Rodeo red flags

Rodeo Red Flags

Update: Coverage on CNN.

I grew up in places where rodeos took place, but my family never went to them. We beach-combed, boated, camped and did other things outdoors. When I finally did see a rodeo a few years ago, it didn’t much interest me and some of it repulsed me. I looked around at the people in the stands. Some of them were hooping and hollering in apparent approval of what was going on in the arena. I remember having the thought that they were not so different from the people who had sat in stands in ancient Rome and cheered as wild animals were set upon each other and human beings.

For some of us, it is mind-bending that there are human beings who enjoy watching animals made to “perform” rituals in which they get hurt or killed. Bull fighting, dog fighting, calf roping, horse tripping are some examples.

This article came across my desk yesterday morning: Donkey roping.

The nature of animals is such that they are easily dominated mentally, just like children. How is it sporting to subject them to inescapable situations in which they’re going to get bitten, gored, broken, burned or ripped limb from limb? And we all know what happens to the vast majority of injured livestock …

Van Horn, Texas is holding a rodeo next weekend:

Will there be someone sitting in the stands with a video camera filming the repeated roping, throwing and dragging of a 50-70 pound donkey by a 200-pound man on a 1200-1500-pound horse? And will it create the sensation of the undercover video that has unleashed hell on the Tennessee Walking Horse industry and Tennessee tourism?

Animal cruelty, like violence towards people, demonstrates a hierarchy of dangerous traits. In the extreme, it is a hallmark of the irreparable brain damage that some call psychopathy and others call possession. It is not something to be ignored, minimized or tolerated. The mainstream mantra of tolerance has infected the masses, but there are many of us who can think for ourselves and we know that what you tolerate increases.

If You Want to Do Something

• If you feel so moved, please send a civil email to the editor of the local newspaper in Van Horn, Texas. His name is Larry Simpson and his email address is lsimpson@vanhornadvocate.com
• You can sign an online petition that will go to the Van Horn Chamber of Commerce here
• The Van Horn Chamber of Commerce does not appear to have a website, but you can write them at: Van Horn Chamber Of Commerce, 1801 W Broadway Street #101, Van Horn, Texas  79855

Anna Moss

  I’m here

Connecting the dots towards discernment for a better world.

Content copyright (c) Anna Moss
unless otherwise indicated
FIRST REPRINT RIGHTS ALLOWED WITH ATTRIBUTION
ALL OTHER RIGHTS RESERVED
Image copyrights retained by their originators.
Images shared for educational purposes as allowed by
Fair Use, Section 107, US Copyright Act 1976