Cruelty for a Buck
In riding events, bucking straps are cinched tightly across the abdomens of the animals to irritate them to the point of bucking. Injuries from the strap as well as the bucking itself are commonplace. MFA investigators documented numerous horses going into a “blind buck” where the animal bucks aimlessly, hitting gates, people, and other horses, until the strap is removed. According to Dr. Ellen Buck, DVM, “Flank and bucking straps are clearly cruel. They are intended to irritate the animal, and rodeos use them because they make the bulls and horses appear meaner, nastier, more intent on throwing the rider."

A Painful Tail
MFA investigators documented brutal tail twisting of baby calves and steer who were restrained in chutes, which causes incredible pain since the tail is an extension of the spinal cord. In many cases, rodeo participants would pull, yank, and twist the tails for extended periods of time before the animal would bolt out of the chute.

The Wounded
Injuries and death are common for animals in the rodeo. Even the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s own injury surveys show that for every two to three rodeos, an animal is injured and these are probably low figures. Dr. C.G. Haber, a veterinarian who spent 30 years as a federal meat inspector, worked in slaughterhouses and saw many animals discarded from rodeos and sold for slaughter. He described the animals as being “so extensively bruised that the only areas in which the skin was attached (to the flesh) were the head, neck, leg, and belly. I have seen animals with six to eight ribs broken from the spine and at times, puncturing the lungs. I have seen as much as two to three gallons of free blood accumulated under the detached skin.” MFA’s investigation revealed numerous bulls, steers, and horses suffering from visible injuries such as raw sores and bloody open wounds.

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