Rodeo Protest (& Other Ways to Take Action) - Westfield Fair, August 16th

Unfortunately, The Westfield Fair has a rodeo again this year. So we'll be back again too on Saturday, August 16th, 1:30-3, in front of the parking lot to buck them out! Please join us if you can and take action (scroll down)! *SIGNS & LITERATURE WILL BE PROVIDED, BUT FEEL FREE TO BRING YOUR OWN SIGNS. PARKING: Park on Patriots Dr. or Michael Dr. (sidestreets right near the fairgrounds) for free or pay a few dollars to park in lot. * Please add extra time for parking.* If interested in carpooling feel free to contact me or post here. WHY: We must buck such cruel "entertainment" out of this area for good! It is sick and barbaric, and we must make it clear that we won't allow for it up here! Bull riding "cowboys" travel from venue to venue across the country with bulls who are crammed into trucks and tormented by them and rodeo clowns. They are teased, shocked, and assaulted into "action" while they are wearing bucking straps, often around their groin area. The bulls buck uncontrollably from such torment, in a futile attempt to escape the discomfort. The secret is the flank strap, which is tightened painfully around the bulls' sensitive flank area as the chute gate is opened. They do not stop bucking when they have thrown their rider, but only once the irritating strap is loosened. Bucking events cannot be held without this strap. The strap can cause bloody and painful open wounds which investigators have found at virtually every rodeo/bull riding event. In addition, bucking bulls often suffer back and leg injuries from repeated pounding on hard ground. Rodeo/bull riding organizers like to play on the fallacy that bulls are tough skinned and impervious to pain. The absurdity of this is obvious when it is remembered that the skin of cattle is sensitive enough to detect a fly. Bucking bulls suffer severe flank strap, spur, muscle and skeletal injuries, but their worst abuse is from the electric shocking. Cattle are particularly sensitive to electricity, and abusers use this to their advantage to make normally docile animals appear wild and dangerous. If the bucking straps were used on humans, they would be called instruments of torture, along with the spurs on the boots of the riders. This animal abuse portrayed as sport is often promoted as a family event, a place where children can cheer alongside adults as animals are dominated and brutalized, and the animal abusers given a score at the end. What does this teach our children?Please help educate folks about this event and keep them from supporting it. We must put an end to such brutal torture for "entertainment" in this area! For more information on bull riding (often part of rodeos), please see these links: * https://www.cwint.org/rodeofacts* https://facebook.us15.list-manage.com/track/click...* https://facebook.us15.list-manage.com/track/click...* http://friendsofanimals.org/news/bull-riding OTHER WAYS TO TAKE ACTION: 1. Complain (politely) to fair and sponsors! - include facts from this event page! If enough complain to the organizers, we can hopefully keep them from having a rodeo there again. * Call and you can leave a message at the bottom: https://www.thewestfieldfair.com/about-us (only phone numbers are listed). President - Sheila Phelon (413) 537-1421Vice President - Bridget Rida (413) 537-1519 * Post on Westfield Fair's FB review page -https://www.facebook.com/WestfieldFair/reviews * Urge sponsors, especially the VCA, to stop sponsoring the Westfield Fair until they stop hosting such cruelty. They may not even know about the rodeo. VCA - https://vcahospitals.com/contact-us. Tell them how upsetting it is to see veterinarians hosting such animal cruelty! Whip City Fibers - https://www.whipcityfiber.com/pages/contact/... J.L. Raymaakers & Sons, Inc. - information@raymaakers.com Advance Manufacturing - advmfg@advancemfg.com Wagner Rug - https://www.wagnerrug.com/contact 2. Write a letter to the editor: Westfield News - https://thewestfieldnews.com/pulseline-form/The Republican - letters@repub.com (Must include name, address, email address, and phone #. Should be brief)The Reminder - News@ReminderPublications.com 3. Share this event!!! Hope to see you there! For the Animals, Sheryl