At a rodeo event in Warren County, Ohio, audiences watched in horror as a distressed bull threw a rider off his back and reportedly trampled him, fatally injuring him. The rider, 35-year-old Jason Blake Saylor, died from a traumatic chest injury despite wearing chest protection. This incident is yet another grisly reminder that these cruel spectacles put humans and animals alike in grave danger.

Rodeos Run on Fear and Cruelty  

Bulls and other animals don’t choose to participate in rodeos. They naturally form meaningful relationships, look out for their fellow herd members, and prefer to avoid humans. At rodeos, humans deliberately provoke and frighten them before forcing them into an arena for jeering spectators.

PETA has decades’ worth of documentation showing rodeo performers beating, kicking, and electroshocking animals in chutes and holding pens to panic them before forcing them into rings. Animals used in rodeos have suffered broken backs and necks, heart attacks, punctured lungs, deep internal organ bruising, ripped tendons, and aneurysms.

No One Is Safe at a Rodeo

Saylor is far from the first bull rider to be killed in one of these spectacles. In 2024, two men were reportedly injured while riding bulls at the Riding on Faith Rodeo Summer Series in Bandera, Texas. One of them, 22-year-old Peter DeLuna, later died from his injuries.

These deaths never should have happened.

What YOU Can Do

The best way to help animals exploited in rodeos is simple: Don’t buy a ticket. Never attend a rodeo or any other event that uses animals for entertainment. If a rodeo comes to your town, speak up by contacting its sponsors, leafleting at the gate, or organizing a peaceful demonstration.

Bulls want to live in peace, not suffer for a spectacle. Speak up for them today by condemning rodeos and taking action to end bullfighting: