IllinoisCorruption.com

Governor Blagojevich, don't sponsor abuse! This calf was abused and tormented at the NHSFR.

Humane enforcement officials ignored blatant animal abuse at the National High School Finals Rodeo

This web site exposes a corrupt union between Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Rodeo Mafia, specifically the National High School Rodeo Association and the Illinois State Fair Rodeo.

HORSE GORED BY BULL AT 2007 NHSFR! Click on the video to see what SHARK investigators captured--and what the rodeo hopes you never notice.

SHARK launches search for animal abusers' identities after failure from the Illinios Ag. Department. Learn more and see the suspects' on video HERE.

NHSRA Loses National Sponsor! Rules violations, animal abuse results in early termination of contract. Read more here.

Ag. Department concludes investigation; finds rules violated at 2006 Finals! Click HERE for more information.

"You won't find a prod on a show or rodeo floor."
-Dr. John O'Keefe, NHSFR Veterinary Committee Co-Chair. Read more lies from the NHSRA here.

Here a Hot-Shot prepares to shock a horse at the 2006 NHSFR.

SHARK Video: Click here to see animals being shocked (8 minutes) at the 2006 NHSFR in violation of the Humane Care for Animals Act AND the NHSRA's rules!

"The number one thing we do is follow the NHSRA rule book," says Bob Russell, NHSRA's Animal Welfare Committee Chair. Hmmm. The NHSRA's Rules state: "Cattle prods are not used on bulls once they are in the chute."

Neither the Animal Welfare Committee Chair nor the Veterinary Committee Co-Chair can tell the truth--why should the public believe anything about "humane care" that comes out the mouths of the National High School Rodeo Association?

The State Journal-Register portrays the abuse and collusion at NHSFR in this editorial cartoon.

Not only do animals in rodeos get shocked with thousands of volts, have their tails twisted and raked, have painful buck straps yanked, now rodeo thugs have been caught stabbing the animals with coat hanger wires! See these criminal acts caught on tape! (6 minutes)

What did the Illinois Ag Department have to say about the abuses before public pressure demanded that they produce an investigation?

Click here to see some of SHARK's video documentation from previous years at the NHSFR of ILLINOIS-SPONSORED ABUSE! Dial-Up Users, click here to watch: ILLINOIS-SPONSORED ABUSE

"Our inspectors, our investigators were at the rodeo the entire time, and we don't believe that there were these violations that Mr. Hindi [president of SHARK] is alleging."

Funny how the Ag Department was so sure, but when forced to actually watch the footage officials could no longer deny that laws were violated.

"No animals were injured." So says Kent Sturman, Executive Director of the National High School Rodeo Association, regarding the NHSRA 2006 Finals. Can't stop digging that hole, can you Kent?
SHARK releases injury footage! CLICK HERE.

Click here to see PHOTOS of shocking and stabbing at the National High School Finals Rodeo.

Please review our video footage that clearly shows the illegal shocking, spiking and other cruel treatment of tame, domesticated animals to make them buck, run and appear wild at the National High School Rodeo Association Finals in July 2006.

Click HERE to view SHARK's footage of this horse being abused at the 2006 Illinois State Fair Rodeo. This rodeo took place one week after the National High School Rodeo Finals--same place, same rodeo company, same Ag. Department overseeing "humane care." Watch as this horse has fingers jammed in his ears, is hit around the face, eyes, and nose, and is pulled violently, face-first, into the chute wall, causing apparent trauma to his mouth and/or nose--all for the sake of this contestant getting a winning time. A win and the profit is what it's all about in rodeo-NOT caring for the animals they victimize. It is important to note that the contestant on this horse, likely the most abused horse at this rodeo, was the winner. So forget all the propaganda rodeo people like to spew about how they "treat their animals better than their own children" because an abused, shocked, terrorized animal gives them the results they love.

The rodeo people committed the cruelty, the Illinois Department of Agriculture allowed the criminal behavior and in fact promoted it, and Governor Rod Blagojevich, the man determined to bring the rodeo to Illinois in 2006 and 2007, hid like a thief in the night from the ensuing controversy.

Please also review some exceptional coverage of the rodeo issue by the State Journal-Register, the dominant newspaper in Springfield, where the rodeo was held. [Article 1 /Article 2/Article 3] Reporter Bruce Rushton is by no means an animal activist nor was he predisposed for or against either side. Rushton simply was assigned to report a story, and he worked hard and did the best job he could. The Journal-Register editorial board responded to Rushton's story with an opinion condemning the animal abuse and the Department of Agriculture's determined refusal to do its job.

