COMMUNITY

Animal rights activists to protest county rodeo

Jacqueline Devine
Alamogordo Daily News
A bull grazes on some hay at the Otero County Rodeo Arena Wednesday afternoon. Members of the People of Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) believe animals such as bulls are treated inhumanely at rodeos. A group of animal advocates will be peacefully protesting outside the fairgrounds entrance to raise awareness.

ALAMOGORDO – Local animal rights advocates with the help from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will be peacefully protesting the Otero County rodeo events today.

A Village of Tularosa resident and animal rights advocate, Katherine Reiser, will be organizing a peaceful demonstration outside the rodeo entrance at the Otero County Fairgrounds to educate rodeo goers on what Reiser and her group believe is the unethical treatment of animals at rodeos.

“We’re just going to be holding up some signs. We’ll have some literature to pass out for anyone who is willing to take it. It exploits the cruelty at what happens at rodeos,” Reiser said. “We’re not trying to cause any confrontation with the public whatsoever. The goal is strictly education. We just want to have a presence out there.”

Reiser, who used to reside in New York, said she has been a resident of Tularosa for a couple of years now but she never realized the county fair also featured a live rodeo. She said when she found out through a radio commercial then her radar went up and she wanted to raise awareness on animal cruelty.

“I’ve been a vegan for six years and I’ve worked at farm sanctuaries in New York. I am definitely an animal rights advocate. This is my first time doing a protest. I’m just going to jump right in and see where it goes,” Reiser said. “I lived here for a few years now but I haven’t really paid attention to the fair. I thought it was just rides, it didn’t really dawn on me that there was a rodeo. It boggles my mind people witnessing a calf being roped while it’s running for its life. They sustain neck injuries, internal bleeding and sometimes they ultimately die.”

She said many rodeo goers don’t actually know what’s involved in handling live animals.

“People really don’t know what’s involved so we’re just trying to educate people just to get them thinking. When horses buck that’s not a natural behavior for these animals. They’re in pain,” Reiser said. “These poor animals end up at the slaughter house more often than not because they’re so injured from these events that they can’t go back to where they came from which I guarantee are not from green pastures.”

She said she wants to open up the public's eyes to the treatment of animals during rodeos.

“Next time when they see a calf being thrown to the ground and they see a horse bucking they might think twice,” Reiser said. “Hopefully they’ll start looking at these events through a different eye.”

Otero County Fair Board Chairman Bill Mershon defended the treatment of the rodeo’s cattle saying that the methods are a part of the rancher’s culture that they have been doing for generations.

“The rodeo has been a tradition that’s been around forever and it’s evolved to a certain degree because it used to be tougher on animals,” Mershon said. “I’m a third generation from Otero County. I came from a sawmill in Mayhill where we used horses for everything and animals were a way of life. Cows and pigs – we used them, that’s all we had. If you fast forward to 2016 these guys would object to that and I have a problem with that.”

Mershon said the treatment of animals at the county’s rodeo is not inhumane because ranchers have been practicing their methods for years and they are highly trained in their skills.

“Roping a calf, it’s the only method we have to catch a calf – it’s not inhumane. The bucking horse competition, well every horse in this world had be broken to ride. Someone had to saddle them to take the kick out of them,” he said. “It’s been going on forever, it’s how we tame horses.”

Mershon said he feels that groups such as PETA have become an overkill and some are looking for trouble.

He said the county rodeo is a fun event for the community, and the biggest event in Otero County which draws thousands of visitors each year.

This year the Otero County Fair and Rodeo will have many firsts. The fairgrounds will display the newly constructed pavilion which will feature many vendors from across the county. The fairgrounds will also use the new bleachers in the rodeo arena for the first time.

The fair will also feature new amusement rides provided by the New Mexico State Fair, which Mershon said is a big upgrade.

Mershon said he appreciates all the volunteers work for their dedication to making this fair and rodeo one of the best ones they will have.

Reiser and her group of animal rights activists plan to attend each night of the fair and rodeo. They will meet each evening near the entrance of the rodeo arena.