Sheryl Crow Criticized For Wild Horses Donation Following Rodeo Performance

RENO, Nev. — Sheryl Crow, hailed as a champion of wild horses that roam the range in the West, has been criticized by a national animal rights group that is calling her a hypocrite for performing at a Wyoming rodeo.

The "All I Wanna Do" singer planned to donate a portion of the proceeds from her July 22 concert at the Cheyenne Frontier Days to a wild-horse protection group that's suing the government to try to halt a big mustang roundup in Nevada. Crow is the opening act for Kid Rock on a summer tour that includes the Wyoming gig.

But Showing Animals Respect and Kindness claimed that wild horses are abused at that event in a special race just for them.

"How can an organization dedicated to helping wild horses take blood money that was based, in part, on abusing wild horses? We believe what Ms. Crow is doing is nothing but PR spin," said Stuart Chaifetz, a spokesman for the Illinois-based group.

The group, also known as SHARK, called on the Cloud Foundation to reject the donation.

Ginger Kathrens, executive director of the Colorado-based group, said she and other activists consider Crow a true champion of wild horses. Crow has adopted a wild horse and contributed time and money to the cause of keeping them on public lands, she said.

SHARK's criticism is unjustified because rodeos are prohibited under the 1971 federal Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act from using mustangs removed from the range by the government, Kathrens added.

"I think it's important for people to know the wild horse act prohibits the activity they're concerned about," Kathrens told The Associated Press. "They are not using wild horses off our ranges in that race."

A spokesman for Crow agent John Marx at the William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills, Calif., referred inquiries to Crow's publicist, who did not respond to an email. In a statement issued on her website last week, Crow said she was aware of "the contrasting and very passionate opinions that people have about this event and rodeos in general."

She said she was making the donation "in recognition of these differences and out of my love for wild horses."

Chaifetz said Crow only decided to make the donation after its protests over her involvement at the rodeo.

He said SHARK helped coordinate a June 24 protest at a Crow book-signing in Salt Lake City at which activists showed up with a banner reading, "Sheryl Crow: Betrayer of Horses."

The Cloud Foundation is trying to win an emergency injunction to block the federal Bureau of Land Management's roundup of 1,700 mustangs scheduled to begin this weekend along the Nevada-Utah line.

A hearing on the request is scheduled Thursday in U.S. District Court in Reno.

Comments

[smmrselysummers]

07:37 PM on 07/12/2011

ahhhrrrggg

[wanagiakicita]

09:25 PM on 07/12/2011

Here honey, is a real lesson in history: "Equus, this genus--which includes modern horses, zebras and donkeys--evolved in North America during the Pliocene epoch and then, like Hipparion, migrated across the land bridge to Eurasia. The last Ice Age saw the extinction of both North and South American horses, which disappeared from both continents by about 10,000 B.C. Ironically, though, Equus continued to flourish on the plains of Eurasia, and was reintroduced to the Americas by the European colonizing expeditions of the 15th and 16th centuries A.D." HORSES WERE NATIVE TO NORTH AMERICA.....AND HAVE BEEN REINTRODUCED....GO FIGURE......SCORE ONE FOR THE NATIVE AMERICANS!

[tamarabamara]

05:44 PM on 07/12/2011

I'm not sure I have a problem with Sheryl performing at a rodeo... but some rodeos are worse than others. Why did she have to pick the MOST notoriously violent and cruel rodeo in existence? It definitely betrays her words that support wild horses and animals, in general. This particular rodeo is pretty much the worst offender when it comes to cruelty and death on display.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

04:52 PM on 07/12/2011

I sympathize with the people who are appalled that cattle and horses are sometimes injured in sports like rodeo. People are too. In fact many sports cause injury and death. How about starting a movement to outlaw football? Or car racing? In fact, since 30,000 or more people are killed on our roads every year and hundreds of thousands are injured why not work to get rid of cars altogether? Pain, injury, and death are unpleasant but they are part of life. Everything dies.

