L.A. City Council Committee Approves Ordinance Banning 'Tools of Torment' from Rodeo

Measure that would ban prods and flank straps from rodeos held in Los Angeles has overwhelming support from L.A. residents

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Los Angeles City Council's Personnel, Audits, and Animal Welfare (PAAW) Committee today approved an ordinance that would ban "tools of torment" from rodeos and bull riding events in the city of Los Angeles. The measure will now go before the full City Council for a vote.

A recent poll finds overwhelming support for such a ban. A survey of 600 Los Angeles residents found that 72 percent support banning prods, flank straps, and other tools that force animals to perform. Similar bans have already gone into effect in Pasadena and San Francisco.

"We applaud the members of the PAAW Committee for reflecting the will of the people and voting to move this ordinance forward.  We hope the full City Council will move quickly to ban these implements," said Chris DeRose, President and Founder of Last Chance for Animals (LCA).  "The rodeo is not a sport. It is a public display of animal abuse, consisting of terrified bulls and horses trying to get away from something that is causing them fear, pain, and discomfort. This abuse has no place in our society."

Bulls are generally calm creatures that are provoked into battle at rodeos. In order to encourage aggressive bucking, they are routinely fitted with tight flank straps, kicked with spurs, and shocked with high-voltage electric prods. As the bulls buck wildly to rid themselves of the rider and these tools of torment, their weight coupled with their unnatural movements often leads to horrific injuries, including broken limbs, sprains, pulled muscles, paralysis, and torn ligaments. Often, the rodeo industry does not disclose bull injuries or deaths.

In an investigative report published today, the Los Angeles Times exposed the rodeo's dismal record on disclosing the harm inflicted on the bulls and horses. The Times reported, "injuries ranging from minor maladies such as the superficial abrasions suffered as panicked animals rushed out of their chutes, to crushed skulls, broken legs, gored flanks and snapped spines. In 35 of the injury reports reviewed by the Times, the animal died immediately or within minutes of the accident, or had to be euthanized — or in one case, slaughtered — in the following hours or days." Yet, the rodeo's spokespeople continue to say that these animals have won "the animal lottery."

In recent years, LCA has helped organize a grassroots effort to get the Los Angeles City Council to pass this ordinance. This effort has received massive pushback from the rodeo industry, which continues to try justifying their torture of animals.

The poll showed strong support for the ordinance across all demographic groups, including 70 percent approval among Black respondents and 67 percent among Latino respondents. A Freedom of Information Act request made by LCA revealed that a lobbyist for the rodeo was attempting to scare members of the City Council by arguing that banning African American and Latino rodeo events was "bad politics."

"Despite the fact that Big Rodeo's hired guns went sneaking around the halls of the City Council using Los Angeles's Black and Latino communities as a prop, the committee members took a critical step toward ensuring they can no longer keep abusing animals for profit," DeRose said. "It is my hope that the rest of the City Council will see through the rodeo's cynical and dishonest use of the race card and put a stop to their abuse of animals."

Founded in 1984, Last Chance for Animals is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating animal exploitation through education, investigations, legislation, and media attention. LCA believes that animals are highly sentient creatures who exist for their own reasons independent of their service to humans; they should not be made to suffer for the latter.  LCA opposes the use of animals in food and clothing production, scientific experimentation, and entertainment and promotes a cruelty-free lifestyle and the ascription of rights to non-human beings.

SOURCE Last Chance For Animals