Disturbing images of a horse being punched and kicked at the Cal Poly Rodeo is leaving many with questions of whether the horse was being disciplined or abused.
Peggy Koteen is the director of San Luis Obispo County Animal Emancipation, and has been privately investigating rodeos at Cal Poly and the Mid-State Fair for the past decade. Last Sunday, Koteen videotaped the Cal Poly Rodeo, where a man was seen hitting and kicking a horse. Koteen says the video is proof of animal cruelty, and is the worst case of abuse she's ever seen.
"Someone kicking a horse in the face, punching a horse in the face, yanking the horse's ears, it's really amazing," says Koteen. "This guy is tormenting this poor horse and should be prosecuted."
Organizers of the Cal Poly Rodeo say this type of behavior is unacceptable. Brett Black, Cal Poly University's Rodeo Director, approached the man who hit and kicked the horse. After asking the man twice, Black says, he finally listened.
"I was appalled when I came back because he was still doing it," Black explains. "I was beside myself and didn't know what to do other than ride over there and flat out tell him, 'You cannot do this'."
Rodeo hosts aren't responsible for regulating the way animals are treated, it is the owners and participants who are responsible for their own actions.
The man hitting and kicking the horse is not a Cal Poly student or professor, and it's unknown what part of the rodeo the man was with. Black speculates that the man is a contractor, and the horse's owner, hired to bring stock horses in for participants to use. Koteen has handed the videotape off to the Cal Poly Police, who will present the evidence to the district attorney. References« CA State Animal Cruelty Map
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