RENO, Nev. — Animal rights activists say additional videotape shot at the Reno Rodeo shows the alleged abuse of bucking broncos was more extensive than originally thought. “If they can’t see it, they are blind, or don’t want to know it happens!”
Leaders of Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, or SHARK, publicized videotape last week they say showed an unknown person secretly giving electric shocks to horses just before they left chutes for competition last month in violation of the rodeo’s policy.
Additional undercover footage released at a news conference Friday in Reno shows a total of four men were involved in the animal shocking, and some horses were shocked by two of them at once, said Steve Hindi, president of the Illinois-based group.
One man used a 10,000-volt electric prod that is banned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, he maintained, while the three others used a 5,000-volt prod that the PRCA only allows on horses that stall in chutes.
SHARK claims rodeo organizers, stock contractors, riders and judges were aware of the use of electric prods and covered it up. The prods were used to rig the competition and help certain cowboys, it further contends. “What you have to remember in rodeo, is, it’s all about the money…not just for the fake cowboys who hang on to a bucking horse (made to buck by a flank strap etc) or strangle baby calves…the contractors of the animals, suppliers etc. all have to make money too, regardless of pain the animals endure!”
“Anyone want to give it a shot?” Hindi asked as visible sparks emerged from two prods he displayed. “It hurts. It is painful. And they say horses are more sensitive to electricity than people … We’re against animals being put at risk for entertainment.” “I have a tens machine for my back pain, a device that transmit small charges that can help in pain management. I’m a bit of a prankster & always trying to get friends to try it, if anyone will, even when at the lowest setting, you would think they had just sat on the electric chair! If I put it on my horse, she would go flipping bonkers..so I dread to think of the shock the rodeo horses get!”
The Reno Rodeo Association issued a statement Friday saying it was aware of SHARK’s video and may comment later “if and when there is a need to comment on allegations made.”
The association stressed that it makes the health and welfare of its animals a priority, and it works with the rodeo’s official veterinarian to monitor the conditions of livestock. “How can strangling & roping an animal to it’s knees be anything like health & welfare?”
“We understand that there are groups and individuals who do not believe we have the right to interact with animals in sports such as rodeo, but we believe that we can with proper care and handling of those animals,” the statement says. “Have the right to interact with animals…well NO… nobody has the right to hurt an animal, & especially not when the rodeo aim is to force animals to their knees through brute force, or use electric prods on animals…NO they don’t have the bloody right to interact in such horrific ways…especially when they call it animal sport or tradition…who the hell do they think they are? “
After watching the earlier video, rodeo spokesman Steve Schroeder acknowledged that bucking horses were shocked by a person in violation of rodeo rules.
He also said cowboys were found to be “messing” with overhead cameras the rodeo installed after SHARK released similar video in 2011, and the man who administered the shocks worked “really hard to stay out of camera view.” “Mmmm, so why are they messing with cameras, & trying really hard to stay off camera?? because their doing wrong & they don’t want people to see their despicable ways of forcing animals to perform.”
Schroeder wouldn’t identify the man but said he longer would be allowed at the rodeo. He said he expects the man and the livestock subcontractor to face fines. “I will look out for proof of that, not that I will find any, because nobody will face fines etc!”
The PRCA is reviewing the earlier video and allegations, spokeswoman Cindy Schonholtz said Friday, but it has not received the latest video.
The association has 60 rules that govern the care of animals at rodeos, and violators are subject to penalties ranging from fines to suspension and expulsion. Judges at PRCA-sanctioned rodeos submit any rule violations to the association. “Obviously, shocking a frightened horse, shocking any animal, half strangling calves, tripping animals that cause them to break bones, etc. etc. None of these are in the rule book…wonder what the 60 rules could be…I bet its’ about how much bling one can have on a belt buckle!”
“At the Reno rodeo, the judges felt that the use of the prod they observed was within the rules outlined for chute stalling or known chute-stalling horses in order to facilitate safe exit from the chutes,” Schonholtz told The Associated Press. “Why didn’t they just move to another chute & let the horse come out of it’s own accord, which it would have done if not scared half to death!”
The allowed hand-held prods have a similar sensation to an electric livestock fence, she said, and do not make a horse buck or affect the competition once the horse and competitor have exited the chute. “Would anybody like to test that shock? I have been caught many a time when I have been trying to duck under an electric fence to get my horse…I can confirm, it bloody hurts!”
SHARK also released video showing two running calves that were roped around the neck and flipped over on their backs at the Reno Rodeo. One calf’s rear leg was seriously injured, while the other’s neck appeared to break as the cowboy tied its legs. “Not serious enough for their rule book, obviously!”
Hindi said the injuries resulted from “jerk downs,” a practice the PRCA has banned. A jerk down occurs “if a contestant jerks a calf over backward in tie-down roping,” according to the PRCA.
“(The rule) was in place at the Reno Rodeo and violations were reported to the PRCA office,” Schonholtz said. “Those who violated that rule will be receiving penalties as outlined in the policy.”
Hindi thinks the four men using the electric prods were employed by stock contractors, but he was unsure of their names or employers.
The use of the prods is difficult to see in the video because the cowboys wore gloves and long-sleeve shirts to hide them, Hindi said. “You can see it, if your looking in the right place, watch any so-called cowboy, that is leaning over the chute, you will see him pull his hand away very quickly & either tuck the shocker up his sleeve or place it in the back pocket…its bloody obvious to those looking for it!”
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