Kathleen Joyce, Chair
Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing
City of Boston
1 City Hall Square, Room 809
Boston, MA 02201

Chair Joyce: 

We are writing to share our concerns about permits issued to the Boston Rodeo, scheduled to take place this Saturday, September 20 on City Hall Plaza. The City of Boston takes pride in its reputation for humane and progressive action on animal welfare. This event at City Hall, which uses large animals for “entertainment”, deviates from those values. Recent similar events in Massachusetts have put not just the safety of animals at risk, but also members of the public. At Animal Rescue League of Boston and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, we are committed to educating the public about the suffering that these events can cause to the participating animals. 

Rodeos cause suffering to animals in the course of training, performing and transportation. Saturday’s event advertises Bareback Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding, Bull Riding, Steer Wrestling, Team Roping, Tie Down Roping, and Barrel Racing. The tools and methods commonly used in these events are inherently inhumane. Broadly, rodeos and related events display and encourage insensitivity to the brutal treatment of animals for “sport.”

The official rules of the event sponsors, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), permit the animals to be confined during transport for as long as 24 hours without animals being fed or watered. The late Dr. C.G. Haber, a veterinarian who spent decades as a federal meat inspector, worked in slaughterhouses and saw many animals discarded from rodeos and sold for slaughter. He described the animals as being so extensively bruised that the only areas in which the skin was attached [to the flesh] were the head, neck, leg, and belly. He saw animals with as much as “2-3 gallons of free blood accumulated under the detached skin.” (http://bit.ly/4meNR7k)

Just last year, eight bulls escaped a rodeo in North Attleboro, running down a busy road and evading capture for hours, providing very recent evidence of the potential risks to public safety caused by a rodeo –particularly in an open, outdoor venue like City Hall Plaza, with no precedent for this type of event. An investigation into the incident in North Attleboro found that there was no negligence and that the organizers had taken reasonable safety precautions. Regardless of what the organizers of the Boston Rodeo pledge, this is an inherently dangerous event.

The VIP pass for the Boston Rodeo includes access to a private, elevated balcony inside City Hall itself. It is unclear if the City has considered the impact this event will have on the health and well-being of animals, and how its rental of the facility space for this event may be perceived as an endorsement of inhumane treatment. 

Thank you very much for your consideration of this matter. 

Sincerely,  

Kara Holmquist
Director of Advocacy
Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
kholmquist@mspca.org

Ally Blanck
Director of Advocacy
Animal Rescue League of Boston
ablanck@arlboston.org 

Cc: 

City of Boston Animal Care and Control
City of Boston Property Management
Boston Police Department
Boston Fire Department
Mayor Michelle Wu
Council President Ruthee Louijeune
Councilor Erin Murphy
Councilor Henry Santana
Councilor Julia Mejia
Councilor Liz Breadon
Councilor Sharon Durkan
Councilor Benjamin Weber
Councilor Enrique Pepén
Councilor Brian Worrell
Councilor John Fitzgerald
Councilor Ed Flynn
Councilor Gabriella Coletta

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Join the Animal Action Team to take action on this and other animal protection issues.