**NOTE** We have won this battle!! The Donkey Roping Championship in Van Horn, TX has been cancelled! Hooray!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I hope y’all have been following along on this battle we are up against with the Van Horn Chamber of Commerce and Van Horn Rodeo and Donkey Roping Championship. I hope y’all have signed the petition and called and sent letters protesting donkey roping.
Time is of the essence, but I truly do believe that we can all make a difference. Just look below and see who has joined the troops!
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From John D. Folsom, the United States Marine, who brought Smoke the Donkey to the United States from Iraq:
Dear Mr. Mitchell,
I appreciate and thank you for returning my call.
As I said, I have a donkey that I brought to the United States from Iraq. I have come to know that donkeys are a gentle and trusting animal. While I am a rodeo fan, I detest the idea of a donkey being roped for sport. I have seen donkeys abused in Iraq; it shouldn't happen in the United States.
There are a few of us who are contemplating legal action by asking the appropriate court in Culberson County to enjoin the Van Horn Chamber of Commerce, City of Van Horn and Dos Gringos Productions from allowing donkeys to be roped at their upcoming rodeo.
I found this from the Texas Penal Code and believe that “horse” and “donkey” are interchangeable in the spirit of the statute. Certainly, if it is cruel and inhumane to trip a horse, it is likewise cruel and inhumane to trip a donkey.
§ 42.09. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.
(a) A person commits an
offense if the person intentionally or knowingly:
(1) tortures an animal;
(2) fails unreasonably to provide necessary food,
care, or shelter for an animal in the person's custody;
(3) abandons unreasonably an animal in the person's
custody;
(4) transports or confines an animal in a cruel
manner;
(5) kills, seriously injures, or administers poison to
an animal, other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's effective consent;
(6) causes one animal to fight with another;
(7) uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training
or in dog coursing on a racetrack;
(8) trips a horse;
(9) injures an animal, other than cattle, horses,
sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's effective consent; or
(10) seriously overworks an animal.
(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
the actor was engaged in bona fide experimentation for scientific research.
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Abandon" includes abandoning an animal in the
person's custody without making reasonable arrangements for assumption of custody by another person.
(2) "Animal" means a domesticated living creature and
wild living creature previously captured. "Animal" does not include an uncaptured wild creature or a wild creature whose capture was accomplished by conduct at issue under this section.
(3) "Cruel manner" includes a manner that causes or
permits unjustified or unwarranted pain or suffering.
(4) "Custody" includes responsibility for the health,
safety, and welfare of an animal subject to the person's care and control, regardless of ownership of the animal.
(5) "Necessary food, care, or shelter" includes food,
care, or shelter provided to the extent required to maintain the animal in a state of good health.
(6) "Trip" means to use an object to cause a horse to
fall or lose its balance.
(d) An offense under Subsection (a)(2), (3), (4), (9), or
(10) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony if the person has previously been convicted two times under this section.
(e) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(5)
that the animal was discovered on the person's property in the act of or immediately after injuring or killing the person's goats, sheep, cattle, horses, swine, or poultry and that the person killed or injured the animal at the time of this discovery.
(f) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(8)
that the actor tripped the horse for the purpose of identifying the ownership of the horse or giving veterinary care to the horse.
(g) It is a defense to prosecution for an offense under this section that the person had a reasonable fear of bodily injury to the person or to another by a dangerous wild animal as defined by Section 822.101, Health and Safety Code.
(h) It is an exception to the application of this section
that the conduct engaged in by the actor is a generally accepted and otherwise lawful:
(1) use of an animal if that use occurs solely for the
purpose of:
(A) fishing, hunting, or trapping; or
(B) wildlife control as regulated by state and
federal law; or
(2) animal husbandry or farming practice involving
livestock.
(i) An offense under Subsection (a)(1), (5), (6), (7), or
(8) is a state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the person has previously been convicted two times under this section.
I would like to discuss engaging you to represent myself and others as plaintiffs in this matter.
Thank you.
John D. Folsom
Colonel, USMCR (Retired)
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And my own little contribution.
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