TO:  ALL CALIFORNIA CHARRO TEAMS
FROM: ERIC MILLS, COORDINATOR, ACTION FOR ANIMALS
RE: PASSAGE OF ASSEMBLY BILL 1614 – BECOMES EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2008

“PS: Don’t believe everything you read written by ‘El Siete Leguas.’ I’m truly not bin Laden nor am I ‘anti-Mexican’ – quite the contrary. (He) has also referred to former state Senator Liz Figueroa as ‘Aunt Jemima’…SIMPLY due to (her) support of animal welfare legislation relating to charreadas. Others have suffered similar insults. This kind of incivility does not help anyone’s cause. I hope Mr. Ramirez has a good lawyer – he may need one if he continues in this vein.” Postscript to Mr. Mills October 28th posting.

Well…looking on the bright side, we’re honored. At least we know now that not only our proofreader red our scribbles that are so abundantly redundant thus so boring – she quit. If Action for Animals (AFA) has its way with us we won’t need her full-service services anyway. Now seriously, before we go on and on and on and on; let us make this perfectly clear - we do not sit down at our desk pen in-hand with premeditation to insult anyone. If we presume of anything it is that we are civil. We open the carriage door for our escorts, give up our place in the metro for the elderly, stand when a damsel enters the room and seat her at the diner table. We don’t swear in front of children, and when nobody’s looking raid the refrigerator to sneak snacks to the dogs in the kitchen, actions prohibited by our rules of engagement with the Missus and her horde. Mr. Mills unnecessarily takes offense when compared to bin Laden. Viewing Eric’s photograph it is difficult to determine his height but his beard is to well manicured to be mistaken for Osama. Mr. Mills emphasizes he is not anti-Mexican. Well…what is anti and what is pro? Has he contributed to the Virgen de Guadalupe charity? Does he donate money to the charro legal fund? Have you seen him at any Mexican civil rights marches lately? Have you heard him singing; “Yo soy Charro Mexicano, noble, valiente y leal!” made famous by Charro-cantor Jorge Negrete. Evidence seems to confirm quite the contrary. The laws backed by animal rights activists have infringed, curtailed, limited, controlled, hindered, eliminated, terminated an important and internationally recognized part of Mexican culture which is each and every faena performed humanely and artistically by the charro. The adversaries of the charro have repeated over and over and over that their initiatives to ban charro events are not against charreria, they are for animal rights. R I G H T. And Osama bin Laden is not against the United States, he is for Islam. This ain’t our first rodeo. And then there was the scandalous uproar over the use of the “AJ” word. Who knew? Move over Don Imus. If you envisioned a bronze face grease-painted black, white gloves, tambourine and Latinos jingle-jangling about the senate floor – W R O N G! Without malice we intended to portray an elected official of Spanish heritage climbing onto the bandwagon with the flow and the establishment, taking the animal rights lobbyist merde (again excusez-moi our French) to heart and at face value, not doing their homework, not hearing both sides of the issue – literally “blind justice.” Compare this approach to that of Illinois Senator Martin Sandoval’s and see what you come up with. In 2002 California Senator Figueroa sat down for a face-to-face with senior members of the Mexican-American Charro Federation and, according to published reports, voiced a host of questions related to the charro and his culture answered so that both sides left the meeting with a new rapport and respect for each other. We are not suggesting that the Honorable Senator jumped the aisle and became a Republican or any such nonsense but had she accepted to attend a similar reunion 8 years earlier in 1994 before the bill sponsored by her was signed into law banning managanas a pie and a caballo we could all now be up in the mountains somewhere saving a horse or something. Neither can we say with any certainty that SB1306 proposed to ban Mexican steer wrestling was temporarily tabled as a result of said reunion but it is at least a could-be. As Ms. Figueroa is the lady and we are the tramp in this narrative, if she believes an apology is in order we will be pleased to honor her demand personally the next time we are in Alta California. But we will insist on relaying to her our interpretation of the facts of our side of the story vs. the cruel realities of uncontested fantasy produced by some and unfortunately or inexcusably accepted by many.

