Compassionate Latinos denounce charrid cruelty

Throughout my career as a TV presenter, I have seen many tough game show competitions and witnessed many painful defeats, but contestants have always been people who prefer to compete to win prizes and entertain the audience. Animals used in rodeos and charreds do not have this option. They force them to “protrude” by inflicting pain with excruciating contraptions such as side straps, spurs, and stun guns. I have been living and working in Los Angeles for many years, so it was very interesting for me to find out what The Los Angeles City Council is considering an ordinance banning such violent devices.and I ask the members of the council to support this proposal.

Both the American-style rodeo and the charreda are extremely violent. The animals used in these shows often suffer horrific and sometimes fatal injuries, including lung punctures, broken ribs, backs and necks, heart attacks and aneurysms. When calves are lassoed while running, their necks often break or bend as they plummet to the ground. Sharreadas even include an event called death pass which involves jumping from the back of a trained horse onto the back of a wild horse and riding until the animal tires out trying to kick to knock the rider off their feet. During the terna en el ruedo, which is a lasso team challenge, two riders must lasso the bull as quickly as possible, one by the neck and the other by the hind legs, while the third ties the feet together.

Perhaps the most horrifying event in the charreada is the colledero, when the rider on horseback grabs the tail of a running bull, wraps it around the stirrup or leg, and gallops at top speed, slamming the frightened animal into the back of the floor. There were cases when the bull was pulled out the tail from the root or to the bone..

Horses, calves, bulls, and rodeo bulls, usually tame by nature, are mistreated to ensure they perform the way the paying public expects. Electric epaulettes, spurs and side straps are used to annoy them and make them kick. The side strap wraps tightly around the animal’s belly, causing them to “kick” as they try to break out of it. Combined with spurs, this causes them to kick even more desperately, often resulting in serious injury. The side plank can even cause open wounds and burns when rubbing against the skin. Cattle and horses are often electrocuted while on the ramp to irritate and cause great pain.

Animals used in rodeos are specifically excluded from protection under the Federal Animal Welfare Act. And there is no law requiring the presence of a veterinarian at these events.; only one should be available when needed. For an animal with a broken leg or an open wound, every minute of waiting for a veterinarian must feel like an eternity.

Animals that remain unharmed have little time to rest or recuperate. They are loaded into trucks, transported to the next event and forced to participate again and again. During transport, they may be isolated and deprived of sufficient food and water for long periods of time. When they are too old or exhausted to continue working, “retirement” often turns out to be a one-way trip to the slaughterhouse.

Most Hispanics today do not want animals to be tortured for entertainment. Actually, according to a survey, only 1% of Mexicans who attended a traditional fiesta attended a charreada.. Another poll found that only 1.2% of Mexicans consider charreria the most important sport in Mexico.. Nobody I know visits charreadas. As one critic quoted in the Los Angeles Times put it: “I am not against tradition, only against cruelty”.

The opinion of the small minority involved in rodeo and charreria should not exceed the opinion of the vast majority of people who condemn cruelty to animals. Los Angeles city councilors should refrain from suggesting that all Hispanics support charreada, on the contrary, anyone who cares about animals denounces cruelty. By banning devices designed to cause pain and discomfort, as the city of Pittsburgh has already done, the city council can stand up for animals and accommodate the wishes of its kind constituents.