This coverage is especially important because the Journal-Register has been a rodeo sponsor for years. While the paper has not yet officially terminated its sponsorship, we are extremely hopeful that after all the abuse caught on tape, the paper will do the right thing and disavow any further connection with the rodeo.

After viewing the video and reading the Journal-Register coverage, please look at the other evidence of corruption in Illinois. Then, if you believe this is wrong, please contact the Governor's office and tell him that this is unacceptable.

When the NHSRA Finals were held in Illinois in 2000, 2001, and 2006, SHARK investigators video documented extensive cruelty and humane violations, none of which was prosecuted by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the agency charged with enforcing the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act. The investigators documented abuses that violated not only Illinois humane laws, but also the supposed humane rules of the NHSRA.

Fearful of real scrutiny and lacking a grasp of the English language, the Illinois State Fair Rodeo has a closed-to-cameras policy. This photo was taken at the State Fair Rodeo held in Springfield one week after the National High School Finals Rodeo.

Illinois is said to have one of the best sets of humane laws in the country. The problem lies with Governor Blagojevich, who has helped spend more than $200,000 of the state's money to the NHSRF, and the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the agency charged with enforcing humane laws. The Department of Agriculture is far more interested supporting those who use and abuse animals than enforcing humane treatment. The following excerpt from the August 9, 2004 edition of The Leader newspaper demonstrates this point all too well:

"A $55,000 check helped convince the National High School Rodeo Association to return its rodeo to Illinois in 2006 and in 2007. With check in hand, Chuck Hartke, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Kevin Gordon, assistant state fair manager, and Amy Bliefnick, newly named bureau chief of business services, saddled up and traveled to a Wyoming rodeo to meet with the National High School Rodeo Finals Board to lasso the deal."

This horse tries frantically to escape the torment of the chute at the NHSRF.

The return of the National High School Finals Rodeo is an enormous step backwards for the humane treatment of animals in Illinois. The media attention on the cruelty and humane violations SHARK documented in 2000 and 2001 forced the Illinois Department of Agriculture to give a degree of protection to rodeo animals statewide, and eventually resulted in the first prosecution and conviction of a rodeo stock contractor.

Welfare Cowboys Leaching off "Land of Lincoln" Taxpayers

Since then the Illinois Department of Agriculture has committed considerable personnel and resources to pander to these violent lawbreakers. This is the same Ag. Department whose people claim they don't have the resources or personnel they need to properly police and enforce the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act. Besides the state sponsored cruelty to animals, taxpayers are victims as well. Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Chuck Hartke, the director of the agency charged with enforcing humane laws, and an entourage of bureaucrats traveled at taxpayers expense to a rodeo in Wyoming to personally hand over a $55,000 check as part of an effort to persuade these phony cowboys to return to the Land of Lincoln.

The responsibility for the return of this animal abuse and fiscal irresponsibility lies with Governor Rod Blagojevich. While cutting many worthy state programs, Governor Blagojevich has proven to be extraordinarily generous with our tax dollars to rodeo animal abusers. Incredibly, the Department of Agriculture, which is the agency charged with enforcing humane laws, is also the head cheerleader for the rodeo. This is a clear conflict of interest, and in this conflict the animals are the losers.

Now the Department of Agriculture apparently believes it can return to its old ways. Already the bureaucrats have started backtracking from the progress we forged in the last few years. In August 2005, SHARK investigator Mike Kobliska filmed a rodeo in Andalusia, Illinois, videotaping rodeo animals being shocked with electric prods to make them "perform".

Mr. Kobliska contacted the Department of Agriculture, and SHARK provided the Department with video footage of the lawbreaking. A Department representative contacted the people putting the rodeo on and warned them not to do it again. The very next rodeo, in September, Mr. Kobliska again attended and again videotaped the same violations, with the only difference being that the stock contractor now tried to hide the shocking. Nevertheless, Mr. Kobliska documented multiple violations and again contacted the Department. The Department refused to take any action.

Shame on Governor Blagojevich for sponsoring abuse!

The Honorable Rod Blagojevich
Governor of Illinois
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706

Phone: 217-782-0244
Fax: 217-524-4049

Here is a sample letter you can work from:

NOTE: Please pass any response you may receive back to SHARK at: Shindi@sharkonline.org.

One historical note: In 2000 a spokesperson for then-governor George Ryan suggested that SHARK's president, Steve Hindi, was an "extreme activist" when we demanded action against the high school rodeo thugs. The governor tried to paint Steve, and by association SHARK, as a criminal. George Ryan has since been indicted, tried and convicted of corruption in federal court. In August 2006, Ryan was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison. So much for who is the real "extremist."

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