Outlaw cruel practice: Animal advocates across the country condemn Cal Poly rodeo | Opinion

Outlaw rodeos

“Cal Poly rodeo is a display of animal cruelty,” (sanluisobispo.com, April 15)

Kudos to Mark Hawthorne for his anti-rodeo commentary. Rodeos are condemned by nearly every animal welfare organization for their inherent cruelty. For most of the animals, the rodeo arena is merely a detour en route to the slaughterhouse. Real working ranch hands never routinely rode bulls, rode bareback, wrestled steers, barrel raced or practiced calf roping as a timed event. Nor did they put flank straps on the horses and bulls or work them over in the holding chutes with painful “hotshots,” tail-twisting, kicks and slaps.

Rodeo is not a true “sport.” That term denotes willing, evenly-matched participants. Rather, it’s a mostly bogus, macho exercise in domination, and the media needs to stop promoting this blatant cruelty. I was at the 1995 California Rodeo in Salinas when five animals suffered and died, all in the name of “entertainment.” Only in the aftermath of the mayhem did the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association adopt a rule requiring on-site veterinarians.

The United Kingdom outlawed rodeos back in 1934, followed by Germany and the Netherlands. Can the U.S. be far behind? Rodeos belong in the dustbin of history.

Eric Mills

Coordinator, Action for Animals

Oakland

Animals suffer

“Cal Poly rodeo is a display of animal cruelty,” (sanluisobispo.com, April 15)

Countless animals have paid with their lives to satisfy people’s desire to play cowboy. Cattle are zapped with electric hotshots so they’ll charge out of the chute, calves have their necks twisted as they are violently slammed into the ground and horses are viciously spurred into bucking. Animals have suffered broken backs and necks, heart attacks and aneurysms.

Those who manage to make it through unscathed are given little time to rest or recuperate. They are loaded into trucks, hauled to the next event and forced to participate over and over again. “Retirement” is a one-way trip to the slaughterhouse.

In 2024, when cruelty to animals is condemned, the rodeo mindset must evolve.

Jennifer O’Connor

Senior Writer, PETA Foundation

Norfolk, Va.

Opinion

Morally bankrupt

“Cal Poly rodeo is a display of animal cruelty,” (sanluisobispo.com, April 15)

Rodeos are nothing more than a spectacle of brutality sponsored by greed without a care for the suffering of animals. These tormented creatures are trapped in an arena of suffering with no escape.

Rodeos are not an American tradition and never have been. The people organizing these displays of barbarism and their supporters are morally bankrupt.

Rita Burton

Cambria

Is peace in sight?

“House Speaker Mike Johnson is committed to advancing Ukraine aid. But it will be a difficult task,” (sanluisobispo.com, March 28)

The invasion of Ukraine, the terrorist attack on Israel and the destruction of Gaza remind us of one thing: The real victims of war are the innocent. It is not the power hungry or their military masterminds who suffer the consequences, it is those whose homes have been destroyed, who face starvation and whose loved ones have been maimed or killed.

Will there ever be an end to war? More likely, our lust to destroy one another will result in the end of civilization as we know it, for there will always be Putins, Kims and Hitlers hungry for acquisition and supreme power.

If there is ever to be an antidote to war, it will come from the peace-loving majority of the world’s citizens who are determined to reject others’ determination to destroy one another.

Tom Bauer

Morro Bay

Artificial stupidity

“What trends are showing about the types of startups getting funding,” (sanluisobispo.com, April 4)

While the world has become obsessed with the race for “AI” (Artificial Intelligence), the U.S. has, without much fanfare, taken a commanding lead in the less heralded, but equally consequential, field of “AS” (Artificial Stupidity).

We have produced a human-like creature that can instantaneously give the most irrational, inane answer to any question it is asked. This creature is so dangerously life-like that we have even given it a personable name: We call it Donald.

This “AS” has the uncanny ability to come up with the most ignorant, irrational and even dangerous answer to any question it is asked. It matters not whether that question concerns the past, the present or the future. It will instantaneously and unfailingly give you the stupidest conceivable answer.

This almost human-like creature is so unbelievably wrong-headed that many (too many) people are lulled into actually being amused by it — almost as though it were onstage pretending to be a travesty of itself. Some have become so hypnotized by it that it has the effect of a Pied Piper on them.

The ultimate danger is that we all will follow them into oblivion. The “AS” race is one which we do not want to win.

Gene Strohl

San Luis Obispo

History repeats itself

“Trump keeps making incendiary statements. His campaign says that won’t change,” (sanluisobispo.com, March 18)

Both Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump were known to be severely insecure and needed to be surrounded by loyalists. Their supporters downplayed their irrational rhetoric and often made comments such as, “He’ll never actually do any of this.”

Many of their supporters disliked them, but decided it was best not to challenge them, often because of fear. They were narcissistic, angry, remorseless and had no sense of compassion.

They incited a large group of angry, right-wing loyalists at a time of national instability, attempting to overthrow the government. The insurrectionists had joined forces with the hope that the party would act against the democratic republic.

They gained popularity through the media and were later voted into office.

Let’s not do this (again).

Brent Jorgensen

Pismo Beach