|
Horse Tripping—“Break”-ing the Chain of Violence Imagine the following situation:
The
Painful Reality Thousands of American horses are severely injured at Mexican-style rodeos each year. “Charros keep tripping horses until they're lame, or until the season's up and the go to the slaughter," says Cathleen Doyle, president of the California Equine Council, which promotes responsible horsemanship. “Horses break legs, necks and teeth. They fracture their shoulders, and batter their knees and hocks. You can see deep gashes on their faces, shoulders, hips, legs and heels. The ropes often burn their flesh down to the bone.” Mike Ross, animal service director for Contra Costa County states, “It's unpredictable. There's an inherent risk of seriously injuring the horse's legs. When that happens, you may end up destroying the animal.” (4) Doyle, who has observed about ten charreada rodeos, kept tabs on 78 horses one charro group rented. “At the end of the five-to-six-month season, only two horses remained intact. All the rest had gone to slaughter.” She adds that some charros buy their own horses, and trip them until they're lame. Injured horses rarely receive veterinary care. Most charreada is private, “backyard” sport: 300 or fewer people watching six or seven horses dodge the rope. About 1,500 people typically attend the larger charreadas. Charros prefer small, lightweight horses like Arabs because they are easier to bring down. Fighting
for a Ban However, in the states where horse-tripping is banned, it’s only considered a misdemeanor. The current laws have not eradicated tripping; they've only reduced it. While the $1,000 fine and the risk of six months in jail has curbed the practice of horse-tripping at large charreadas, at the many small events, the practice has only decreased. (5) “Much of the horse-tripping that was going on in the large commercial venues has stopped,” Doyle says. “Before, every week we were seeing mangled horses back from the charreadas. Now we see them only rarely.” Doyle feels that more people would obey the law if horse-tripping were a felony. Before Illinois outlawed horse-tripping, State Representative Terry Parke said, “In a few months, we legislators will attend a charreada to watch horse tripping. Once we see the tripping ourselves, we'll decide whether to bring the bill (to ban tripping) out of committee for a vote.” The charros would know when their lawmakers were watching - and Doyle predicted they'd be on their best behavior. However, Gabriel Lopez, lobbyist for the Illinois Federation of Charros, reassured, “We’ve invited lawmakers to come see that we don't hurt our horses. We’ll conduct our rodeo the same whether they're there or not.” Doyle counters, “In California, whenever the press or general public tried to witness tripping, the charros dropped the rope. They would not bring the horses down.” You
Can Help: Cathleen Doyle To provide a tax-deductible donation to provide food and veterinary care to horses rescued from charreadas, contact: Equus Sanctuary Of the California Equine Council’s achievement, Doyle says “We were only successful once we got the law enforcement and horse industries on our side. The first year, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, cattle industry and state farm bureau opposed our bill. They saw mostly animal welfare groups behind, and so they were afraid they'd eventually have to give up the calf-roping too.” Therefore the second year, the California Veterinary Medical Association co-sponsored the bill with Doyle’s group. Many other groups endorsed the bill such as California breeder’s associations, racing federation, police and sheriff council, district attorney's association -- even the Mexican American Chamber of Commerce and the United Steel Workers of America. “With this much support, the bill had to pass,” Doyle says. “Illinois and New Mexico banned horse-tripping using that same strategy.” 1 María-Cristina
García, “Charrería,” The Handbook of Texas
Online, 23 Jul. 2002.
|
 |
|
You
can send a tax-deductable donation to Want to help get horse tripping banned in your state? Dowle says you can learn from her group's mistakes. "We were only successful once we got the law enforcement and horse industries on our side," she says. "The first year, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, cattle industry and state farm bureau opposed our bill. They saw mostly animal welfare groups behind, and so they were afraid they'd eventually have to give up the calf-roping too." So the second year, the California Veterinary Medical Association co-sponsored the bill with Doyle's group. Many other groups endorsed the bill: for example, California breeders associations, racing federation, police and sheriff council, district attorney's association -- even the Mexican American Chamber of Commerce and the United Steel Workers of America. "With this much support, the bill had to pass," Doyle says. "Illinois and New Mexico banned horse-tripping using that same strategy." In the
stated where horse tripping is banned, it's a misdemeanor: the most you'd
get is six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. Doyle feels that more
people would obey the lay if horse-tripping were a felony. The current
laws have not eradicated tripping; they've only lessened it. "Much
of the horse-tripping that was going on in the large commercial venues
has stopped," Doyle says. "Before, every week we were seeing
mangled horses back from the charreadas. Now we see them only rarely." |
|
||
|
||
|
||
|