"Campbell Soup Company and Pace Foods are no longer sponsors of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).� As with all of our sponsorship programs, Campbell continuously evaluates the overall performance of our sponsorship programs.� In this instance, Campbell and Pace Foods chose not to renew the PRCA sponsorship when it expired."

The company makes no mention of rodeo animal abuse, but what matters most is that its money is no longer in the pocket of the Rodeo Mafia. This victory would not have been won if not for YOU. Every success toward animal protection that SHARK achieves would not be possible were it not for the efforts of animal advocates everywhere doing what it takes. To learn about SHARK's Campbell/Pace Foods campaign, click here.

above, Campbell Soup rightly ashamed of having its company name publicized with photos like this.

When it comes to battling rodeos, 2006 has been a year like no other, and it isn't even finished! Besides the Campbell Soup victory, Starbucks Coffee dropped its public support for rodeos. To her credit, Carrie Underwood didn't need a campaign to do the right thing. Ms. Underwood showed she had two qualities – talent and compassion – over performer Hilary Duff. Even though we didn't have an outright victory with Duff, she was forced into hiding when it came to her support for rodeos and bullrings. But the story doesn't end there.

One of the rodeos Duff appeared at, the San Antonio rodeo, has released its performance schedule for 2007. So far, Ms. Duff is NOT scheduled to perform. We will let you know if that changes. The other rodeo Ms. Duff performed at, the Houston rodeo, has not yet posted its entertainment schedule. We will update you as soon as that information becomes available. If Ms. Duff doesn't perform at these rodeos, it will certainly be an indication that she DID get the message that rodeos are not only cruel, but very bad for her image.

Momentum high! Back to the good fight....

Do you have Cingular mobile phone service? A lot of people do, including a number of SHARK staff and me. Unfortunately, SHARK has learned that Cingular is now sponsoring rodeos. Not just any rodeos either--Cingular has become a major sponsor and "Exclusive Wireless Provider" for the largest rodeo-sanctioning organization in the world, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).

Upset to say the least, I called Cingular's "Office of the President" and spoke to a woman named Carmen, who was cordial and professional. I explained that I was not interested in supporting cruel rodeos, and since Cingular is now a rodeo sponsor that means some of my money goes into the pockets of animal abusing rodeo thugs. I said that I wanted out of my contract on ethical grounds, and that I had no intention of paying any penalties for doing so. Carmen said she would check into this and get back to me.

Later in the day Carmen did indeed call back. She told me that Cingular "declined" to let me out of my contract on ethical grounds. I guess that is to be expected from a company that is apparently very unethical. I told her that not only did I intend to terminate my contract without paying the penalty, but I would pass the word about Cingular's cruelty to as many of my friends as I could. I don't think she realized how many friends SHARK and I have in the animal protection movement.

Think about this – if Cingular is so greedy that it is unwilling to allow even one customer out of a contract on ethical grounds, imagine how the company will react when thousands of customers want to opt out?

If you are a Cingular customer, please contact the company right away and demand that it withdraw its rodeo sponsorship, or tell them that you will be finding another cell phone provider.

Recently, Cingular's ads have become prominent in PRCA propaganda, such as this one which glorifies beginning an abuse career in rodeo at an early age.

It is vitally important that you forward any response to SHARK (SHindi@sharkonline.org) so that we might properly counter any public relations moves the company might make. We already have some ideas to rock Cingular's world that we will share with you shortly. For the moment, however, contacting Cingular as soon as possible is the way to get this campaign underway.

Here is Cingular's contact info:

Phone: 1-866-CINGULAR (246-4852)
or if you have a Cingular phone, call the company by dialing "611" (it's free)

Mail: Cingular Wireless
Attn: Stan Sigman, President and CEO
5565 Glenridge Connector
Atlanta, GA 30342

Email: Cingular customers can email the company here.

Additionally, communications can also be emailed to the Office of the President, Stan Sigman, at: tina.cuthbertson @cingular.com

If you are a Cingular customer, you can tell Cingular and everyone on the Cingular Forum about the company's support of animal abuse. Click here!

Cingular is the first of what will be a much expanded SHARK program of exposing corporate sponsors of rodeo for the rest of the year and into 2007. In the past we have gone after one or perhaps two corporate sponsors at a time. Now, however, having amassed so many media exposes of rodeo animal abuse and damning video and still pictures, we will greatly increase the number of target sponsors to try to cause real damage to the Rodeo Mafia.

