I'm well aware of the complaints leveled against rodeos by animal rights organizations such as PETA.
As the owner of four cats and supporter of several animal protection organizations, I see myself as someone who cares deeply for animals. I really enjoy riding horses whenever I get a chance in one of my frequent visits to Hawaii. I respect them as the magnificent creatures that they are and I am appalled when I see them abused or neglected.
I admit that I am concerned about the treatment of the animals used in rodeos. I am equally concerned about the clear risk of injury to the human competitors.
On the other hand, I am very familiar with the cowboy tradition in the Americas, dating back to the vaqueros, (the Spanish or Mexican cowboys,) the paniolos in Hawaii and the more famous American cowboy of the old west.
In fact, aside from a certain football team in Texas, I feel that cowboys have gotten a pretty bad rap. Little boys all grow up playing cowboys and Indians where each group hunts each other. In reality, it wasn't the cowboys who were responsible for the mass slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans,. That disgrace fell to the U.S. cavalry.
