Colorado Petitioners Want to End Mutton Bustin

Colorado Petitioners Want to End Mutton Bustin

Russell Nemetz
Russell Nemetz
Hi everybody it's time for your Land and Livestock Report here on the Ag Information Network of the West-I'm Russell Nemetz.

A petition gaining ground in Colorado is aiming to get the National Western Stock Show to pull a popular event from its lineup.

The mutton bustin' competition features kids between the ages of five to seven who try to hang on to the back of a running sheep for as long as they can.

Those who want to get rid of the popular event, however, believe the activity to be cruel and barbaric.

An online petition started by a woman who lives in the United Kingdom had so far gathered nearly 82,000 signatures.

"The entire Western Stock Show is a very violent event," said Aidan Cook, an activist with Direct Action Everywhere, an animal rights group.

Cook is one of nearly 1,200 Coloradans who had signed the petition by Wednesday afternoon in an effort to put a lasso on Denver's mutton bustin.'

"If we thought (this was) an event where we strapped kids to the backs of terrified dogs and ran them around for our enjoyment, people would be outraged. And it's really no different to do the same thing to sheep," Cook told CBS4's Melissa Garcia.

Samantha Francis, the U.K. resident who created the petition said she had already been successful in stopping the sheep show at a venue in Great Britain.

Her petition states that the terrified prey sheep sees the child as a predator, often leaving animals seriously injured.

Coloradans throughout Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, and other cities across the state have posted hundreds of comments. One signer from Littleton wrote, "an embarrassment to Colorado." Another from Colorado Springs commented, "animal and child abuse."

That's your Land and Livestock Report-I'm Russell Nemetz.

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