URGENT: Animals in Laton, California, Need Your Voice!
Wikimedia Commons
BACKGROUND | SOURCE PETA
This Sunday, the Laton Lions Club has reportedly scheduled a “Barnyard Scramble” for the organization’s 49th annual rodeo. Bunnies, piglets, calves, lambs, and chicks will be released into the arena and frantically pursued by children ages 4 to 7. Being chased and subjected to rough handling, crowds, and loud noises is a terrifying (and easily injurious) ordeal for these animals, who have no opportunity to escape or defend themselves. To make matters worse, the animals used in the event will be sent home with participants! Sadly, every year, countless animals are “won” as prizes. Many die within weeks from neglect or are bounced around from home to home, relegated to lonely rooms or backyards, and ignored. Participants and their families are simply unprepared for the extraordinary responsibility of caring for their “prizes.”
Please urge the Laton Lions Club to cancel this cruel event. And spread this alert far and wide!
WHOM TO CONTACT
Please call and send polite comments to:
Manuel Dias, President
Laton Lions Club
559-362-0577
http://www.latonrodeo.com/id2.html (Click on this link to send an e-mail.)
Kelley Medico, Organizer
Laton Lions Club
559-355-1022
kelleymedico@yahoo.com
Laton Lions Club: 559-923-1303
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear President Dias and Organizer Medico,
This Sunday, April 7, the Laton Lions Club has reportedly scheduled a “Barnyard Scramble” for the organization’s 49th annual rodeo. Bunnies, piglets, calves, lambs, and chicks will be released into the arena and frantically pursued by children ages 4 to 7. Being chased and subjected to rough handling, crowds, and loud noises is a terrifying (and easily injurious) ordeal for these animals, who have no opportunity to escape or defend themselves.
To make matters worse, the animals used in the event will be sent home with participants! Sadly, every year, countless animals are “won” as prizes. Many die within weeks from neglect or are bounced around from home to home, relegated to lonely rooms or backyards, and ignored. Participants and their families are simply unprepared for the extraordinary responsibility of caring for their “prizes.”
Animals are sentient creatures, capable of fear, pain, suffering, and happiness. Theirs are not lives for humans to abuse, exploit, or harm. Please take this opportunity to teach each other, as well as impressionable children, the importance of non-human life and your capacity to be kind and compassionate to them by cancelling the “Barnyard Scramble”.
Thank you for taking the time to consider this urgent appeal.
NAME
what an amoral bramble,
this barnyard scramble.
parents, how do you
expect your children
to mature,
subjected to this
sadistic manure 
Karen Lyons Kalmenson
Our Compass 
This is the craziest crap ive ever heard of i cant even imagina any parent being willing to allow their children to chase scare and cause fear in any of these aniamls i cant even imagine how many animals are harmed or acidentally killed by kids stepping on them this is an outrage and must be stopped i seriously question the prenting of any parent that allows their kids to participate in any “barnyard scramble” sent emails and shared in several places thanks Stacey
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beyond ignorant and disgusting…shame on the lions club!
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I completely agree, Florence, thank you for your help.
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what an amoral bramble,
this barnyard scramble.
parents, how do you
expect you children
to mature,
subjected to this
sadistic manure
😦
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typo correction:
what an amoral bramble,
this barnyard scramble.
parents, how do you
expect your children
to mature,
subjected to this
sadistic manure
😦
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What the hell is wrong with people?! This is a disgrace. I won’t be able to send any emails until I get home. If I send emails like this from work, I will risk getting fired. 😦
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Thank you so much for your help, GiRRL,I am sorry about your workplace protocol.
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🙂
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Reblogged this on The Monsters Among Us.
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Thank you.
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THOUGHT IT WAS ILLEGAL TO GIVE ANIMALS As prizes
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Not that I know of, thanks, Dressel.
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Dear President Dias and Organizer Medico,
This Sunday, April 7, the Laton Lions Club has reportedly scheduled a “Barnyard Scramble” for the organization’s 49th annual rodeo. Bunnies, piglets, calves, lambs, and chicks will be released into the arena and frantically pursued by children ages 4 to 7. Being chased and subjected to rough handling, crowds, and loud noises is a terrifying (and easily injurious) ordeal for these animals, who have no opportunity to escape or defend themselves.
To make matters worse, the animals used in the event will be sent home with participants! Sadly, every year, countless animals are “won” as prizes. Many die within weeks from neglect or are bounced around from home to home, relegated to lonely rooms or backyards, and ignored. Participants and their families are simply unprepared for the extraordinary responsibility of caring for their “prizes.”
Animals are sentient creatures, capable of fear, pain, suffering, and happiness. Theirs are not lives for humans to abuse, exploit, or harm. Please take this opportunity to teach each other, as well as impressionable children, the importance of non-human life and your capacity to be kind and compassionate to them by cancelling the “Barnyard Scramble”.
Thank you for taking the time to consider this urgent appeal.
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Please don’t allow this to take place. Animals are not here for us to exploit them.
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Thank you, Brittany.
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What a stupid thing to do. By a reputable organization? Really a good example for these children!! Shame on all the participants!!! 😦
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I agree, thanks, Georgianna.
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Sport is fair play between volunteers. There are no “Animal Sports” because there is no fair play and no volunteers. The animals don’t choose, they are forced. They are slaves. In rodeos they are even bred for the purpose.
Slavery was abolished because of the suffering it caused, but animal slavery continues unabated.
But why care about animals? We are all animals and are closely related. We all experience the same feelings and emotions. Non-human animals are not some kind of “other”. They are simply “different kinds of us”. What hurts us hurts them. They know fear and pain just as we do. How else would electric fences, barbed wire, cattle prods and whips work?
We should care how we treat them. Animals at rodeos suffer terrible pain and fear. They suffer terror. When they break their legs they are shot. This is no sport. It is torture. How can we justify this?
Other animals hare not playthings for our cheap, sordid entertainment. When we abuse them we degrade ourselves too. When we do others a disservice we hurt ourselves most because we act beneath ourselves. We become small, hard and mean. We are the lesser for it.
There are many ways of having fun that are not carried out at someone else’s expense, be they human or any other animal.
There can be no progress without compassion. We must work towards a more compassionate world and treat other animals fairly.
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Very well-written, I completely agree, thank you, Paul.
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Just sick! More fun things to do rather than chase down little animals, scare them & kill them in the process! Why don’t they try teaching their kids to be normal children rather than being very cruel to animals! Unbelievable that people can do this this needs to be stopped asap!
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