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Dear Friends, Our efforts to expose and remedy the abuse and corruption surrounding the National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR) are really gaining ground. Motivated by inquiries from the public (your work!) and no doubt pressure from his superiors, the Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Charles Hartke, has finally responded. In a letter, signed by Mr. Hartke himself, the Ag Director acknowledges that his department is in charge of investigating violations of the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act. However, Mr. Hartke says, Ag Department personnel did not observe any abuse at the NHSFR, and if a citizen has evidence to the contrary then that person should take it to the State's Attorney. (Director Hartke's full letter can be read below.) Talk about passing the buck and ducking your job! To investigate violations of humane laws, especially due to evidence of abuse, is the Ag Department's responsibility! SHARK's footage is just that, documented evidence, but not the results of a full investigation ready for a prosecutor. It is very telling that Director Hartke signed these letters himself. It most likely means that he is being strongly pressured to address the public outrage, and that our efforts are being felt. The next step is to demand that Governor Blagojevich appoint someone else to do the job that Mr. Hartke has failed to do.
The abuse documentation is on our website for the world to see. It cannot be denied, but it does need to be prosecuted. Our latest video release smashes through the lies that no electric prods were used at the NHSFR. "You won’t find a prod on a show or rodeo floor.”-Dr. John O'Keefe, NHSFR Veterinary Committee Co-Chair. See the truth. Watch SHARK's new 8-minute video exposing illegal shocking. Even with the photos and video already on IllinoisCorruption.com, we still have so much more to process and release. If the Illinois Ag Department continues with these ridiculous "monkey-see-no-evil" responses, it will only make them look more incompetent and corrupt in the end. Please take a moment to contact Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich--even if you have already contacted him before-- and demand that he launch an independent investigation of abuse at the NHSFR. Remind him that SHARK's video and photographic evidence should be undeniable to any seeing eyes.
Below is the letter from SHARK president, Steve Hindi, that is being sent to Gov. Blagojevich. Please feel free to use it for talking points for your own letters and calls. We must keep the pressure building! The Honorable Rod Blagojevich Governor Blagojevich, Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Steve Hindi, and I am the president of Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK). As our name implies, we are an animal protection organization specializing in video and still picture documentation of cruelty issues. We were at the high school rodeo finals in Springfield in July, where we documented extensive cruelty, including many violations of the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act. We have shared this evidence with the world via our website, IllinoisCorruption.com. The abuse was so extensive that there are many more photographs and video clips that have yet to be seen by the public.As you know, the Illinois Department of Agriculture is the agency charged with enforcing the Act. While generally failing to fulfill this charge on all animal issues, the Department has been particularly remiss when it comes to rodeos animals. More to the point, it has been profoundly remiss with all of the National High School Finals Rodeo held in Springfield (in 2000, 2001, and 2006). As evidence I am including the text of a letter authored and signed by Charles Hartke, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, in response to inquiries from concerned citizens:
Thank you for your letter expressing concern about how animals were treated at the National High School Finals Rodeo. The Illinois Department of Agriculture is authorized to investigate allegations of abuse under the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act and local states’ attorneys prosecute violations of the Act. At the National High School Finals Rodeo, the Department had its investigators present throughout the term of the rodeo to ensure compliance with the Humane Care for Animals Act. The Department made unannounced inspections at various locations and had personnel present in key areas to determine whether violations of the Act were occurring. Department investigators did not observe any violations of the statute. If you are aware of specific instances of abuse that were not observed by Department investigators, you should bring those matters to the attention of the Sangamon County State’s Attorney, who has jurisdiction to prosecute violations. Contact information for that office is: John Schmidt Sangamon County State’s Attorney 200 South Ninth Springfield, IL 62701 (217) 753-6690 The Department appreciates your interest and concern on this matter. Sincerely, ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Charles Hartke Director It is difficult to understand how, in spite of Ag. personnel being “present in key areas,” that said personnel were, over the course of a week (13 performances), unable to witness any of the illegal acts that SHARK camera people witnessed daily from the stands, hundreds of feet away. How is that possible, Governor? Equally incredible is the fact that the director of the Department of Agriculture, after first stating in his letter that, “The Illinois Department of Agriculture is authorized to investigate allegations of abuse under the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act,” next suggests that we bypass the investigative process and simply send our raw evidence to the state’s attorney’s office, where it will almost certainly be ignored for lack of identity of the perpetrators and other vital information. That’s why there is supposed to be an investigation. I assume