Victory! This alert made a difference for animals! Learn more.

Disney is developing a live-action film based on the book Aloha Rodeo, which follows three Hawaiian cowboys who in 1908 traveled to Wyoming to compete in a steer roping competition at what's still one of the most brutal and deadly rodeos in the world. Please join us in urging Disney to cancel this dangerous project, which will injure and potentially kill animal “actors” while glamorizing one of the cruelest events in rodeo.

The activity at the center of Aloha Rodeo is steer roping. This is the famous event whereby a cowboy on horseback chases down a terrified steer, lassos him with a rope noose, and stops short so the steer is knocked to the ground with incredible force, before the cowboy dismounts and runs to bind the steer's legs together. Steer roping is so excessively violent that it is not part of the annual National Finals Rodeo, and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) has largely removed the event from its website.

This event can result in serious injuries and deaths, and it's also considered so cruel and dangerous that it's been banned in several states. The following video filmed by Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) shows how rodeo roping can paralyze calves and adult animals by breaking their necks.

The rodeo in the book takes place in Wyoming and still exists as one of the world's largest. More animals will unquestionably suffer and die there in steer roping and other cruel rodeo events.

This is not Disney's first rodeo; the company should be well aware of the risks its fictional films pose to real-life animals. In 1955, when Disney released Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier, the film inspired a raccoon skin cap craze that decimated the U.S. raccoon population. Each time 101 Dalmatians or its sequels are released, it spurs a surge in the demand for Dalmatians, which perpetuates puppy mills and leads to an increase in the number being dumped on already overburdened rescues and shelters.

Disney's live action film will glorify this inherently violent industry which encourages kids to harm animals for fun and inflicts lethal injuries on bulls for entertainment. It will also sugarcoat the serious animal welfare concerns of a scandalous industry that shocked and beat a horse and attacked a bull with dogs.

This film will be a disaster for animals and risks reviving the entire sagging rodeo industry by sanitizing animal cruelty.

Victory! This alert made a difference for animals! Learn more.