Dear Editor,
Objectively, the argument against rodeos wins! The animals that are forced to participate in these events are denied what is natural to them and forced into situations that they would avoid at all costs. The animals involved, as Holly Wilson stated, are not willing participant. Many of the activities involved with the rodeo entail the animal running for its life, petrified, while spectators complicity add to the fear by cheering and applauding.
Jim Mitchell’s argument that the chutes are in excellent condition and that the animals are well fed is appalling. Prisons are also in great condition and the inmates are well fed, but those conditions are not conducive to a life well lived. Have these animals committed a crime by being different?
Rodeos are, plain and simply, a public display of humans trying to convince the world that they are superior to the animals involved. To the evolved individual, it is an archaic and small minded display of decriminalized animal abuse.
To the rhetoric that rodeos are still allowed because no animal welfare laws are broken, one needs to take a closer look at the record of enforcing animal welfare laws. Crimes against animals are often times not prosecuted. Animal welfare laws do not include all animals and the laws are different for different species. These laws are reflections of discrimination based upon being different. Does this sound familiar?
Rodeos continue because they have traditionally been acceptable forms of entertainment. In recent years we have evolved quite rapidly. We have expanded our ideas of mercy and compassion. We have accepted the idea that we are not the world, but a part of the world. We are aware that our planet is not just ours, but theirs as well. Don’t you think it is time we take a look at all of the things we have traditionally accepted and review them from a fresh set of eyes? We are responsible for leading the way for change.
Imagine the leaps and bounds we would make if we set examples of kindness and compassion in all areas of our lives. As homosexuals, we know what it is liked to be viewed as less than and persecuted for our differences.
Together, and with the help of other kind and compassionate individuals, we have made great strides in our cause. Don’t you think it is time to pay it forward and extend our helping hand to those who do not have a voice? They (animals) are just like us, only different.
I, for one, will never patronize a rodeo event or any other event that involves animals used for entertainment purposes.
MICHAEL ESSI