Ancient Rome Meets Modern Las Vegas

Rodeos are barbaric.  The competitions are sadistic.  And cheering such misery is shameful.

Can someone tell me what century we’re living in exactly?

Because my calendar must be wrong.

Seriously, this can’t be the 21st century, can it?  I swear, we must be living sometime around 65 A.D.  Judging by some of the things going on, it’s hard to tell the difference.

Consider a time and place when terrified helpless beasts were paraded into giant arenas purely for the selfish titillation of roaring crowds, and then forced to compete against men adorned in strange costumes bearing all kinds of weapons and tools.  Flags from every region of the vast empire were waving wildly.  The citizens of the republic stood and cheered, in a common blood lust for more excitement.

It’s either the Roman Colosseum during the reign of Tiberius we’re talking about or the Thomas and Mack Center this week.  Take your pick.

The National Finals Rodeo is in town.  Tonight, the championship finals are a complete sell-out.  In reality, they could sell four times as many tickets if there was capacity.  We all hear about how great this annual event is for the local economy.  The Las Vegas Strip is bumper to bumper with pick-up trucks, oversized belt buckles, and cowboy hats.  The casinos are full.  Hotel rooms sell out.

But why do they all come here?

One word answer — the rodeo.

No doubt, many aspects of America’s western heritage deserve to be celebrated, although some Native-Americans might not want to attend this giant week-long keg party with good reason.  You know, breaking treaties, stealing land, and wiping out one’s culture just doesn’t sit well with some people who never had a Martin Luther King or a Nelson Mandela to lead them from bondage.  But I digress.

This is the rodeo we’re talking about and riding horses around, having a good time drinking and gambling with your buddies, and singing old-fashioned songs around the proverbial campfire all seem pretty tame.  But what about the week’s signature attraction?  What about all the “guests” who have no choice and don’t want to be there?

The list of cruel and inhumane acts that take place at rodeos is abhorrent.  This isn’t family entertainment.  It’s a spectacle in sadism.  To learn more about the truth of rodeos, visit the ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND website and read what really takes place behind the scenes at these twisted spectacles.

Tell you what.  Why don’t we level the playing field just a bit and make this into a fair fight?  Why don’t we hogtie the testicles of the announcer while he works the crowd into a frenzy?  Why don’t we poke all the handlers with electrical shock devices and then watch them merrily scurrying around the stadium floor?  How about the competitors’ rope each other’s necks while running at full speed and then violently snap the line causing the loser to fall to the ground in withering agony?  Wouldn’t that be exciting to watch?  Oh, and order me another beer.

Naturally, one could say that protesting rodeos while at the same time eating a steady diet of meat products is hypocritical.  This is true, in part.  A legitimate argument rests in a “breaking eggs to make an omelet” sort of way when it comes to industrial food production.  However, no one goes to a slaughterhouse and cheers wildly as terrified animals are led through filthy chutes and bludgeoned to death.  There are no blue ribbons awarded for those who confine calves into boxes the size of refrigerators for their entire miserable lives, just so we can later enjoy a tasty cut of veal.  No one in their right mind would classify meat production nor the suffering of animals as “entertainment.”

So, why so many otherwise good and decent people cheer when the private parts of farm animals are twisted in a cruel effort to elicit maximum discomfort so the beast will be exciting to watch as it helplessly wiggles to buck off cowboys and chases the rodeo clown?  Why are there standing ovations when baby cows are roped, yanked off their feet in terror, and pummeled to the ground, then tied down and left immobilized while the crowd goes wild?  If we were doing this same thing to our dogs and cats instead of horses, bulls, and calves, there would be riots.

Rodeos are barbaric.  The competitions are sadistic.  And cheering such misery is shameful.

Indeed, we haven’t really come very far these past 2,000 years, haven’t we?

Read More:  ANIMAL TREATMENT IN RODEO and FRIENDS OF RODEO

Note:  Jurisdictions in which rodeos are nearly banned or strictly limited include Pittsburgh, PA, Leestown, VA, San Francisco, CA, Pasadena, CA, Napa County, CA, Fort Wayne, IN, St. Petersburg, FL., and Greenburg, NY.  Internationally, rodeo is banned in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and many other countries prohibit certain events.

SOURCE HERE