The Wild West is Over

To: Viewpoints, Houston Chronicle
Date: Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 10:01 AM
From: Dolores Proubasta

The Old Wild West was grand, but it's over. We can no longer overlook some practices intrinsic to rodeo that would amount to a misdemeanor or even a felony in other settings. Tie-down roping for instance: Except for biased rodeo aficionados, most Americans cringe at the sight of a calf being roped by the neck at high speed, yanked off the ground, slammed down ... When bones break, the animal is euthanized. It's gratuitous animal abuse for what? Entertainment? Like it or not, it's high time to put rodeo in compliance with USA anti-cruelty laws and local animal ordinances. Some events could carry on unchanged or modified to spare animal performers, all under the supervision of an official animal-protection entity. Other events, calf roping in particular, are unacceptable in civilized society.