The information below will help you in writing an informed letter, and contact names and information are listed. Please keep your messages respectful as it will do a much better job of reaching people (in spite of how angry this makes us all).
Organizers:
Casey Round 918 520 5208 (email:
caseyaround@yahoo.com and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/casey.round.3)
Dan Conway 806 339 5328 (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hornytoadsaddlery) Brad Ingram 918 244 3732 (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brad.ingram.946)
Guthrie Murray 918 533 6926
Note that the website WelchOK.com is not actually affiliated with the community of Welch, but is a private site run by someone in the area. The owner of the site contacted me personally now to ask that we remove his information from the blog post as he has been sent a lot of e-mails. I am respecting his request as this time he was respectful and reasonable. Please do not send anymore e-mails to info@welchok.com or to the WelchOK.com webpage. Please focus on the county sheriff as he is the one who can get something done for us. I was hoping that the Welch, OK news site could bring attention to this issue with the local community, but it appears that although I was able to reach one local person, the site is not going to help. Thanks, and keep sending letters to the rest of the addresses!
Town contact info:
PO Box 277
Welch, OK 74369
918-788-3616
Mayor is Winston McKeon
Craig County Sheriff: Jimmy Sooter
E-mail: sheriff@junct.com
210 West Delaware Suite 101
Vinita, Oklahoma 74301
(918)256-6466
I have been unable to find actual Chamber of Commerce info for Welch, but have the following info for the county seat of Vinita, OK. You can contact them and tell them that you will not be spending any money or visiting their communities due to the cruelty to animals going on in their county.
Vinita Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 882
Vinita, Oklahoma 74301
Phone:918-256-7133
Fax:918-256-8261
E-Mail:chamber@vinita.com
The following contacts are in state government and both serve on the Tourism Committees. Please write to them to make them aware of the event as well as the cruelty to animals #1685 law that is at the bottom of this blog post. Both of these men represent District 1 that includes Welch. (Thanks to the National Miniature Donkey Association for providing us with these two contacts).
Senator Charles Wyrick
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 535-A
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
Home: 58500 E. 155 Rd.
Fairland, Oklahoma 74343
Representative Curtis McDaniel
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 539-B
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
Home: P.O. Box 366
Smithville, Oklahoma 74957
I will add more contact information as it comes available.
Donkey roping is a cruel and completely unnecessary “sport.” Donkeys are anatomically different from cattle, and their bodies cannot stand up to the rigors of roping the way a steer’s can. Their joints articulate differently, and they have a long cervical spine (neck) that is easily broken when stretched between two horses that weight 3 – 6 times as much as a donkey. In addition, given the length and design of their necks, their windpipes are often crushed during the event. The bones in their legs are often broken as well. Donkeys do not have horns to rope, and often the cartilage of their ears is broken by the ropes or by putting the “hats” on that normally protect a steer.
Roping is an art, and the ropes need to land on the correct locations on the cattle in order to handle them without injury. Donkeys do not have the same locations as a cow does, making it much more likely to cause lasting injuries. Also a donkey’s skin is not the same as a cow’s, and often they end up with necks covered in blisters from the ropes tearing their skin (as shown in the picture below).
The picture shown below is of Sundance, a donkey rescued from a life of roping practice on August 17, 2011 by Edgewood Longears Safehouse. He was rescued along with four companions and has remained the most elusive of the four, not able to overcome the fear that damaged his trust in humans. He suffered greatly from the roping practice, including having one of his ears broken and permanently damaged. The cartilage of one of Sundance’s ears is completely broken and he can no longer hold the ear up like a normal donkey.
By Oklahoma’s own laws, this should be considered illegal (http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/cruelty/ok_cruel.htm):
1685. Cruelty to animals
Any person who shall willfully or maliciously overdrive, overload, torture, destroy or kill, or cruelly beat or injure, maim or mutilate, any animal in subjugation or captivity, whether wild or tame, and whether belonging to himself or to another, or deprive any such animal of necessary food, drink or shelter; or who shall cause, procure or permit any such animal to be so overdriven, overloaded, tortured, destroyed or killed, or cruelly beaten or injured, maimed or mutilated, or deprived of necessary food, drink or shelter; or who shall willfully set on foot, instigate, engage in, or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal, or any act tending to produce such cruelty, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state penitentiary not exceeding five (5) years, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). Any officer finding an animal so maltreated or abused shall cause the same to be taken care of, and the charges therefor shall be a lien upon such animal, to be collected thereon as upon a pledge or a lien.
Comments
no animal cruelty
The most dangerous animal on this earth is called “human.” Show me a vicious animal and I will show you a human being behind it all. Even a lion, once it has killed to satisfy his hunger, will walk peacefully amongst his prey. Not true with humans. We think we have to continuously deliver cruelty and punishment to anyone and anything smaller than us just because we can. These so-called “cowboys” who think donkey roping is OK need to be on the receiving end of the ropes for just one event, and they would definitely change their mind. So please educate yourself, Judith Meienberg, before you declare no animal cruelty.
