Prohibit the cruelty of rodeos
With recent headlines such as, ‘Bull Rider Tragically Dies at Stoney Nakoda Nation Rodeo’ (Oct. 2023), ‘Oklahoma teen killed in bull riding accident’ (Aug. 2023), ‘Young bull rider killed in rodeo accident in Stokes County’ (Jan. 2023), and dozens more detailing rodeo tragedies, it’s a mystery to me why Hoffman Estates’ Mayor William McLeod and its Board of Trustees continues to open their city up to lawsuits and bad publicity by inviting bull riding back to the NOW Arena.
It’s bad enough that the entire premise of rodeo events is exploiting and harming animals, but by glorifying this inhumane excuse for “sport,” there is a very real chance of human casualties as well.
The suffering of bulls is an inherent part of bull riding. Without the tools of torture such as animals being electrically shocked, bucking straps tightly cinched around bulls’ abdomens, being kicked with sharp spurs while inside the tiny chute, etc., which routinely results in broken ribs and bones, there simply would be no bulls or horses bucking out of chutes, and therefore, no bull riding or rodeos.
It’s time for Hoffman Estates, and all of Illinois, to commit to never allowing any rodeo events again. I doubt that any elected official would ever want to make the sad announcement that a young person was paralyzed or killed in their town for so-called “entertainment.
Jodie Wiederkehr, Founder and Executive Director
Chicago Alliance for Animals