You can see the other targeted corporate sponsors at www.CorporateThugs.com. You will recognize many of these companies, including Cingular, Coca-Cola, Dodge Trucks, the US Army, Bayer (as in aspirin), and Southwest Airlines to name a few.

Given the immense success of driving away rodeo support in just the last year (Starbucks Coffee, Campbell Soup, Carrie Underwood, Hilary Duff), we think the time is right to hit rodeos where it hurts the most – the pocketbook – although we understand that this will be a tremendously challenging effort. CorporateThugs.co m will be a site to watch in 2007, as targeted sponsors unsuccessfully try to wiggle and waggle their way out of trouble until realizing that only one thing will work – reject animal abuse.

We are currently preparing press packs for both the targeted sponsors and the media. These packs will include SHARK video footage, as well the ARTE French documentary, the English rodeo documentary and the Hard Copy two-part series, all of which expose rodeo animal abuse. You can view all these and more at our video site, TheCruelTruth.com.

Besides Cingular, I would like to particularly highlight the lies and cruelty of Coca-Cola. I regularly see animal advocates consuming Coca-Cola and other Coke products. I see lots of Coke products at animal rights conferences. From now on, SHARK will be making a special effort to let people know that Coca-Cola supports a great deal of animal abuse, including rodeos, greyhound racing and the deadly Iditarod dogsled race.

In fact, Coca-Cola went back on a very public promise to withdraw its rodeo sponsorship. This is a very dishonest and abusive company, and it's time for all animal advocates to completely boycott Coca-Cola products everywhere. Please go to www.CokeCruelty.com to see a list of Coca-Cola products. Watch for an expansion of this Corporate Thug site in the near future as well.

When you are contacting rodeo sponsors, there are some fantastic SHARK web sites at your disposal. You can find lots of information exposing the truth about rodeo's dirty secrets at www.RodeoCruelty.com.

Indispensable for our video evidence is www.TheCruelTruth.com

For a perspective from journalists who have the guts to tell the truth, www.ReportersWhoCare.com is a site that includes both newspaper articles and television documentaries exposing rodeo animal abuse.

Also, rodeo thugs damage themselves without our help by committing a lot of shocking criminal acts against both humans and nonhumans. You can see the true character of rodeo animal abusers exposed at www.CowboyCriminals.com.

Finally, a newly developed section has been created for SHARK to "debate" rodeo supporters. Here you can watch the first and LAST time anyone from a rodeo organization agreed to debate SHARK. Also, we rebut the oft-repeated, grammatically-challenged, very real arguments made by rodeo thugs and sent to SHARK. Don't miss "Rodeo Debate" If you are working to eliminate local rodeos in your area, feel free to use these incredible resources.

Don't let abuse like this continue!

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

There are so many things:
1) Call, E-mail or write to the targeted corporations and demand that they immediately withdraw their support of rodeos.

2) Let us know if you have shares in any of the corporations we are targeting. Perhaps we can use your shares to attend shareholders' meetings.

3) Organize and attend protests at locations of rodeo sponsors.

4) Send SHARK any donation possible, and remember us as we continue to fight for rodeo's victims.

Your support makes our Tiger Truck mobile! SHARK took rodeo cruelty to Coca-Cola's front door.

Almost two years ago we saw the world of rodeo beginning to come apart at the seams. The world's largest rodeo association, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), had financial problems, in large part because of the tremendous amount of money it spends to keep itself on television, while we were exposing them to the world for the animal abusers they truly are. The unraveling process continues today. SHARK's efforts to scare sponsors away could become a terminal disease for the Rodeo Mafia.

In Springfield, Illinois, the National High School Rodeo Association Finals are under official investigation. Click here to see the latest news on this issue. The media attention on SHARK's documentation of abuse at the NHSRAF and elsewhere has been very damaging to the Rodeo Mafia.

Whether you are a longtime supporter or a relative newbie, this is an inspiring time to be fighting for animals in rodeos. We still have a long way to go, but our efforts are paying off for those who are abused by the Rodeo Mafia.

Kindest Regards,
Steve Hindi and Your SHARK Team

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Thank You for all your much needed support!