Exposing the lies, hypocrisy, and animal cruelty of the Padres Rodeo

October 9, 2024
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Padres sets "emergency" hearing to delay rodeo injunction request

SAN DIEGO--After delaying a pending lawsuit over animal cruelty and unlawful business practices allegations by falsely claiming they were not bringing a rodeo back to Petco Park, the Padres have just filed an emergency "ex parte" request to further delay an injunction hearing set by the Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL) and SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK). The hearing is on Thursday, October 10 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 73 of the San Diego Superior Court, 330 W Broadway, San Diego.
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The law firm Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch is representing the Padres and last week refused to allow access to their office to serve the injunction papers. The City has also been hiding behind dozens of pages of redacted emails discussing the fact that San Diego Municipal Code section 44.0307 does not allow cattle in non-agricultural zones, including downtown.

The Padres and C5 Rodeo have had nearly a year since APRL and SHARK raised this issue in the litigation to obtain an exemption from the city council but have failed to do so. The city council did pass an exception recently for temporary use of goats for brush clearing, showing that such an exception is needed for even temporary uses of cattle, goats, and sheep.
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"I personally witnessed the cruel spectacle of the Padres 2024 rodeo along with investigators from APRL and SHARK, from a media booth as ordered by the Court for discovery purposes in our pending lawsuit," states Bryan Pease, attorney for the two nonprofit groups. "For our mayor to claim this year's permit will somehow take animal welfare into account is a farce, as rodeos involve grown men chasing around terrified baby cows, lassoing their ankles and necks at full speed, body slamming them to the ground, and hog tying and dragging them around through the dirt."

Video taken by APRL and SHARK at the 2024 Padres rodeo is posted below.

"Internal documents also show the Padres and C5 Rodeo killed a horse at their 2024 rodeo and covered it up, with San Diego Humane Society and Helen Woodward Animal Center looking the other way while rodeo personnel loaded this extremely injured horse into a trailer for a 1500 mile bumpy ride back to North Dakota," states Pease.
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