ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUP PLANS PROTEST AT LAKESIDE RODEO
Update: View video of protest:
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW2udw6iCG8
April 20, 2012 (Lakeside)—“Animals suffer both physically and mentally throughout these barbaric, violent, `entertaining’ practices,” the Animal Rights Protection and Rescue League of San Diego has posted on its Facebook page, urging a boycott of the Lakeside Rodeo. “They are incredibly scared, stressed, and uncomfortable.”
The group plans to stage protests tonight from 5-7:30 p.m. and again tomorrow from 12-2 p.m. and from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
In its call for the public to “buck the rodeo”, ARPRL says that electrid prods, s
purs and bucking straps are used to “irritate and enrage animals” used in rodeos to simulate “wild behavior in order to make cowboys look brave.” Cows and horses are often prodded with an electrical “hotshot” to produce pain. PETA reports that some animal control officers have found burrs or other irritants placed under flank straps and that the straps can cause burns or wounds.
Rodeos can also result in animal fatalities. In Cheyenne, Wyoming, four animals died in the 2010 Cheyenne Frontier Days and three died in the 2011 event. These included a bucking bronco that fell and broke its back, a calf that a broken leg during the rodeo competition, and a wild horse that fell and broke a leg after a race. About 5,000 animals overall were used in the competition. Another 7 and 10 were injured in the event both years.