Rodeos create a circus at City Hall.
On Tuesday, rodeo enthusiasts and social advocates flocked to the city of Los Angeles to oppose a draft law that would ban large-scale shows within the city.
The thing is – the law was not even on the agenda.
In 2023, the city council voted unanimously to support the drafting of a city attorney ban.
But Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, chairwoman of the Arts, Parks, Libraries, and Community Enrichment Committee – which oversees the rodeos – has yet to introduce the legislation. The proposed law, which was drafted in 2024, will expire at the end of the month if it is not brought to the City Council for a vote.
“Because this item was introduced before Councilmember Jurado took office, our office took a thorough and deliberate approach to reviewing this proposal and meeting with community stakeholders to fully understand its history, cultural context, and potential impacts,” said Alejandra Alarcon, Jurado’s spokeswoman. “We do not have a confirmed meeting date for this item at this time.”
The law defines rodeos as spectator events that include bareback and saddle bronc riding, bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping, or any other event or activity that involves physically knocking down an animal, robbing an animal, or attempting to ride an explosive animal.
Rodeo supporters meet with Los Angeles City Council Member Hugo Soto-Martinez, second from right, and council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson on June 9, 2026.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The law included language that excluded horse events, as well as American Indian, Native American, Indigenous Rodeo, Mexican Charreria and Escaramuza events that did not include activities specified in the law. For example, trick roping by equestrians who are not actually lasso animals or organized riding to the music is not included in the ban.
The new proposal, introduced by Council Member Bob Blumenfeld, who represents the western San Fernando Valley, would also direct the city attorney to apply the ban to events that exceed 1,000 spectators only.
At an arts and parks subcommittee meeting Tuesday morning, some community members urged Jurado to take action and put the ordinance on the ballot, while others encouraged him to drop it.
“It’s clear that there are improvements that can be made, and there is collateral damage,” said a man who identified himself as Carlos Madriz. “We are here to show you that we are also people who take care of our animals, and we take care of their welfare, and we do it with dignity.”
Others urged Jurado to introduce a voting law and ban the practice.
“Abusing animals at rodeos is not a celebration of Latino culture, it’s an insult,” said former KCAL columnist Jane Velez-Mitchell. “Almost half of the population of Los Angeles is Latino. 1.8 million people. How many of them do you see riding bulls and wearing cowboy hats and sombreros? This ridiculous political theater. I dare say most of the sombreros in Los Angeles are in this room right now.”
He also cited news reports showing that the US Customs and Border Patrol uses rodeo events to recruit agents.
In 2008, the Border Patrol began sponsoring the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), the largest bullfighting league in the world.
During President Trump’s first term, the administration signed a $1.5-million agreement with the organization. Later, in 2019, the administration allocated $3 million annually for five years. Photos from PBR events show bullfighters wearing shirts with “Protected by US Border Patrol” written on their backs.
“Why would Los Angeles provide a place and a platform for ICE to do its dirty work? ICE out, rodeos out, pass this out of committee. Let the people of Los Angeles have a cruelty-free city,” Velez-Mitchell said. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol are overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, but are separate agencies. ICE does not sponsor PBR events or recruit agents for those events.
Advocates on both sides of the issue also appeared at the full council meeting on Tuesday. People in cowboy hats and sombreros clean the audience room. Again, rodeo fans and opponents came to the microphone to speak.
Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez addressed concerns about ICE at the end of the meeting. He held up a flyer sent to people in his district that said ICE was going to rodeo events to target immigrants.
He said he was angry that those who disagreed with the rodeos tried to incite fear.
“It’s exploitative and it’s disrespectful and it’s offensive that that’s a last ditch effort to suggest to our community … that it was wrong all along,” she said. “I look forward to having a robust and honest conversation about how we protect what is traditionally loved by members of our community.”
Samuel Brown Vazquez, a vaquero and community organizer who attended the meeting, said he remembers when City Council members first discussed banning the rodeo in 2023.
At that time, he said he was of the opinion that the public would be contacted if he came again. But that didn’t happen, he said, so on Tuesday, he and a dozen other members charro the public came out to speak against the ban.
“This is low-hanging fruit and that’s why they are chasing us,” he said. “If this goes forward, this is our only ability to continue training.”
Matt Rossell, a member of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, an animal welfare group, took the microphone and talked about a recent incident at the Orange County Fair where a pit bull suffered serious injuries. He said the accident was not reported to the government, as required by law.
California requires a veterinarian to be present or nearby and on call. Injury reports must be submitted to the state Board of Veterinary Medicine.
Other jurisdictions across the state have restricted or banned rodeos, including San Francisco, Irvine and Pasadena, and Pittsburgh; Baltimore County, Md.; Leesburg, Va.; and Fort Wayne, Ind.
A 2022 Times review of those reports showed that since 2001, when the vet law went into effect, more than 125 animal injuries were reported. Reports were written by attending or on-call veterinarians and submitted to the California Veterinary Medical Board.
The reports documented injuries including external injuries when the frightened animals jumped out of their posts, as well as crushed skulls, broken legs, punctured sides and severed spines.
Experts, activists and records prepared by veterinarians at the events say these numbers are probably conservative and underrepresent the extent of injuries that occur at rodeos.
