Rodeo lambasted

Re “Rodeo country Little League,” Column One, July 17

Where are social workers when you need them? I don’t see why a 5-year-old should be forced to ride a sheep.

And the picture of the little boy crying, the picture of him falling and the sheep jumping over his little body -- who would do this?

Elizabeth Castro

Santa Clarita

I guess we are here in Tinseltown and all, but for someone who grew up in Mesquite, Texas, what was in your article wasn’t news or at all surprising. Mutton bustin’ is really no different in that culture than T-ball is in Mission Viejo.

So what’s the point, really? Is it to give elite Angelenos a chance to look down their noses at someone else when we should be ashamed that our own glorious state can’t pay its bills? I love SoCal and would not live anywhere else, but I just didn’t see where this article fit in the scheme of things for The Times.

Michael Pirrung

Irvine

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Look at the title of this event: “Mutton Bustin’.” It shows the caring these rodeo people have for animals, let alone the little kids who risk injury riding them.

I rode bareback broncs and participated in rodeos for several years until I smartened up.

Rodeo is animal cruelty, and riding sheep will eventually injure some little kid seriously. Who pays the legal fees and awards when a kid loses an eye? How long will it take for the rodeo fools to figure it out?

Peggy W. Larson

Williston, Vt.

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Abusing kids and critters simultaneously -- that’s got to be a first.

Ronna Siegel

Van Nuys