WAN Exclusive With Patty Shenker About L.A. City Banning The Use Of Barbaric Shocking Devices & Other Cruel Instruments On Animals In Rodeos

This week, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to ban the cruel use of electric prods, shocking devices, flanking straps, spurs, and other barbaric instruments from rodeos.

The motion, put forth by Councilmember Bob Blumenfield and seconded by Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell in December of last year, now moves to the Los Angeles City Attorney to draft the ordinance.

WAN talked with Patty Shenker who, along with Heather Wilson, has been advocating for animal rights for decades. Both Shenker, who spoke at the council meeting, and Wilson, were among those working with Blumenfield to pass this critical measure.

“The writing of the ordinance is just the beginning,” Shenker told WAN, explaining the relevance of a similar law that passed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1992. While the law prohibiting the use of tools of torture on animals in rodeos did not categorically ban rodeos, it did effectively stop them from occurring in the state.

“I was planning to talk to the city council about how dangerous rodeos are and how they are not only an animal issue, but a public safety issue as well,” Shenker told WAN, explaining that while waiting to virtually testify in favor of the ban, she learned from Wilson that the council passed the motion.

When it was Shenker’s turn to speak at the meeting, she graciously thanked the council for advancing the new legislation, and stated: “As violence continues to grow in our country, we need our leaders to lead us to a kinder more compassionate world for all, including animals, you just did that, thank you!”

As noted on a petition that was created by Last Chance For Animals, “rodeos and rodeo-type activities are exhibitions of animal cruelty that are sanctioned in the guise of competition. Due to events like bull riding, wrestling, calf roping, and steer tailing, calves, steers, bulls, horses, and other animals suffer horrific psychological and physical traumas including broken limbs, cardiac arrest, punctured lungs, torn ligaments, ruptured organs, broken necks, crushed tracheas, and more.”

“We should be able to relate to these animals that go through the same insolence, pain, and abuse that humans are sometimes subjected to,” said Shenker who met with Councilmember Blumenfield, his assistant, and Wilson, regarding the ban prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Now is a great opportunity to take care of this before things begin to open up again.”

Help urge the Los Angeles City Council to prohibit the staging of rodeos and rodeo-type activities in the city by signing the petition HERE!

You can help all animals and our planet by choosing compassion on your plate and in your glass. #GoVeg