Dear Mr. Sigman and Cingular Wireless:

I recently learned Cingular Wireless is the "Exclusive Wireless Provider for the PRCA," as stated in an ad for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association ProRodeo Sports News. I respectfully ask you to end your endorsement of animals abused for entertainment.

As more customers learn their wireless payments help Cingular sponsor rodeos, more will choose another service. I urge Cingular to modify its contractual agreements so customers may opt out (without penalty) on ethical grounds.

"Without torture, there can be no rodeo," claims Peggy W. Larson, DVM, MS, JD, a former bareback bronco rider who says horses and bulls buck wildly only because they are in pain from rigid flank straps and spurring. Rodeo handlers bully animals with electric prods, straps, spurs and tail twisting. On-site veterinarians cannot intervene once a deliberately agitated animal is released into the ring.

Their eyes bulge in terror. They wheeze and tremble. Some suffer for days before they are hauled to the slaughterhouse. While the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PCRA) and International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA) allege compliance with animal welfare regulations, graphic documentation tells a different story.

One cruelty investigator who records calf-roping "rehearsals" observes, "Without the noise of the crowd and announcer you can actually hear the calves' bodies slamming on the ground, and their choking and coughing after being clotheslined." In holding chutes, calves have their tails twisted and wrenched over steel bars. As they flee into the ring at speeds up to 27 miles per hour, the "cowboy" neck-chokes and smashes them into the ground. He typically body-slams them again for theatrical effect.

For bucking events, the horses' intestines and groins are cinched so tightly they lurch in response to the pain. Animals who won't buck are shocked with electric prods. Many careen into fences, posts or chutes.

In steer contests, a rider lassos a running, 700-pound steer and jerks the animal's head and neck in a 180-degree loop, pitching him into the dirt. The steer is tripped, tossed and lugged for 30 feet or more so the roper can subdue him and bind his legs for a score.

Animal welfare groups worldwide denounce rodeo's trail of busted bones, cracked skulls and severed spines. Please keep me informed of any decision to cease sponsorship of the PRCA and rodeo, so I may let family, friends and colleagues know Cingular does not support verified animal cruelty.

Sincerely,