{"id":154355,"date":"2026-01-29T03:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T03:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/154355\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T03:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T03:21:13","slug":"judge-adds-protections-for-san-diego-rodeo-animals-at-petco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/154355\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge adds protections for San Diego Rodeo animals at Petco"},"content":{"rendered":"

A San Diego judge issued a mixed ruling this week in an animal rights lawsuit concerning rodeos staged at Petco Park, finding that pregnant mares should no longer be allowed to compete and that onsite medical equipment must be adequate and \u201ccomprehensive\u201d enough to provide care for the large animals.<\/p>\n

The 21-page statement of decision issued Tuesday by San Diego Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil does not end the rodeos, which have been controversial. The judge noted that the purpose of the suit was to prohibit practices that \u201callegedly subject the animals to \u2018needless suffering\u2019 or \u2018unnecessary cruelty.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Wohlfeil\u2019s ruling comes after he presided over a bench trial earlier this month. Two animal rights groups had sued C5 Rodeo and the Padres, alleging unfair business practices. The groups pointed to what they said amounted to animal cruelty. Two horses were injured or died following performances at the events.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn animal rights protestor holds a sign outside Petco Park before the third annual San Diego Rodeo on Jan. 16 in San Diego. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

The judge said that he \u201clargely agrees\u201d with the defendants but found \u201ca limited number of practices\u201d needed to be changed or stopped.<\/p>\n

Wohlfeil\u2019s decision noted that between the 2024 and 2025 rodeos, the rodeo management team adjusted the rules to not permit the use of electric prods \u2014 which had drawn criticism \u2014 and also to bar the use of mares known to be pregnant.<\/p>\n

\u201c(H)owever, more can and should be done to minimize the risk of \u2018needless suffering\u2019 by or \u2018unnecessary cruelty\u2019 to the animals, while, at the same time, preserving the sanctity of the rodeo,\u201d the judge wrote. \u201cIt is the balance that the court has strived to accomplish in this (statement of decision).\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the two plaintiff groups, Animal Protection Rescue League and Showing Animals Kindness and Respect,\u00a0met their burden to show a need to address the use of pregnant mares \u2014 one died after performing in a 2025 rodeo \u2014 and to require the presence of adequate medical equipment, which was not on hand when a horse threw its rider and rammed into a fence in 2024, leaving the animal badly injured. The horse later died.<\/p>\n

The judge\u2019s decision also said C5 Rodeo and the Padres issued a \u201cfalse\u201d press release following the 2024 horse injury.<\/p>\n

The parties are due back in court in March for the judge to hear objections, if any, to his decision.<\/p>\n

Attorney Bryan Pease, who represented Animal Protection Rescue League and Showing Animals Kindness and Respect, said the judge\u2019s decision was \u201ca definite victory and benefit to the public\u201d as well as for his clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe specific cruelty that was exposed and that occurred at both the 2024 and the 2025 rodeos are going to be prohibited from happening again,\u201d Pease said.<\/p>\n

Pease also said it\u2019s \u201cnot surprising that the court didn\u2019t kind of go out on a limb and issue a broad sweeping injunction against typical rodeo practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorney Michael Healy, who represents C5 Rodeo, said in an email: \u201cWe are pleased with the order where it reflects that \u2018the Court largely agrees with Defendants\u2019 and C5 Rodeo is grateful San Diegans will continue to have the opportunity to be exposed to rodeo, our western heritage, and ranching traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Padres spokesperson declined comment, citing the still-active litigation.<\/p>\n

\"AA bull chases a rodeo clown during the third annual San Diego Rodeo at Petco Park on Jan. 16 in San Diego. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

The rodeos at Petco Park, which is largely owned by the city of San Diego, have been controversial, prompting not just litigation but protests from animal rights groups and calls to ban rodeos within the city limits.<\/p>\n

Proponents of such events point to their competition, heritage and cultural traditions, and critics say the events can be cruel for the participating animals. An effort a few years ago from City Councilmember Kent Lee to place restrictions \u2014 such as banning calf roping, team roping and steer wrestling \u2014 failed to generate enough support<\/a> among fellow council members.<\/p>\n

The January 2024 rodeo at Petco Park was the first within the city limits since the 1980s. It has since been an annual event \u2014 and, coincidentally, the bench trial (only a judge, no jury) was held in the days leading up to a rodeo C5 staged at Petco in mid-January.<\/p>\n

\"WendaWenda Johnson competes in barrel racing during the third annual San Diego Rodeo at Petco Park on Jan. 16 in San Diego. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

The statement of decision highlights two incidents.\u00a0The first was in January 2024 when a horse named Waco Kid threw its rider and collided with a wall. It collapsed immediately and stayed down, unable to stand without help.<\/p>\n

According to Wohlfeil, some witnesses knew the horse was seriously hurt, including an on-site veterinarian who saw the incident and assumed \u2014 correctly \u2014 that the animal had fractured its cervical spine. But the equipment on hand was too small to X-ray the horse.<\/p>\n

The judge ordered the rodeo management team to provide veterinary care that includes \u201consite competent, comprehensive medical equipment\u201d that can \u201cadequately x-ray, scan, diagnose and treat the livestock\u201d regardless of the animal\u2019s size.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost to the rodeo seems to be a small price to pay to avoid a repeat of Waco Kid\u2019s debacle,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Wohlfeil also pointed to a press release\u00a0issued the day of the incident, which stated: \u201cInitial exam performed by the Veterinarian team did not reveal any obvious signs of fracture or instability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge said the press release \u201cwas false and intended to mislead the public.\u201d He also said it was issued to \u201cminimize the public\u2019s perception\u201d of the horse\u2019s injuries, \u201cknowing, at the same time, that the chances of Waco Kid\u2019s survival were \u2018thin.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The second incident the judge pointed to was in January 2025, when a 17-year-old mare by the name of Pearl Necklace died shortly after competing in an event. A necropsy determined the mare\u2019s likely cause of death was a ruptured uterus and\/or uterine artery, and the horse \u201cappears to have bled out internally,\u201d according to evidence the judge pointed to in his decision.<\/p>\n

The judge pushed back on the notion from some trial witnesses who said they either did not know Pearl Necklace was pregnant or was as far along as she was. Wohlfeil wrote that he watched a video of the horse performing at the rodeo, \u201cand even from the Court\u2019s untrained eye, Pearl Necklace was obviously pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wohlfeil found the mare\u2019s death was \u201cboth foreseeable and preventable,\u201d and that the mare was subjected to \u201cneedless suffering\u201d or \u201cunnecessary cruelty.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said it was not enough for a mare\u2019s owner to declare the horse is not pregnant, and ordered the burden to be on the rodeo management team to verify that no pregnant mares compete in the rodeo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A San Diego judge issued a mixed ruling this week in an animal rights lawsuit concerning rodeos staged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,1312,181,23,1334,100,74,84,76,75,2611,127,1696],"class_list":{"0":"post-154355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-latest-headlines","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-san-diego-county","16":"tag-san-diego-headlines","17":"tag-san-diego-news","18":"tag-san-diego-padres","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-top-stories-sdut"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}