No Mr. Fields, Let’s Call a Fig a Fig
Mr. Russ Fields letter titled “Rodeo Ordinance: More Harm Than Good” is aptly titled, though it comes to an incorrect conclusion. The greater harm refers more to the harm done to innocent animals for the sake of entertainment, and to the children who watch and learn that such abuse is fun.
In order to promote his specious conclusions, Mr. Fields is forced to do some mind-bending contortions. “Tools”? Since when are empty milk bottles wielded by a couple of clumsy cowboys attempting to milk a beef cow considered tools? Is Mr. Fields auditioning for a part as elastic man because that’s quite a stretch.
And let’s talk about parsing words—spurs and flank straps might be considered tools in a working ranch environment—and “might” is certainly the important word here—but when using them in an entertainment event at a rodeo, they might better be thought of as instruments of torture because what else can one call causing distress to an animal simply for the entertainment of human spectators? Inducing fear, causing physical discomfort—you can try to judge just what level of torture, but you can’t claim their use is compassionate and a means of providing comfort.
No Mr. Fields, as the ancient Greeks would say, let’s call a fig a fig—there are certain events performed at local rodeos and ranch implements used in those events that constitute nothing less than animal abuse. Milking a beef cow by chasing her around a noisy arena, attempting to control her with a rope around her neck while pulling on her tail isn’t ranching, it’s bread and circuses under the specious guise of “heritage”
Getting a horse or bull to attempt to buck off a rider with the aid of a flank strap whose purpose is to provoke more and longer bucking action isn’t the same as breaking a horse to saddle.
Finally, the argument that “we know what we’re doing, we do this every day” is a sad confession indeed. As a long-practicing veterinarian in this community, I shudder to think how people might react if I were to be throwing dogs to the ground or poking them with poles to control them, or if I used the excuse [sic] “trust me, I’m a professional, I know what I’m doing, I do this every day”. I know I would lose my license to practice faster than you can make that poor cow give up a cup of the milk that is intended for her calf. If your methods are as animal abusive as you demonstrate at your rodeos, perhaps you need to rethink what you are doing and move up into the 21st century.
–Rene Gandolfi, DVM, Castro Valley
Lifelong Alameda County Veterinarian
Hayward Area Recreational District Volunteer of the Year, 2012
