Protesters to Descend on Abusive Bandera Ham Rodeo

PETA Asks Decent People Not to Attend Event in Which Young Pigs Are Chased and Dragged by the Leg or Snout in the Dust

For Immediate Release:
March 13, 2020

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Bandera, Texas –

Armed with signs proclaiming, “Danger to the Pigs, Kids, and You,” a group of PETA supporters will gather on Saturday to protest the Bandera Ham Rodeo—a disrespectful and downright abusive wild-pig chase in which people terrorize frightened baby pigs:

When: Saturday, March 14, 10:30 a.m.

Where: 2886 Route 16 (near Park Road), Bandera

“Chasing, tackling, and dragging pigs around an arena is inarguably callous—and it also can spread disease and sends kids the harmful message that it’s ‘fun’ to hurt animals,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is calling on compassionate people to keep their families away from the violence and risk of illness at the Bandera Ham Rodeo.”

Coronavirus originated in a wild-animal market, and every influenza virus, including the one that caused the pandemic of 1918, was transmitted from confined pigs and chickens to humans. Last month, PETA issued a warning about the zoonotic disease potential of the Bandera Ham Rodeo, as feral hogs can carry brucellosis and other diseases that can be transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals or their blood, feces, or urine. During these events, the animals are chased and tackled, leaving them bloodied and causing them to relieve themselves in fear.

PETA has also run radio ads and a mobile billboard urging Gov. Greg Abbott to end the wild-pig chases. A tip from the group to the Texas Animal Health Commission prompted an investigation and a subsequent warning against the event’s organizers, Nicky Barron and the Bandera Wranglers, for illegally keeping feral pigs without a permit at last year’s event.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.