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| [Photo credit - Frank Langfitt NPR] NPR.org has a 2007 story on the Cowtown Rodeo. Photo shows 4th generation owner of the Rodeo Grant Harris. He will never become kind, but why doesn't he just take the $25 million from real estate developers and retire? |
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Julia Orr <juliaorr@sharkonline.org>
Date: Mon, Jul 1, 2013 at 8:05 AM
Subject: Dramatic Video: Horse is Electro-Shocked, then Dies at NJ Rodeo
Hi Liz,
From: Julia Orr <juliaorr@sharkonline.org>
Date: Mon, Jul 1, 2013 at 8:05 AM
Subject: Dramatic Video: Horse is Electro-Shocked, then Dies at NJ Rodeo
Hi Liz,
It's a busy rodeo season already - very disturbing footage we released today of a horse that died at Cowtown Rodeo, that coupled with the Reno horse being shocked in the anus on Friday night ...just extremely bad start to the season.
Julia
SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness)
PO Box 28 • Geneva, IL 60134 • 630-557-0176
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, July 1, 2013
Contact: Steve Hindi – 630 640 1889/Stuart Chaifetz – 856 428 2635
Dramatic Video: Horse is Electro-Shocked, then Dies at NJ Rodeo
New Jersey – On Saturday, June 29, 2013, an investigator for SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) attended and filmed at the Cowtown Rodeo in Pilesgrove, NJ.
Video of the horse being shocked and going into convulsions can be seen here:
A number of bucking horses were shocked by a device which is prohibited by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), which sanctions the Cowtown Rodeo.
One of the shocked horses subsequently fell down, went into convulsions, and died.
"It was a truly horrific death," states SHARK Investigator Stuart Chaifetz. "That horse was cruelly and illegally shocked. People think rodeos are entertainment, but they are not. Rodeos are brutal, vicious events where animals are tortured, and sometimes, as in this case, they are killed."
The type of shocking device used on the horse can deliver about 10,000 volts of electricity. Miller Manufacturing, makers of the prod have clearly stated previously that the devices are not to be used in a rodeo environment, and are never supposed to be used on horses under any circumstance. Rodeos, such as Cowtown, however, regularly use the electric prods to make tame, domesticated horses appear wild from pain.
"The shocking of horses destroys the myth that the horses are athletes who want to buck," states Chaifetz. "These animals literally have to be tortured to get them to perform, and that is absolutely animal abuse."
To add to the horse's suffering, as he was lying on the ground, one of the "cowboys" grabbed him by the tail and pulled it to drag the horse's body back. At the exact time that happened, the announcer said that they treated the animals the same as they do the cowboys and cowgirls.
After the horse's legs were tied, the horse was rolled over onto a dirty wood sled. The horse was then dragged across the arena as dirt piled up along his head.
The Cowtown Rodeo is sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), which is notorious for allowing horses to be shocked, in spite of supposed humane rules to the contrary.
SHARK will be contacting the SPCA to demand animal cruelty charges against Grant Harris, the owner of Cowtown for the death of this horse, and the shocking of numerous horses.
For more information on rodeo cruelty please visit:
