San Francisco, CA…To protest the inherent cruelty involved in rodeo events, animal activists and members of In Defense of Animals (IDA) will convene Saturday, June 10 at the corner of 41st Avenue and Lincoln Way in San Francisco, starting at 11:00 am. The rodeo will include events such as calf roping, even though the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance this past February mandating that "animals be used in humane events only."

IDA attempted to avert the need for a protest by asking the sponsors to eliminate the cruelest event, calf roping. However, the Black Cowboy Rodeo Association was unwilling to listen to the San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare, and will go ahead with all of the planned events.

"The violence demonstrated in calf roping is obvious," said IDA president, Elliot Katz, DVM. "It does not represent manhood, but rather, it demonstrates just the opposite, in which young, vulnerable animals are terrorized by men who brutally throw them to the ground via a tight rope."

In order to comply with the recently passed San Francisco Rodeo Ordinance, which states "All animals are to be used in humane rodeo events only," calf roping must be excluded. If calf roping where to be eliminated then the rodeo would be in compliance with the ordinance.

"Calf roping is clearly inhumane," said Dr. Katz. "The Board of Supervisors should act on their ordinance and end this needless, cruel and oppressive ‘entertainment’ immediately. It does nothing to promote and honor the long, proud tradition of Black cowboys."

"It saddens me that Juneteenth, which is a celebration of emancipation, is being commemorated by using animals oppressively," said Richard Schulke, Chairperson of the Commission of Animal Control and Welfare.