“AB1614 is a SIMPLE bill that ensures a modest amount of humane treatment of animals …The new law expands current rodeo law so as to include many (but not all) ‘charreadas.’” - California Assemblymember Audra Strickland. “AB 1614 (OF WHICH I’M THE SPONSOR) bans nothing. It merely broadens state rodeo law (Penal Code 596.7) so as to include the charreadas. It’s a matter of FAIRNESS (emphasis from source.) PRCA rodeos, the black rodeo, the gay rodeo all abide by 596.7 (on the books since 2000). Why not the charreadas, pray?” - Eric Mills. “Current law requires veterinarians who cover rodeos to report injuries to the Vet Med. Board. 2006 had no report and 2005 had only one. Veterinarians are not complying…” - Gary Bogue, Animal Protection Legislationn

So throw their arse in the hoosegow already! (From the Spanish: juzgado.) Are veterinarians and cowboys not complying or are there no injuries to report? AB1614 that originally required a veterinarian at western style rodeos has been amended to include charreadas. Those responsible for AB1614 state that it won’t affect all charreadas. Will they please explain which charreadas are exempt as we are having a very difficult time figuring this comment out? The principal legislative sponsor, Ms. Strickland, refers to the law as “simple.” Less complicated to whom? Mr. Mills talks of “fairness.” Just to whom? It may be of no consequence and totally democratic to the multimillion-dollar industry that is professional rodeo but not to the family sponsored charreadas. If it costs as much as USD150 to take a pet cat to the doctor for a shot and a checkup that lasts all of five minutes, imagine taking a veterinarian away from her or his family quality time for three hours between 12 and 3 pm on Sundays. The extra expense at contracting these services that must be paid for by the charros will result in the restriction of the number of charreadas they organize. Instead of one every week they may not be able to afford more than one per month. Is this not merely, “simply” as it were, “unintentional” racism? If you are a conspiracist you may find here a hidden agenda, a plan con maña. (Rough translation: “Crazy like a fox.”) 

“The PRCA …has its own Animal Welfare Committee (the fox guarding the henhouse, as it were.)” - Eric Mills. “Thousands of American horses are severely injured and killed at Mexican-style rodeos each year…a tiny percentage of Hispanics have tripped horses in the US for decades and claim cultural imperialism when confronted with cruelty. If other industries were tripping horses and we told the charros they couldn’t, we’d be discriminating. But movies and TV banned horse-tripping over 50 years ago. Even the PRCA and the AQHA don’t allow it.” - Cathleen Doyle – California Equine Council

