The billboard is located at 8555 Dublin Canyon Road in Castro Valley, less than a mile from Rowell Ranch Rodeo. Photos from In Defense of Animals.
A new billboard with the message “Calf-Roping Kills,” alongside the face of a helpless victim of rodeo’s cruel contest, was placed yesterday on Highway 580, one of the busiest routes in the Bay Area in California.
The billboard, sponsored by In Defense of Animals, will remain up for one month, strategically running in conjunction with the Castro Valley Rowell Ranch Rodeo which takes place on May 18th and 19th.
“Rodeo truly is the cruelest show on dirt,” Marilyn Kroplick M.D., President of In Defense of Animals said in a statement. “Our billboard is so close to the rodeo, you can almost hear the screams. We want people to know that baby cows are forced to suffer horribly in California for the amusement of a few, until they are so injured or used-up to perform, that their short, miserable lives end in the slaughterhouse. It’s time to ban rodeos.”
As noted on the organization’s website, the majority of animals used in rodeos, including horses, bulls, steers, and calves, are tortured to appear aggressive.
“In the notorious calf-roping event, cowboys demonstrate their ‘skill’ by abusing four to five-month-old baby calves, cruelly torn away from their mothers. The terrified calves burst out of the gate at speeds approaching 30 miles per hour to escape electric shocks and handlers who twist and yank their tails,” the organization explains. “Cowboys then lasso the calves around the neck, snapping their heads back as they come to an abrupt halt. The calves’ bodies are slammed to the ground, the wind knocked out of them, and their legs tied together. Many suffer serious neck and back injuries, such as torn ligaments, broken bones, and even severed spinal cords and tracheas, while others die from internal hemorrhaging.”
It is appalling that anyone could condone this unnecessary abuse and torture of innocent animals for any reason, let alone as an excuse for a so-called “sport.”
Ways that the public can help, as well as protest, is available HERE!
If you live in Alameda County, ADI requests that you call and write to Supervisors Richard Valle, Wilma Chan, and Keith Carson to thank them for supporting the ban on mutton busting, an event held at rodeos similar to bull riding or bronc riding in which children ride or race sheep, and implore them to commit to banning calf-roping.
• 2nd District Supervisor Richard Valle, 510-272-6692, 24301 Southland Drive, Suite 101 Hayward, CA 94545
• 3rd District Supervisor Wilma Chan, 510-272-6693, 15903 Hesperian Blvd San Lorenzo, CA 94580
• 5th District Supervisor Keith Carson, 510-272-6695, 1221 Oak Street, Suite 536 Oakland, CA 94612
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