Rodeo is cruel kind of entertainment

I wonder how many people realize that rodeo is not a charming piece of Americana but a spectacle of terrible animal cruelty. Even former participants will attest to the truth of this statement. Veterinarian Peggy Larson was once a bronco rider who has said, "without torture, there can be no rodeo."

Horses and bulls buck because of tight "bucking straps" that pinch into their genitals where caustic ointments have first been applied. By the time they are released into the arena they are frantic to rid themselves of the strap.

In rodeos, animals are tormented with electric prods and tail-twisting. Those that are lassoed at full speed, wrestled to the ground and dragged with ropes, can be injured and even killed.

When a calf runs at speeds of up to 27 miles and hour, a lasso that pulls him up short and jerks him off his feet can break bones, cause paralysis by injuring the spinal cord, sever the trachea and kill the animal. Calf-roping is outlawed in some jurisdictions.

Rodeo is condemned by the Humane society of the United States and countless other animal advocacy organizations.

I relate a quotation from Cardinal Newman. He said, "Now what is it that moves our very heart, and sickens us so much at the cruelty shown to animals? First, they have done us no harm, next that they have no power whatever to resistance. It is cowardice and tyranny of which they are the victims and which makes their suffering so especially touching. There is something so dreadful, so satanic in tormenting those who have never harmed us, and who cannot defend themselves, who are utterly in our power... "

Joseph Johnson II

Barrington