03/10/2013
The information below will help you in writing an informed letter, and contact names and information are listed. Please keep your messages respectful as it will do a much better job of reaching people (in spite of how angry this makes us all).
Organizers:
Casey Round 918 520 5208 (email:
caseyaround@yahoo.com and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/casey.round.3)
Dan Conway 806 339 5328 (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hornytoadsaddlery) Brad Ingram 918 244 3732 (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brad.ingram.946)
Guthrie Murray 918 533 6926
Note that the website WelchOK.com is not actually affiliated with the community of Welch, but is a private site run by someone in the area. The owner of the site contacted me personally now to ask that we remove his information from the blog post as he has been sent a lot of e-mails. I am respecting his request as this time he was respectful and reasonable. Please do not send anymore e-mails to info@welchok.com or to the WelchOK.com webpage. Please focus on the county sheriff as he is the one who can get something done for us. I was hoping that the Welch, OK news site could bring attention to this issue with the local community, but it appears that although I was able to reach one local person, the site is not going to help. Thanks, and keep sending letters to the rest of the addresses!
Town contact info:
PO Box 277
Welch, OK 74369
918-788-3616
Mayor is Winston McKeon
Craig County Sheriff: Jimmy Sooter
E-mail: sheriff@junct.com
210 West Delaware Suite 101
Vinita, Oklahoma 74301
(918)256-6466
I have been unable to find actual Chamber of Commerce info for Welch, but have the following info for the county seat of Vinita, OK. You can contact them and tell them that you will not be spending any money or visiting their communities due to the cruelty to animals going on in their county.
Vinita Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 882
Vinita, Oklahoma 74301
Phone:918-256-7133
Fax:918-256-8261
E-Mail:chamber@vinita.com
The following contacts are in state government and both serve on the Tourism Committees. Please write to them to make them aware of the event as well as the cruelty to animals #1685 law that is at the bottom of this blog post. Both of these men represent District 1 that includes Welch. (Thanks to the National Miniature Donkey Association for providing us with these two contacts).
Senator Charles Wyrick
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 535-A
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
Home: 58500 E. 155 Rd.
Fairland, Oklahoma 74343
Representative Curtis McDaniel
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 539-B
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
Home: P.O. Box 366
Smithville, Oklahoma 74957
I will add more contact information as it comes available.
Donkey roping is a cruel and completely unnecessary “sport.” Donkeys are anatomically different from cattle, and their bodies cannot stand up to the rigors of roping the way a steer’s can. Their joints articulate differently, and they have a long cervical spine (neck) that is easily broken when stretched between two horses that weight 3 – 6 times as much as a donkey. In addition, given the length and design of their necks, their windpipes are often crushed during the event. The bones in their legs are often broken as well. Donkeys do not have horns to rope, and often the cartilage of their ears is broken by the ropes or by putting the “hats” on that normally protect a steer.
Roping is an art, and the ropes need to land on the correct locations on the cattle in order to handle them without injury. Donkeys do not have the same locations as a cow does, making it much more likely to cause lasting injuries. Also a donkey’s skin is not the same as a cow’s, and often they end up with necks covered in blisters from the ropes tearing their skin (as shown in the picture below).
The picture shown below is of Sundance, a donkey rescued from a life of roping practice on August 17, 2011 by Edgewood Longears Safehouse. He was rescued along with four companions and has remained the most elusive of the four, not able to overcome the fear that damaged his trust in humans. He suffered greatly from the roping practice, including having one of his ears broken and permanently damaged. The cartilage of one of Sundance’s ears is completely broken and he can no longer hold the ear up like a normal donkey.
By Oklahoma’s own laws, this should be considered illegal (http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/cruelty/ok_cruel.htm):
1685. Cruelty to animals
Any person who shall willfully or maliciously overdrive, overload, torture, destroy or kill, or cruelly beat or injure, maim or mutilate, any animal in subjugation or captivity, whether wild or tame, and whether belonging to himself or to another, or deprive any such animal of necessary food, drink or shelter; or who shall cause, procure or permit any such animal to be so overdriven, overloaded, tortured, destroyed or killed, or cruelly beaten or injured, maimed or mutilated, or deprived of necessary food, drink or shelter; or who shall willfully set on foot, instigate, engage in, or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal, or any act tending to produce such cruelty, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state penitentiary not exceeding five (5) years, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). Any officer finding an animal so maltreated or abused shall cause the same to be taken care of, and the charges therefor shall be a lien upon such animal, to be collected thereon as upon a pledge or a lien.
Comments
it is a shame Donkey roping !
The most dangerous animal on this earth is called “human.” Show me a vicious animal and I will show you a human being behind it all. Even a lion, once it has killed to satisfy his hunger, will walk peacefully amongst his prey. Not true with humans. We think we have to continuously deliver cruelty and punishment to anyone and anything smaller than us just because we can. These so-called “cowboys” who think donkey roping is OK need to be on the receiving end of the ropes for just one event, and they would definitely change their mind. So please educate yourself, Judith Meienberg, before you declare no animal cruelty.