Colo. lawmakers decline to ban some rodeo events

By Duffy Hayes
Monday, January 24, 2011

DENVER — Two rodeo events some consider cruel to animals appear unlikely to come under a state ban this year.

A Colorado House committee voted today not to ban steer-tailing and horse-tripping. Both events are sometimes performed in Mexican-style rodeos called charreadas.

Horse-tripping is when running horses are lassoed by the legs. It can cause fatal leg-breaks in horses. Steer-tailing is an event in which cowboys ride alongside steers and attempt to grab their tails, sometimes ripping the animal’s skin.

Lawmakers on the House Agriculture, Livestock & Natural Resources Committee voted 8-5 against the ban. Some lawmakers said the events are cruel but should be banned by cities and counties, not the state.

Read House Bill 39: http://goo.gl/ZOsCf