that you appointed Mr. Hartke as director of the Department to do a job. With regard to the enforcement of the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act, Mr. Hartke has utterly failed. Mr. Hartke’s letter makes it crystal clear that his people were incompetent at the minimum in the rodeo arena, and that he is unwilling to even attempt to do his job with regard to properly investigating evidence obtained by SHARK personnel. Given the impotent and incompetent performance by Mr. Hartke and the entire Department, I believe Mr. Hartke should be fired and that there be a major reshuffling at the Department of Agriculture. Illinois taxpayers and animals deserve better than what they have received at the hands of Mr. Hartke and his staff.Moving forward, in the face of the incompetence and/or corruption of the Department, I am requesting an independent investigation into the 2006 National High School Finals Rodeo, and the documentation obtained by SHARK. This includes not only evidence of illegal animal abuse, but also at least one human injury as a result of an animal being abused. I am referring to a young man from Missouri named Jerry Seabaugh, who was injured while bullriding. Mr. Seabaugh had to be taken out of the arena on a stretcher, and taken to the hospital in an ambulance. The bull Mr. Seabaugh was riding was illegally shot with 5,000 volts of electricity from an electric prod before coming out of the chute. This occurrence on the evening of Monday, July 24, was despite Hot-Shots' manufacturer's statement: "We do not recommend our products used in rodeos."The perpetrator of this crime should be charged not only with animal abuse, but also for the injury to Mr. Seabaugh. Footage of this event can be seen on our website, IllinoisCorruption.com. I should mention that SHARK was in touch with the Department well in advance of the rodeo finals with recommendations that were based on our extensive history of investigating rodeos, most specifically high school rodeos. Our recommendations were designed to avoid the very issues that we now have, and can be viewed on our website, IllinoisCorruption.com. Additionally, in the early stages of the rodeo performances I repeatedly E-mailed observations and concerns to the Department’s Dr. Colleen O’Keefe, again so that issues and violations could be dealt with early on, and so that further violations could be avoided. These communications can also be seen on our website, IllinoisCorruption.com. Our efforts were completely rebuffed. Now we have what we have. I urge and insist that your office deal with this important matter in a swift, sincere and forthright manner. I look forward to hearing from you in a very timely fashion. Sincerely,Steve Hindi President After contacting Gov. Blagojevich, please forward any response you receive to SHARK at SHARKIntl@aol.com.
Sadly, Illinois newspaper coverage of the 2006 National High School Finals Rodeo has been so one-sided that The State Journal-Register and The Illinois Times can be called nothing better than Rodeo Rags. SHARK doesn't let lies and propaganda go by unchallenged, and so when both of these papers printed glowing articles about the "sport" of rodeo and rodeo animal welfare--SHARK went to work to expose the truth!This week the Illinois Times published a letter from Steve Hindi that makes all too clear this rodeo rags' place in yellow journalism. Click here to read the Illinois Times' rodeo fluff being blown away by Steve Hindi. It's probable that many readers will learn more about the Rodeo Mafia's lies by reading SHARK's rebuttals than anything else (and get a few good laughs too).Click here to read Steve's letter in the Illinois Times. The State Journal-Register, a rodeo sponsor, published a piece about rodeo animal welfare at the NHSFR full of so many lies and deceptions, that SHARK has voraciously ripped it apart as well. Read the "Horns of the Matter" Rebuttal here.
Right: This tormented calf was clotheslined at the NHSFR, behind him is Larry Lancaster's Rock-n-Roll Rodeo School signage. Will the Rodeo Mafia circle their wagons for this alleged pedophile? Not only do rodeos abuse animals but those involved in rodeos are often involved in criminal behavior that also defies any regard for human life or the environment we all live in. SHARK exposes this thread of illegal actions by some of the biggest names in rodeo on our site CowboyCriminals.com.Ironically relevant to our massive campaign to expose abuse at the National High School Finals Rodeo, is a headline about a major rodeo player and NHSFR sponsor charged with abuse--of young boys. "Rodeo school operator and national sponsor of the National High School Finals Rodeo charged with sexual battery, contributing to the delinquency of a minor." Read the news story here.Larry Lancaster, alleged pedophile and charged with 11 felony counts, is listed as a major sponsor of the NHSFR and is touted in the rodeo's program as having a "long history" with the NHSRA. The world of rodeo is a perfect example of abusers abusing--regardless of species. What else do they teach at Larry's rodeo school? In other Cowboy Criminal news, former world bareback champion rider Kelly Timberman changed his plea to guilty this week on one count of child endangerment and one count of battery. Read the story here and more about the case at CowboyCriminals.com
In a key victory for protecting American horses from slaughter, the U.S. House of Representatives�passed H.R. 503,�the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act,�by a vote of 263 to 146 on Sept. 7.� Now this groundbreaking bill moves to the Senate for approval. See video and learn more about horse slaughter and what you can do at HorseKillers.com Home of the National High School Finals Rodeo, Illinois is one of only two states that slaughters horses for food. This state's despicable treatment of animals runs deep. Do rodeo values and killing horses for profit go hand-in-hand?
In closing, please remember to contact Gov. Blagojevich and
watch our latest video release (only 8 minutes):
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