Calling All COWBOYS
Our Western way of life is under attack. There is an ordinance gaining traction in Los Angeles that is a serious threat to the sport of rodeo and all Western sports—bull riding, barrel racing and yes, even team roping jackpots included. While the most common reaction to this is to sling insults toward “the left-coast crazies,” that will only play into these people’s hand, confirm their fiction-based accusations about those who wear cowboy hats and sink our own beloved Western-world ship.
We must all act now, and in a calm, united, professional and proactive manner while proving our points, which include the genuine love the cowboy community has for our livestock, and the positive cultural and financial impacts the sport of rodeo has on our society today.
The Basics
You can read the vague, broad language of the proposed ordinance amending Section 53.00 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code to add a definition for “a rodeo” and adding LAMC Section 53.39.2 to prohibit the use of harmful practices, techniques, and devices at rodeos for yourself. Certain types of tie-downs, spurs and “lariats or lassos” are specifically named.
This may all sound silly, and like it doesn’t apply to those of us who do not live in Los Angeles. But make no mistake—the threat is real. There is crossover between the people with rodeo in their crosshairs and those who ended the circus.
