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 Editorials | Issues | April 2007 
Mexican Rodeo: Animal Cruelty, or Proud Tradition?
 Edwin Garcia - Sacramento MediaNews
Fans take to the wooden stands, trumpets blare on a pre-recorded anthem and all eyes focus on the cowboy whose horse sprints alongside a small steer that appears to be running for its life.
He is the first of about two-dozen cowboys who attempt to score points by leaning to the side of their horse and swiftly grabbing the steer's tail, forcibly twisting it around their boot and slamming the horned beast onto the dirt, all in a matter of seconds.
Steer tailing is one of the most popular events of the Mexican rodeo - families cheer wildly at every successful knockdown - but miles away from this bucolic ranch and rodeo stadium near the Sunol Grade, animal rights activists cringe.
In the past two months, they have launched the latest in a series of efforts, now through legislation, that seek to regulate, and eventually eliminate, components of this centuries-old charreada tradition that is wildly popular among hundreds of hard-core urban cowboys throughout the Bay Area who grew up on ranches in rural Mexico.
"Like a lot of us say, es un orgullo Mexicano (it's Mexican pride) to be able to take part in this," said Teresa Fernandez of Palo Alto, as her husband, Ricardo Reyes, competed in the arena below. "It's been in our culture forever."
Charros and their supporters, who say that their beloved sport is "misunderstood," and no more harmful to animals than traditional American rodeos, argue their tradition is under attack.
"They want to take away our culture," complained Jesu`s Vazquez, 46, a San Jose resident who stood atop a tower at the Sunol ranch on a recent Sunday to judge the Mexican rodeo competition. "There's something racist about that."
Activists and lawmakers deny that.
"I'm a big fan of cultural diversity," said a leading activist, Eric Mills of Oakland, who reads Mexican literature and was an acquaintance of Cesar Chavez, "but when culture crosses the line into animal abuse, then I will be on the picket line."
Mills coordinates the non-profit Action for Animals, which persuaded Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Westlake Village, to introduce a measure that would classify charreadas as rodeos, which mostly means the events would require a veterinarian to be present, or on call.
Although the Mexican rodeo isn't mentioned by name in the measure, AB1614, the proposal's intention is unmistakable, Mills said, because it broadens the definition of a rodeo to include specific charreada events.
Strickland said she's just trying to close a legal loophole.
"Animals should be treated humanely, and I believe this bill is an added step of protection for animals used in rodeos," Strickland said. "This is absolutely not an attack on any race or ethnicity or culture."
Strickland, though, agreed to author the measure only with the backing of a lawmaker in the Latino Legislative Caucus. Assemblyman Joe Coto, D-San Jose, the group's leader, volunteered as a co-author - a move that perplexes charros whose sport has at times been protected by Latino legislators.
Coto said the measure is right for animals - and anyone who thinks the proposed law is part of a larger effort to attack charreadas is making unfounded assumptions.
Rodeo veterinarians are needed, activists say, because steer tailing is brutal and unnecessary, and can lead to ripped tails and broken legs. Charros, though, say they've seen none of that, and some consciously avoid throwing the steer onto the ground, preferring instead to drop it gently at an angle.
During the five-hour charreada in Sunol, none of the horses or cattle appeared to be injured in competition, though one may have had a close call. When one of the horsemen finished tailing a steer, he ended up with something hairy in his hand.
"Oh shoot, he took off his tail!" shouted a pre-teen boy watching from the stands.
"Ewwww!" squealed teenage girls in the front row.
Turns out the cowboy had only ripped off a clump of the brownish-reddish hair, not the tail itself.
But situations like that worry the activists.
"It's important to have a vet there because in a lot of these events, animals end up being injured as a result of the event," said Nicole Paquette of the Animal Protection Institute in Sacramento. A veterinary doctor can administer medication, she said, or humanely euthanize an animal.
Unlike American rodeos, which feature timed events and are often funded by commercial sponsors, Mexican rodeos are primarily judged on artistic skill, and are self-sustained hobbies supported by participant fees.
Mexican rodeo events include piales en el lienzo, where a cowboy ropes the rear legs of a fast, wild mare; and paso de la muerte, where a cowboy riding bareback transfers onto another horse trotting alongside.
About 30 teams are based in Northern California. They compete for trophies at state meets, and even tournaments across the border.
The legislation comes as no surprise to Mexican rodeo aficionados who pack the bleachers with baby strollers, lunch coolers and video cameras at Lienzo Charro Camperos del Valle de Sunol, one of a handful of privately owned arenas in the Bay Area, this one along Livermore-bound Highway 84.
Many feel their cherished tradition is approaching extinction.
"They don't do the events they used to do," said Cipriano Rodriguez, 47, sitting with his 5-year-old, Robert, dressed in cowboy gear. Rodriguez, who owns a carpet cleaning business in San Martin, misses horse tripping, an event banned back in 1995. "It's entertainment, and they're not doing anything bad to the animals."
The last attempt at modifying state law, making tailing a misdemeanor, gained momentum in 2002 but failed when some strong-willed members of the Latino Caucus strongly opposed the measure.
Some charros said they don't mind the veterinarian requirement in the proposal. They used to contract one, under an Alameda County ordinance - apparently loosely enforced - that partially does what Strickland's bill attempts to do. But there were no injured animals to treat during a three-year period she was hired for, said Marcos Franco, a leader among the cowboys, so the charros stopped using her services.
However, many of the charros strongly believe that any state law that affects their rodeos will open the door to further legislation.
And Mills agrees.
"There's so much I'd like to get rid of - calf roping in American rodeo, single steer roping, steer tailing," he said. And if it doesn't happen through legislation, he threatens a ballot initiative.
The legislation will be presented Tuesday in the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media.
Contact Edwin Garcia at egarcia@mercurynews.com or (916)441-4651. |
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