is in modern time. Rodeo is also the

“animal-rights groups say that many events, like calf roping, are fundamentally cruel.” (“Is the Rodeo Ring too Cruel”). What this quote is saying is that animal rights groups are against rodeo because of the harshness of the events like calf roping.Calf roping involves a calf running out of a chute then is chased by a horse and rider that tries to rope the calf by the head then jumps off the horse and flips the calf and then hogties the animal, which can scare the calf and hurt the calf if the rider is not careful. Animals rights groups also are against the tools used in rodeos like flank straps. They feel that the flank strap that goes around the horse or bull 's body from the abdomen to the animals back is painfully tightened in order to make the bull and/or horse buck harder and drive their unnatural behavior to give the rider a better score for the ride. “to get rodeo bulls to buck riders, painful straps are tied around their abdomens to drive the animals to unnatural behavior, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.” (is the rodeo ring too cruel). Their is some truth to why animals rights groups feel this way because rodeo is a rough physical sport and if the riders and stock contractors don’t take the right precautions then an animal, contestant, or audience member can get

There is a wide range of tools used in rodeos, but I’m only going to mention the most controversial. One tool that is highly debated in the rodeo and livestock business is called the cattle prod a.k.a the hot shot. The hot shot is a hand held tool that comes in many sizes like pocket sized ones to 5 foot long. The hot shots are battery powered and are used to move cattle. How it does that is by having a small amount of electricity pass through the tool and onto the animal. The amount of electricity is so small of an amount that it doesn’t hurt the animal it only alerts them. Like many tools if it is misused then it can be harmful to the animal, just like in the working industries. If they misuse a tool it can harm or kill another person. “An important tool in a livestock operation is the cattle prod. Since large, untrained animals do not reliably respond to voice or hand signals, an effective device is needed for the safety of both people and animals.”(Burdick). Another tools that is highly used in the rodeo and livestock industry is spurs. Spurs are worn on the back of the cowboy/cowgirl’s boot and is then used to roll on the horse’s side where the stirrups are. The spur helps guide and tell the horse what the rider wants it to do. The spurs just like the cattle prod are not used to hurt the animal but can cause damage if they are misused. “Spurs used by bareback and