Poll Shows 72 Percent Support L.A. Ordinance Banning 'Tools of Torment' from Rodeo

Overwhelming majority of respondents want prods and flank straps banned from rodeos held in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - As the Los Angeles City Council considers an ordinance that would ban "tools of torment" from rodeos and bull riding events in the city of Los Angeles, a new poll finds overwhelming support for such a ban. A poll of 600 Los Angeles residents found that 72 percent support banning prods, flank straps, and other tools that force animals to perform. Similar bans have already gone into effect in Pasadena and San Francisco. 

Bulls are generally calm creatures that are provoked into battle at rodeos. In order to encourage aggressive bucking, they are routinely fitted with tight flank straps, kicked with spurs, and shocked with high-voltage electric prods. As the bulls buck wildly to rid themselves of the rider and these tools of torment, their weight coupled with their unnatural movements often lead to horrific injuries, including broken limbs, sprains, pulled muscles, paralysis, and torn ligaments. Often, the rodeo industry does not disclose bull injuries or deaths.

"These poll results show what we have known for a long time. That anyone with a heart would oppose using painful prods and straps to terrorize animals into performing," said Chris DeRose, President and Founder of Last Chance for Animals (LCA). "The rodeo is not a sport. It is a public display of animal abuse, consisting of terrified bulls and horses trying to get away from something that is causing them fear, pain, and discomfort. This abuse has no place in our society, and our laws must be changed to reflect the will of the public. We hope the City Council moves quickly to pass the ordinance banning these implements."

In recent years, LCA helped organize a grassroots effort to get the Los Angeles City Council to pass this ordinance. This effort has received massive pushback from the rodeo industry, which continues to try justifying their torture of animals.

The poll showed strong support for the ordinance across all demographic groups, including 70 percent approval among Black respondents and 67 percent among Latino respondents. A Freedom of Information Act request made by LCA revealed that a lobbyist for the rodeo was attempting to scare members of the City Council by arguing that banning African American and Latino rodeo events was "bad politics." 

"Big Rodeo's hired guns are sneaking around the halls of the City Council using Los Angeles's Black and Latino communities as a prop so they can keep torturing animals for profit," DeRose said. "This cynical use of the race card is not only offensive, the polling data shows it is also dishonest. Now that councilmembers have the facts, I hope they will have the courage to stand up to these bullies and put a stop to their abuse of animals."

Founded in 1984, Last Chance for Animals is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating animal exploitation through education, investigations, legislation, and media attention. LCA believes that animals are highly sentient creatures who exist for their own reasons independent of their service to humans; they should not be made to suffer for the latter.  LCA opposes the use of animals in food and clothing production, scientific experimentation, and entertainment and promotes a cruelty-free lifestyle and the ascription of rights to non-human beings.

SOURCE Last Chance For Animals