CaliforniaCorruption.com
San Dimas County
Justice for Sale in Los Angeles County
Again the Rodeo Mafia has purchased the justice system, this time in Los Angeles County, California. This travesty is an example of why SHARK concentrates on bringing animal issues directly to the public through the media, our Tiger video truck and sometimes protests – the law often does not work.
In October 2002, employees of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) stock contractor John Growney, owner of Growney Brothers Rodeo, were videotaped using an electric shock device on four horses at a rodeo in San Dimas, California. In spite of conclusive video evidence and even admissions from the rodeo people that should have sealed a guilty verdict, the animal abusers were allowed to walk.
For the animals, Assistant District Attorney Mari Estrella battled very hard in cooperation with Inland Valley Humane Society Investigator Allie Jalbert. Both the DA's office and Inland Valley deserve credit for their efforts.
17-year-old videographer Paul Vinet, son of SHARK investigator Pat Vinet, was an excellent witness for the prosecution. Paul testified as clearly and thoroughly as any witness I have ever seen. The lead rodeo attorney (there were two of them) was relentless in his attempts to find fault with Paul. When that failed, the rodeo attorney resorted to insults to try to anger Paul, but young Vinet's testimony was rock solid. Paul stood his ground and displayed the same class and integrity as his mother, while the rodeo attorney was just an obnoxious bully.
The rodeo attorney went into a diatribe against SHARK. At one point, he tried to get an employee of the Inland Valley Humane Society to say that Pat Vinet threatened them into filing charges, which is false and utterly ridiculous. The Inland Valley employee denied that there were any threats.
Something must be said of the lead rodeo attorney. This guy swaggered around the courtroom like he owned the place. He seemed very impressed by the sound of his own voice, while for real people, enduring his slow drawl of drivel was akin witnessing a slowly overflowing toilet – utterly repulsive. If I had been the judge, I would have physically thrown this stooge out of my court.
If this clown thinks he's got what it takes, I'll debate him anytime, anywhere, and put him in his place, which is having to look up to see the bottom of my non-leather shoes.
The rodeo lawyers tried desperately to keep the videotape from being shown to Commissioner Martin Goetsch, who officiated at the trial - there was no actual judge. When that effort failed and the tape was shown, the Rodeo Mafia put a rodeo judge and a rodeo vet on the stand to claim that the four horses shocked were known chute-stallers, meaning that when the chute gate opens, the horses just stood there instead of bucking. They claimed that these horses pose a danger to the contestant, bystanders, and even to themselves.
The video evidence clearly showed that the horses were shocked before they even had the opportunity to stall, so the "expert witnesses" claimed that because they might have stalled, so it was okay to give them a preemptive shock. It was a ludicrous and even comical argument.
The vet called the use of electric shock "behavior modification." Don't you love rodeo-speak? I have a question. Does this mean that slaves whipped into servitude in the old South weren't actually being beaten? Yeah – that's it – they were just experiencing "behavioral modification!"
Interestingly, the defense never called it a Hot Shot, Hot Prod, Electric Prod or anything as descriptive. They invented the less-damning / more positive and friendly-sounding term of an "electronic device." The fine art of language deception / rodeo-speak reached new heights in Pomona Superior Court that day!!!
The rodeo vet reminded me of a puppet more than a live person as he sat on the stand with his head bobbing to the invisible strings pulled by the rodeo attorney. Whatever the lawyer suggested, the vet's head just bobbed along in agreement as to why the Rodeo Mafia was completely justified in using thousands of volts of painful electric shock on animals. The vet was paid handsomely – to the tune of $1000 – for his head-bobbing exercise.
The "dangerous chute-staller" argument is an old one, and the commissioner overseeing the hearing should have easily been able to figure out that it was bogus. A manager in the Illinois Department of Agriculture heard that argument a while back in 2001 after SHARK videotaped horses being shocked at the Illinois High School Rodeo Association finals rodeo.
The official's reply to the stock contractor was simple - "Leave your chute-stallers at home." Unfortunately, Commissioner Goetsch, who usually presides over traffic court – not animal cruelty issues – either wasn't that sharp on the subject, or perhaps had other considerations affecting his judgment.
The most important thing to come out of this trial is the Rodeo Mafia's claim that chute stalling horses are very dangerous to themselves and everyone around them. If they are so dangerous, why are they being used? Either the rodeo people are liars, or they are guilty of criminal negligence. Personally, I find them to be liars AND guilty of criminal negligence, and of course, they are in any case animal exploiters and abusers of animals.
Also, information from the Hot-Shot Corporation, manufacturer of the electric prod never made it to trial. Hot-Shot representatives have publicly stated that the prod is not intended for use in rodeos, and should NEVER be used on horses.
The state would have had to bear the expense of having a Hot-Shot representative flown in for the trial, and didn't. Unfortunately, the Rodeo Mafia has more money to spend, and that had a major effect on the outcome of the trial.
We know the rodeo vet was paid $1000 for his "testimony." We don't know how much the rodeo judge was paid. The trial lasted about seven hours, and so with two attorneys for the rodeo, that added up to lots of money spent by the Rodeo Mafia to buy a verdict.
Compassionate people will want to remember that corporations such as Coca-Cola and Dodge Trucks (a division of DaimlerChrysler) supply the Rodeo Mafia with millions of dollars to commit animal abuse in exchange for advertising considerations.
Commissioner Goetsch's decision will make it much more difficult to get a prosecution on the California law against shocking animals in chutes. The legislature should improve the law, but of course the Rodeo Mafia will fight that effort tooth and nail. The better choice may be to just use general California anti-cruelty statutes.
(SHARK president Steve Hindi personally attended the trial, and wrote this account, with the much appreciated assistance of Pat Vinet)
Footage from the Western Days Rodeo, San Dimas California, October 6, 2002
Stock Contractor: Growney Brothers
Rodeo Association: Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)
The second man from the right side of the screen in the cream colored shirt is the one to watch. He shocks the horse on the way out of the chute. The prod is in his right hand. He then puts the prod in his right rear pocket. It happens fast because the guy knows he is breaking the law, so you may want to watch the slow motion clip also.
Standard Speed
Slow Motion
The prod is passed from the man on the ground to the left of the screen, to the man behind the chute to the right of the screen, who passes it to the man on his right, who then uses it on the horse, and then quickly hides the shock device. Two slow motion clips of this incident may help you to follow this criminal behavior.
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Slow Motion
Slow Motion
The prod is used on a horse by the man in the blue vest and black hat on the right of the screen. He uses it on the the shoulder of the horse and is apparently so intent on watching the horse's reaction to the shocking, he doesn't immediately hide it. This is a man who enjoys his cruel work. The slow motion clip will help you follow the cruelty.
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Slow Motion
Once again it is the man in the cream colored shirt delivering abuse to another horse. It is in his right hand and shocks the horse on his shoulder. The crook quickly hides the evidence in his right rear pocket. You may want to watch the slow motion clip also.
Standard Speed
Slow Motion
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