Now see? There they go again. Some animal rights organizations have a pronounced fascination in making unfounded accusations and contradictory statements. Where do they get “thousands of horses” tripped by a “tiny” percentage of Hispanics? Has anyone calculated the cost of buying thousands of horses per year and then killing or maiming them for kicks? It’s even more unbelievable if as Ms. Doyle refers to charreadas as, and we quote; “…a private ‘backyard’ sport: 300 or fewer people watching…” And those fewer people, as we have mentioned before, at nine out of ten performances do not pay admission. No horse tripping in films over the last 50 years? What about the 1969 film “The Wild Bunch” or the 1982 “Conan the Barbarian” starring now California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger or the recent 2004 family classic “Hidalgo?” Shall we go on and on and on? Mr. Mills accuses the charros of being criminals when he writes, and we quote; “And yet the charros reportedly continue to perform these events in violation of the law.” So string ‘em up already! What are you waiting for? Registered quarter horses were used as rough stock at this year's Charro National Finals. Wild Horse Races in which horses are tripped, dragged and slammed to the ground by three “Conan” type cowboys are preformed at PRCA sanctioned rodeos. Ms. Doyle said it herself: This then is by her own definition - discriminatory! How will she skirt away her statement? By claiming we took her message out of context or that we put words in her mouth? Another modus operandi in the animal rights repertoire; always going after the fly in the soup giving these CPR or the Heimlich manoueuvre while abandoning or letting the meat and potatoes of the issues go cold. Under the original AB1614 AFA released “alarming” figures of 10 non-defined injuries suffered by rodeo animals over a four-year period. When we documented the 16 million dogs and cats euphemized in the USNA during the same span and queried about a priority deficit – silence. Do they consider these 16 million abandoned pets collateral damage to their cause? Of course we cannot dictate what cause a person or group should elect to defend - that would be cultural imperialism. We do however have the right to take issue with them - that would be freedom of speech. Shall we go on, and on, and on? No, because we are trying hard to wrap-up what was originally a short note man-to-man if you will in response to a postscript. We are behind deadline to review the 2007 Charro National Finals recently held in Morelia, Mexico. And, oh by the way, animal rights groups will be or should be ecstatic to learn that of the 1,220 animals used in charro events which included manganas a pie and manganas a caballo during the Finals not one injury was reported by the head of the Comision del Deporte, a DVM who supervised the use of both bovine and equine rodeo rough stock (another case of El zorro cuidando el gallinero?) As we have been accused of unbelievability you can, if you wish, collaborate these facts with the AQHA executives present during the entire 18-day gathering that they sponsored giving Award Belt Buckles and horse trailers to the point winners in among other events -  colas. What would happen if three of the six classic North American rodeo events were “jerkdowned”, say, calf roping, team roping and steer wrestling? Why are cowboys exempt from the animal activist backed laws? Might as well go ahead and post a sign over the WC; “COWBOYS ONLY” and an arrow pointed towards the fly infested outhouse behind the barn reading; “WELCOME CHARROS.” 

“This bill makes it a misdemeanor for any person to intentionally trip, drag or fell any bovine animal BY THE TAIL for the purpose of entertainment or sport.” Bill SB1306, Eric Mills, author; Figueroa sponsor; cosponsors Polanco, Vasconcellos 

Great, just what was needed - one pro-Mexican and three Hispanics! Nope - not tripping, dragging or felling a bovine with a rope (calf roping or team roping.) Nope - not tripping, dragging or felling a bovine by the horns (bull dogging.) Yup - ONLY tripping, dragging or felling a bovine by the tail, the Mexican version of steer wrestling  - colas. Sounds like Roy “The Hangin’ Judge” Bean justice to us. Aside from our semi-fictional tongue-in-cheek banter sautéed in artistic license and tossed with humor, we at least give an objective analysis by always offering footnotes for references and have hardcopy in every case. So what’s not to believe, pray?! Our cause is not based on insults, it is fixed to confront and expose. When it is said that no one should believe everything or anything we write it reminds one of the famous and popular Mexican refrain; “La mula hablando de orejas.” (Rough translation: “The pot calling the kettle black.”) If you believe them you will believe that the Mexican-American charro will enjoy taking his hard earned dollars and investing these to hire a veterinarian to document his extreme pleasure in torturing and killing “thousands” of animals each year. Once again; no proof to backup the animal activists misinformation. Once again; she said, he said. Over their dead bodies will the grupos de animales not promote their pro-Mexicanism while at the same time their fictional version of the truth. Neither wild horses nor Conan the Barbarian will tear us away from the fact that the charro is not the bin Laden of animal rights - at least not the four-legged species anybuey. Do believe us when we say we’d enjoy immensely living in one-buggy town, no causes, no lawyers, only Judge Roy Bean justice. But alas…it appears we are destined never to tire of beating a dead horse to death. 

PS: To the thousands of charros, escaramuceras, their families and aficionados throughout the USNA, WE do urgently need to get the word out to all concerned through every and any means possible – AFA and its entourage are attempting to guillotine your culture, don’t give them that pleasure, don’t believe everything they say and carefully analyze and question what they don’t. Raise your voice in protest; contact your government representatives. Promote Illinois Senator Martin Sandoval’s courageous initiative to overturn the ban on manganas in your state. BELIEVE us when we write they, your elected officials, will listen. Let it be known that you will not take these offensive offensives lying down and won’t give up without a fight – para carbón, carbón y medio!!!!  (Rough translation: Cowboy Up!)