[Fwd: Horse abuse - Mexican rodeo]

[Guest guest]

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

 

Hey, all -

 

I'm hoping you'll alert your pro-animal contacts and get some

calls/letters in on this issue. To see the Saturday, 8/7 cover story in

the CONTRA COSTA TIMES, go to Google news, type in " Mexican rodeo " or

" charreada " . Then please contact the folks below:

 

Contra Costa County Animal Services Dept.

4849 Imhoff Place

Martinez, CA 94553

tel. 925/646-2995

(call for fax a e-mail address)

Dan Barrett, Deputy Director

(Director Mike Ross retired last month)

Lt. Nancy Anderson (horse cruelty specialist)

 

 

Deputy District Attorney Karen Adams (handles animal misdemeanor cases,

which this is)

10 Douglas Drive, Suite 130

Martinez, CA 94553

tel. 925/646-2625

fax 925/646-2524

(call for e-mail address)

 

Some Letters to the Editor would be helpful, too: CONTRA COSTA TIMES,

P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94596; fax 925/943-8362. E-mail:

letters.

 

State law (Penal Code 597g(b) and the Contra Contra County rodeo

ordinance both ban horse tripping since 1994 (both sponsored by ACTION

FOR ANIMALS). This would be the first such case of its kind (to my

knowledge), and we need to pressure the D.A.'s office to prosecute.

 

Thanks for the help. And please send me (blind) copies of any letters

you write, if you've the time.

 

Eric Mills, coordinator

ACTION FOR ANIMALS

P.O. Box 20184

Oakland, CA 94620

tel. 510/652-5603

 

 

-------

Horse abuse - Mexican rodeo

Wed, 11 Aug 2004 10:11:39 -0700

EricM <afa

letters

 

 

 

August 11, 2004

 

Letter to the Editor

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

 

Thanks to reporter Denis Cuff for his 8/7 expose, " Mexican Rodeo

Tradition Under Fire. " Mexican-style rodeos called " charreadas " occur

throughout most of California and the Southwest, largely unknown to the

general public.

 

I was the sponsor of the original state legislation to ban the brutal

" horse tripping " event, which became law in 1994 under the guidance of

then-Assemblyman John Burton. Six other states have since followed

suit: Maine, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois and Florida.

Arizona and Nevada remain hotbeds of this activity.

 

Alameda (1993) and Contra Costa (1994) counties have local ordinances

banning horse tripping, steer tailing, and requiring on-site

veterinarians to treat injured animals. (In the steer tailing event, a

mounted cowboy grabs a running steer by the tail, wraps the tail around

his stirrup and boot, then drags or slams the hapless animal to the

ground. Tails are sometimes broken or ripped off, and horses suffer

broken legs when the steer runs the wrong way.)

 

Senator Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont) introduced legislation in 2002 to ban

steer tailing, but politics, racism and vested interests forced her to

drop the bill. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), to

its ever-lasting shame, had a major role in this.

 

I would urge the good citizens of Contra Costa County to contact

District Attorney Karen Adams (925/646-2625; fax 2524) and demand that

the abusers of the horses in the Brentwood case be prosecuted to the

full extent of the law. Horse tripping, steer tailing, steer wrestling

and calf roping are all inherently cruel, and should be banned

nationwide. Most of these animals are already en route to the

slaughterhouse. Must we further compound their misery in the name of

" tradition " and " sport " ? As the late Cesar Chavez wrote to me in 1990,

 

" Racism, economic deprival, dog fighting and cock fighting,

bullfighting and rodeos are cut from the same fabric: violence.

Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we

have learned to live well ourselves. "

 

Sincerely,

 

Eric Mills, coordinator

ACTION FOR ANIMALS

P.O. Box 20184

Oakland, CA 94620

tel. 510/652-5603