Recent calls to end rodeo events at Petco Park mischaracterize both rodeo and modern livestock management. While concern for animal welfare is valid and shared by the agricultural community, labeling rodeo as “abuse” ignores how and why these practices still exist today.
Rodeo events are rooted in real-world cattle and horse handling techniques that ranchers continue to use in the modern era.
Much of livestock work occurs in open environments without permanent chutes or corrals. In these settings, skilled, efficient handling is often safer and less stressful for animals than transporting entire herds long distances to centralized facilities — a process that is costly, increases stress, and raises the risk of injury.
It is also important to distinguish between livestock ownership and companion animal ownership. Even in domestic settings, pets experience stress and accidents — during veterinary visits, travel or routine activity.
The presence of risk does not equal cruelty. The ethical standard is whether stress is responsibly managed and harm minimized. That same standard applies to livestock agriculture and to rodeo, which operates under veterinary oversight and established animal welfare rules.
These events are not performed for spectacle alone. They serve as one of the few remaining public links between a population now generations removed from agriculture and the people who raise their food.
Rodeo provides transparency into the skills, care, and responsibility required to produce high-quality, sustainable protein. Beef production remains essential to food security, land stewardship and rural economies, yet most Americans never see how that work is done.
Removing rodeo from public spaces like Petco Park does not advance animal welfare — it deepens the disconnect between consumers and food production. Visibility and education foster accountability; distance does not.
The tragic loss of a horse at the 2025 Petco Park rodeo should be treated with seriousness and respect, but a single incident does not define an entire industry. Accidents, while rare, occur across all equine disciplines, including those widely accepted as ethical. Responsible industries investigate, learn and improve — and rodeo is no exception.
San Diego can value compassion while also recognizing the realities of agriculture. Rodeo is not a relic of cruelty, but a regulated expression of skills that remain necessary today and an important bridge between urban communities and the agricultural producers who feed them.
Katie Ostrander is a cattle rancher in Warner Springs.
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