[tamarabamara]

05:41 PM on 07/12/2011

Uhhh people can CHOOSE to engage in dangerous, high-risk activities... captive animals CAN NOT choose for themselves. See the difference idiot? And yes horses are injured in other equestrian sports, but it's never the GOAL of those sports to injure the horse, such as in a rodeo, where cruel and violent practices are used to control and contain the animal for the entertainment of the ignorant.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

12:27 AM on 07/13/2011

Have you ever been to a rodeo? I've never seen an animal injured. It is certainly not true that injuring animals is the GOAL of the sport as you allege. No one gets points for injuring an animal. The most dangerous sport for horses is racing because the thoroughbreds have abnormally long bodies and legs with small ankles, which is good for speed but results in a lot of broken legs. Quarterhorses are small, sturdy animals with strong legs and ankles bred for agility and brains, not just speed.

And unlike the wild animals in zoos and circuses which are "captives", the ones in rodeos are domesticated animals which have been bred for thousands of years. If rodeos did not exist there would be no need for the bucking broncos or the bulls. The calves would still be roped and tied, as well as branded and castrated, out on the range, and then sent to the slaughterhouse.

Do you regard killing and eating animals with the same hysterical animosity? Have you ever lived on a farm or ranch? Ever been on a farm or ranch? Ever seen domestic animals in a field (other than from a car zooming down the highway)? Ever killed and plucked a chicken? Ever raised an animal for slaughter? Or are you just one of the many city folks who think milk comes out of a carton and meat from a cellophane package?

[Rory Canfield]

01:05 PM on 07/12/2011

So Cheryl, how's it feel to have the shoe on the other foot. Try and do something good and you get reamed over it.

[wanagiakicita]

06:12 PM on 07/11/2011

Geezus Jenny...they aren't going to cancel the rodeo if she didn't show up, so let them take their money and use it to save wild animals. Knock it off!

[tiredofpc]

01:22 AM on 07/12/2011

Amen!

[TomP100]

05:52 PM on 07/11/2011

I wonder if those in the anti-rodeo crowd have actually seen how a prize bull, bronco, or roping or barrel racing horse is actually cared for. These animal are worth large amounts of money and are treated like animal royalty.

[wanagiakicita]

06:16 PM on 07/11/2011

Well as someone who used to rodeo and won't (too old now anyway) any more, I can tell you I've seen bucking horses break their legs, calves that had their necks snapped by ropers, tails torn off of calves by ropers and other things I'd just as soon not see again. It's not the humane place you want people to believe it is. But rodeo cowboys won't go away and they'll keep doing what they do no matter what, so I don't see Sheryl Crow as a Traitor to the cause and if she can save some wild horses with the money she earns at a rodeo, good for her.

[JoAnne Bloomfield Wilson]

09:11 AM on 07/12/2011

http://youtu.be/y-sj6bAx4c4 Watch it then tell me this is ok?

[alguien]

06:36 PM on 07/14/2011

not to mention the emotional toll it takes on the live stock.

[JoAnne Bloomfield Wilson]

09:12 AM on 07/12/2011

Heres your prized well cared for horse, http://youtu.be/y-sj6bAx4c4 These horses and calfs are not thousands of dollar animals. There cheap and treated that way.

[peterklika]

05:50 PM on 07/11/2011

Political correctness rum amok. No good deed goes unpunished. Animal rights activist confuse a horse that runs with a horse that is aboused. I know the difference. I have several horse who love to run free. Peter Klika, Kapaau, Hawaii (far from political correctness)

[JoAnne Bloomfield Wilson]

09:11 AM on 07/12/2011

Peter there is no confusion in this: http://youtu.be/y-sj6bAx4c4 go and watch and tell me that this horse enjoyed her last few moments in this crazy world.

[naturenerd]

12:36 PM on 07/12/2011

You have misunderstood the issue. SHARK knows the difference, and it has absolutely nothing to do with being PC. SHARK believes that rodeos exploit, mistreat and sometimes abuse animals. Unlike the Cloud Foundation, SHARK believes that all of these horses should be treated humanely. The Cloud Foundation's position is, since the took Crow's money: go ahead and endorse mistreatment of horses, as long as it isn't horses on public land.

