The new ordinance, according to a memo from Supervisor Pete McHugh to the board, would include requiring a veterinarian to attend the duration of a rodeo or circus event where animals are performing, banning steer tailing, and defining a rodeo specifically as a "a performance featuring competition between persons that includes one or more of the following events: bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, or team roping." Right now, state law defines a rodeo as having three or more of these events.

"It would supplement laws from the state ... (the ordinance) is certainly more focused and more direct," said Greg Van Wassenhove, the county's agriculture commissioner.

Van Wassenhove said he thinks "there will be some form of oversight for rodeos" in the coming months. 

Animal rights groups, like the Defend Animals Coalition, want more events and devices banned than what is stated in the proposed ordinance. "Circuses, rodeos and charreadas are inherently inhumane, all of them," said Alfredo Kuba, president of the Mountain View-based Defend Animals Coalition.

"Supervisor Gage is sabotaging this effort. He's trying to water down the language so that it's not an issue," said Kuba, adding that he wants the ordinance to prohibit any device or act that causes an animal pain or harm.

Kuba said that even though some rodeos and charreadas are traditional, traditions and cultures can change. "Slavery was a tradition. Depriving women of rights and voting was a tradition. Traditions and cultural beliefs change when they are faced with resistance. We need to move to a more kind and just world for all," Kuba said.