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Bill Pickett Rodeo is set for two sold-out industry shows this weekend

VaselineJuly 20, 2024

0 4 minutes read

Bill Pickett Rodeo is set for two sold-out industry shows this weekend

As Los Angeles moves closer to a ban on certain rodeo activities in the city, the 40th anniversary of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo is being celebrated Saturday and Sunday in the nearby town of Industry.

The rodeo will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday and 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Industry Hills Expo Center. Tickets for both days sold out on Thursday.

Bill Pickett’s website states that the rodeos include events such as bareback riding, bronc rising, bull riding, bull dogging, calf roping and “jr. and ladies breakaway roping,” all of which would be banned under a draft ordinance currently before the Los Angeles City Council.

The LA ordinance does not apply to industry or other areas in LA County. There are currently no plans for a similar countywide ban.

According to a draft of the ordinance posted online Thursday, it would be unlawful to “conduct or participate in any of the following activities for live public amusement or entertainment: bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping or any other activity that involves physically wrestling an animal to the ground, tethering an animal or attempting to ride and remain mounted on a bucking animal.”

The proposed law states that “certain animal exhibition activities, including those commonly conducted at rodeos, involve the aggressive riding, roping and/or wrestling of steers, calves, bulls, horses and other animals for live public entertainment and often cause damage and injury to the animals involved, including sprains and broken limbs.”

The council was set to pass the ban last December, but Councilmember Monica Rodriguez successfully advocated for an amendment calling on the city attorney to create certain protections for cultural and traditional equestrian events, such as American Indian, Native American, Native rodeos, Mexican charrerias and escaramuzas, that do not include prohibited activities.

The draft released Thursday includes the following passage: “This section shall not be construed to prohibit any equestrian, cultural or other event, including an event described as a rodeo, that does not involve any of the activities prohibited by Subsection (b) and that is consistent with all other applicable laws, rules and regulations.”

However, Rodriguez was not happy with the new setup.

“Yesterday, the City Attorney’s Office released the proposed Rodeo Ban Ordinance. The City Council committed to giving the equestrian community a seat at the table in crafting this ordinance that disproportionately impacts BIPOC communities. Once again, the community was excluded and done so in the dark, without the involvement of the Mexican Charro, Native American and Black Cowboy communities who are at risk of being criminalized by this,” Rodriguez said in a statement to City News Service.

“This regulation and its abrupt release highlight the lack of fairness and inclusion in the legislative process. I will continue to do everything in my power to correct the ongoing errors in this regulation to prevent cultural activities from being criminalized.”

The revised ordinance will next go before the Neighborhoods and Community Enrichment Committee before going to the full council for final approval. The committee’s next scheduled meeting is Aug. 7, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether the proposed ban will be on the agenda.

The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo also touts its cultural tradition. Its website states that the tour “celebrates and honors black cowboys and cowgirls and their contributions to building the West. We highlight the undeniable global appeal of black cowboys and cowgirls in the West and the stories behind a subculture that remains strong today. BPIR also serves as a cultural event and an opportunity for families to enjoy and embrace cowboy culture while being educated and entertained with reenactments, historical highlights and western adventures.”

The Industry Hills Expo Center also hosts the Industry Hills Charity Pro Rodeo each fall, an event that organizers say has provided financial support to community charities for nearly four decades.

However, animal rights advocates say cultural traditions should not be used as a defense for what they see as animal abuse.

“We believe rodeo is not a sport, but rather an archaic cruel show business that inherently abuses animals while masquerading as entertainment,” local group Last Chance for Animals told City News Service. “The rodeo industry typically relies on the cultural and historical background argument, but this fight is not about culture. This is about animal abuse.”

Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who has been spearheading efforts to ban rodeo activities across Los Angeles since 2021, has previously said that “it is critical that the city make it clear to Angels that animal cruelty is wrong and take steps to ensure that events proven to harm animals are no longer permitted.”

Representatives of the Bill Pickett Rodeo did not respond to questions about the alleged cruelty of some events, but defenders of the use of tools such as spurs, straps and electric prods to induce horses and bulls to buck say the animals are naturally inclined to buck and the tools merely send a message to them.

Sean Gleason, CEO and commissioner of the Professional Bull Riders, which hosts an annual event at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, told CNS in 2022 that the proposed regulation was “unnecessary legislation,” calling the animals in rodeo and bull riding events “the real rock stars of the sport, (who) receive the best care and live great, long lives — four to five times longer than animals who are not fortunate enough to compete.”

Animal rights activists counter that such events are by definition abuse, as they rely on the visible mistreatment of uncooperative animals.

Calf roping — the practice of forcibly tackling calves to the ground and tying them up — is an event that many activists consider particularly cruel. A calf was killed at the Industry Hills rodeo in 2015 after her leg was crushed during a roping event.

“Anyone with a heart knows that it is wrong to hang a baby animal on a clothesline, slam the animal’s body into the ground, tie its legs so it can’t move and drag the animal by the neck,” said Steve Hindi, founder and president of the national group Showing Animals Respect and Kindness.

“If this were to happen to a puppy or kitten, the offender would understandably be charged with a crime and likely locked up. However, in rodeo it is called calf roping and proponents claim it is a sport.”

VaselineJuly 20, 2024

0 4 minutes read

Vaseline

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