Liacouras Center, part of publicly funded Temple University, is promoting the cruel and abusive "8 Seconds Rodeo." According to the "8 Seconds Rodeo" website, events include  "Bull Riding, Bareback Bronc Riding, Barrel Racing, and Mutton Bustin'"  Photographer Ivan McClelland founded the 8 Seconds Rodeo in 2023 to purportedly celebrate Black cowboy culture and increase prize money for Black athletes. Animal abuse is nothing to "celebrate."

What Mr. McLelland ignores is that modern rodeos are cruel and deadly for animals. Traditional ranch work has been perverted into a spectacle of animal abuse disguised as tradition.  All rodeos, including the 8 Seconds Rodeo, are nothing more than western-themed circuses with contestants wearing costumes and racing against the clock in a cruel spectacle for cash prizes. And it's the animals who pay the price, from being electrically prodded to make horses and bulls appear wild to the countless injuries animals suffer from contestants who only care about beating the clock and winning cash before moving on to the next rodeo in the next city.

Please request Liacouras Center and Temple University to cancel the October 10 rodeo and implement a ban on any future animal-abusing "entertainment."