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Rabbits exempt from this year's
Animal Scramble
Wed., July 3, 2013 By Jon Stinnett
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Those hoping to catch a rabbit at
this year’s Cottage Grove Rodeo will have to change their plans.
The Rodeo will still take place as
scheduled on Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13, though the Animal Scramble,
an event that has recently drawn the intense scrutiny of animal rights
activists, will now showcase a different setup. And the Rodeo may also draw some
less-than-welcome guests.
Last summer, a video of the Animal Scramble, in which rabbits were let loose in
the rodeo arena for a large group of hopeful youngsters to catch, went viral and
unleashed a firestorm of criticism on the Cottage Grove Riding Club, which
organizes the Rodeo. This year, the Scramble will take place as scheduled,
according to Riding Club President Kelli Fisher, though kids will only
“scramble” for a group of about 80 chickens. An egg hunt will be held to
determine the new owners of about 25 rabbits, Fisher said, and kids who
participate in the Scramble will only be allowed to walk.
Fisher said the changes come in response to a complaint to the United States
Department of Agriculture by Red Barn Rabbit Rescue, a Creswell-based center
dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of domestic rabbits. Red Barn founder
Heather Crippen said she and her daughter attended and taped the Animal Scramble
in 2012 and posted the video to the Internet.
“We went to the Rodeo in 2012 and taped it, and we were mortified by what we
saw,” Crippen said. “It’s just cruel…the whole thing is awful for rabbits.
Anything over 80 degrees is too hot for rabbits, first of all. They put them all
together in a horse trailer, and rabbits can mate in three seconds, so someone
who thought they were getting one rabbit may end up with 10. It was horrific;
there’s no way to make it a pleasant event for the animals.”
In recent years, the Scramble has also drawn criticism from the Cottage Grove
Humane Society, whose Janetta Overholser said the group has heard many stories
of animals treated inhumanely after they were caught during the Scramble.
“We’ve heard too many stories,” Overholser said. “There was the kid who got a
rabbit and didn’t know what to do with it, so they put it in a box on the back
porch and it died. I heard on the Swap n’ Shop (KNND’s radio program) about a
father whose kid got a rooster but he couldn’t keep it because he lived in the
city limits. I was told about a neighbor who liberated the rabbits after they
caught them, and that’s not acceptable. They (the Riding Club) will tell you
stories about the kids who got a rabbit and took good care of it, but they all
deserve that, and they don’t all get it.”
Fisher said the Animal Scramble video viewed by many on Youtube showcased only
the worst aspects of the event, adding that it also led to intimidating tactics
undertaken by many in an attempt to get it stopped.
“They didn’t talk to a single kid who had gotten a rabbit,” Fisher said. “Every
kid who got a rabbit got a care form that talked about how to care for the
rabbit. My personal phone number was on that form, but nobody called me. The
things they said about rabbits having a broken jaw or having no tail after the
Scramble, there’s no way that any of that happened. People have been releasing
private phone numbers of people on our Board and calling with death threats.
They’ve been stalking members of our Board at work.”
Fisher said activists followed the Riding Club’s secretary from her workplace
and that activists and news reporters sat by the woman’s car to approach her
about the Scramble. “We’ve gotten calls threatening our kids saying things like ‘I’m going to
come to your house and pounce on your child,’ using the same kind of language
they use to describe the Scramble,” she said.
Fisher said the Riding Club received word from the USDA last spring that the
Scramble could not include rabbits. She said the Club has been visited at Board
meetings by representatives of Red Barn and the Cottage Grove Humane Society and
added that a recent email from Crippen caused the Riding Club to seek legal
representation.
“URGENT!! We are your only hope!” the email stated. “Despite our efforts to
discourage physical protest we are getting animals rights supporters threatening
to picket and confront board members during your 2013 rodeo. The latest was a
request from PETA to have our video for a nationwide plea.
Our next step depends on your reply! Our intent is not to make your rodeo a
horrible experience. We simply want the animal scramble removed from the
schedule because it is cruel. We have made numerous attempts to make our point
and communicate with the Riding Club. We are your best chance to stop the
protestors and picketing…” For the complete article see the
07-03-2013 issue.
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Comment:
It is extremely disconcerting that in the 21st century humankind hasn't evolved
enough to prohibit the barbaric exploitation of animals as entertainment.
Any events, whether it
be a circus or rodeo that reinforces the oppression of animals, and celebrates
our abuse of power over them ought to be condemned and outlawed. Let's move out
of the past and into a more enlightened and progressive future.
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Carmina Gooch
Animals in Entertainment:
Vancouver Humane Society
Exhibitions and fairs unfair to
animals; BC gov't gives gaming grants; the 4-H message;
petting zoo problems; PNE 2018, 2022 fair outrage
Civil disobedience has progressed our thinking on
human rights. It is no less essential to how we think about animals.
Taking action for the voiceless! |