Is your cell phone service provided by Cingular? If you answered “Yes,” then listen up: Cingular promotes cruelty to animals as a major rodeo sponsor. Not only that, they proudly proclaim themselves the "Exclusive Wireless Provider" for the largest rodeo-sanctioning organization in the world, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Apparently, instead of raising the bar on the values they and their customers represent, Cingular is lowering itself to the level of animal abusers.

To call rodeos abusive is no exaggeration. Perhaps most fans of this “sport” don’t realize that the animals are being brutalized for their entertainment, and that thousands are hurt every year—some fatally. Because of the violent nature of rodeo events, animals commonly suffer such serious injuries as torn ligaments, broken bones, fractured horns, internal bleeding, and even severed spinal cords or tracheas. After a lifetime of abuse and confinement, most ultimately end their lives in the slaughterhouse. Get the facts about rodeo cruelty.

So far, the company has dismissed customers’ ethical objections, and Cingular President/CEO Stan Sigman plans to keep financially supporting rodeo organizers and placing Cingular ads at rodeos and in pro-rodeo media. As the single largest wireless provider in the U.S., maybe Cingular thinks it can do whatever it wants without consequence. Yet, whether company heads realize it or not, the nature of Cingular’s service and their large customer base are going to work to animal advocates’ advantage.

Cingular’s financial power rests in the contracts of over 50 million paying customers, the vast majority of whom are opposed to the needless animal cruelty that is inherent to rodeos. If enough of these constituents make it clear that they will not do business with a company that promotes violence against animals, Cingular’s leaders can only refuse to listen at the expense of major profit losses. Ending such corporate sponsorship of rodeos is absolutely essential, for without this source of capital, the rodeo industry would utterly collapse.

What You Can Do:

Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK), the world’s leading anti-rodeo organization, is coordinating the effort to get Cingular to drop the PCRA. The group is giving Cingular until January 1st, 2007 to make a decision, providing them plenty of time to research and determine how cruel rodeos are. If the company doesn’t make a New Year’s resolution for the animals, SHARK and IDA encourage people to send Cingular a message by switching providers. We joined forces to get Starbucks, another corporate Goliath, to buck the rodeo: now we must put the same pressure on Cingular.

Make the Call

- Cingular customers - Call the company and let them know that you will be ending your service as of January 1st if they continue to sponsor rodeo cruelty. Dial 611 on your Cingular phone so they will know you are a customer. Press 0, and then 0 again to avoid menu listings. The call is completely free of charge: no minutes will be deducted from your calling plan.

- If you are not a Cingular customer, tell the company that when your current contract is up, Cingular will NOT be in the running for your business. Dial 1-866-CINGULAR (246-4852), then press 0, and then 0 again to avoid menu listings.

- Also contact the company by email and/or postal mail:

Cingular Wireless

Stan Sigman, President and CEO

5565 Glenridge Connector

Atlanta, GA 30342

Send an email. Please forward any response you receive to SHARK at SHindi@sharkonline.org.

- Also tell your family, friends and co-workers who are Cingular customers about this issue now to give them time to research a new wireless provider.

- Cingular's rodeo sponsorship is already a hot topic in the public forum on their website. Log in and post a comment. See what other people have already written to Cingular.

- If you are a Cingular shareholder and are willing to sponsor a shareholder resolution, contact Steve Hindi at SHindi@sharkonline.org.