[wanagiakicita]

09:33 PM on 07/12/2011

If you want rodeos to end then work to end them, but until you can get the public to agree, it won't happen. It's like trying to put an end to NASCAR racing because of barbaric-environment-destroying-Big-Oil.....you have to prove your case and make it mean something to the average Joe on the street. Keep trying, it's worth the effort, but be realistic that it may not happen in your lifetime. Personally, I still think bull riding gives the bull the mighty upper hand, but calf roping is inhumane and bucking horses are too easily injured, so the only part of rodeo I'd miss would be the bull riding. THOSE animals ARE treated like royalty and that is the truth. I'd help work against doing away with the rest. Send me a petition.

[TomP100]

05:42 PM on 07/11/2011

Blood money? Please, what vapid hyberbole. SHARK is just another radical animal rights group whose goal is to impose its extreme agenda on America.

[JoAnne Bloomfield Wilson]

10:44 PM on 07/11/2011

One horses blood for another it is!

[naturenerd]

12:39 PM on 07/12/2011

To say "blood money: is hyperbole, but that doesn't support the rest of your statement. It doesn't mean that there isn't animal abuse going on there. What do you know about the issue? Why don't you at least visit their website, and educate yourself, instead of making such an intellectually lazy dismissal.

[Clinton Cleveland]

03:16 PM on 07/11/2011

The real hypocrisy here is in the notion of "protecting wild horses". We don't have wild horses in the US; we have feral domestic horses. Their population is increasing exponentially in the absence of predators, destroying habitat, further threatening wild plants and animals, and ultimately dooming the horses thmselves to a slow death from starvation or dehydration. Giving money to organizations that oppose feral horse management is ultimately more cruel than any rodeo could ever be.

[blessyourlittleheart]

03:15 PM on 07/11/2011

haha she thinks the horses are a native species

[wanagiakicita]

06:21 PM on 07/11/2011

Well at one time they were native to this continent and Indian nations see them as a "reintroduction of a native species". They are actually MORE native than any white European if you think about it. Gee, maybe we should round them up and ship them out too eh?

[blessyourlittleheart]

07:04 PM on 07/11/2011

That's completely false. You and I both know that horses are in no way, shape, or form native to North America.

[smmrselysummers]

07:33 PM on 07/12/2011

Horses are NOT native to North America. Some were brought here by the Conquistadors. Others crossed the land bridge from Asia.

[bob40wil]

03:10 PM on 07/11/2011

A horse is a work animal, compared to how they were treaded before motor vehicles todays horses are treated pretty good. How about PETA going to Viet Nam or Cambodia and protecting puppies being eaten in resteraunts.

[JoAnne Bloomfield Wilson]

10:46 PM on 07/11/2011

I'm sure they do!

[naturenerd]

12:41 PM on 07/12/2011

First, PeTA is not involved in this issue. Second, SHARK has chosen to take on this cause, so why don't you get off the couch and take up the cause for puppies that are allegedly being eaten in Asia? Instead of criticizing a group that is trying to improve animal welfare, you could be attempting to do some good yourself.

[Please-Play-Fair]

02:33 PM on 07/11/2011

The bigger question is how much toilet paper will she allow each user at the rodeo ...

[kate91705]

01:40 PM on 07/11/2011

The people from SHARKS need to put their ego's aside and think of what's best for the horse's. Here you have a woman who clearly loves horses, she could donate to any charity she wishes and she chose this one. Just because she's performing on a rodeo stage does not mean she supports that rodeo. Kid Rock is the headliner and she goes wherever they play. Cute her a little slack and be appreciative she's willing and able to help!

[Vantunow]

01:34 PM on 07/11/2011

There was an Indian reformer once, who was raising funds for the University. He was so inspiring that even prostitutes were motivated and came up with a collection and gave it to the University fund.

When people objected to that donation, the reformer replied, "Its ok, we would build University Toilets with them".

Point being, you are getting the money, take it and do something good with it.

[Richcrafter]

01:32 PM on 07/11/2011

She's allegedly dating the Tom Shoes gay hater, too!

(Joke)

[ETT]

12:08 PM on 07/12/2011

Really, really bad joke. Be nice.