LA City Council votes on rodeo ban with protesters on horseback outside City Hall

Riders on horseback assembled Tuesday outside Los Angeles City Hall where the City Council considered the future of rodeos in the city.

Animal rights advocates also gathered outside City Hall ahead of the council's approval of a motion that calls for an ordinance banning rodeos in city limits. The council also decided to carve out exemptions for certain cultural and traditional equestrian events.

Council members voted 14-0, with Councilwoman Nithya Raman absent, in favor of a motion instructing the city attorney to amend city law to define and prohibit "rodeos,'' as well as "harmful practices, techniques and devices or rodeo-related events.

"Isn't this Los Angeles? Are we not the City of Angels, the compassionate city that leads? We usually set the trends. Not this time,'' said Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who introduced the motion in 2021. "But this time, we have an opportunity to catch up."...m36ore