Reaching children with a message of compassion and respect for animals
June 30th, 2009 by admin
ARFF’s protest of the “Rodeo for Youth” in Davie (Broward County) resulted in an overall positive story by columnist Michael Mayo in Sunday’s Sun-Sentinel.
The column quoted a camp counselor who accompanied a group of children to the rodeo but shared our concerns about the brutal treatment of animals in rodeo, “You know what, I actually agree with you, but my hands are tied on this,” he said.
Even Mr. Mayo, whose job it is to be entertaining and make a little fun of both sides in his columns, concluded, “Part of me knows that animals probably don’t enjoy getting pinned down and tied up.”
Not surprisingly, Jackie Tucker, organizer of the youth rodeo, was confused about ARFF’s demonstration. Ms. Tucker claimed that rodeo was an “American tradition” (is tradition an excuse for cruelty?) and then asked, “If they want to get upset about something, how about that steak or hamburger on our dinner plates?” We invite Ms. Tucker to join us at our weekly vegan outreach event in Miami Beach, where we distribute information about the cruelty of the meat industry, as well as the advantages of a vegetarian or vegan diet.