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North Attleboro incident prompts bill to require professional rodeo safety standards in Massachusetts
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Summary
Representative Kevin Scanlon urged enactment of H139 after eight bulls escaped a rodeo in North Attleboro; the bill would require rodeos to meet PRCA standards to improve public safety and animal welfare.
Representative Kevin Scanlon told the Joint Committee on Agriculture that H139, an act relative to rodeos, was filed after a November rodeo incident in North Attleboro in which animal handling equipment failed and eight bulls escaped onto public roads.
"I filed this bill because of an incident in North Attleboro last fall when, unfortunately, we had a freak accident that was caused due to a loose pin," Rep. Scanlon said. He told the committee that six of the escaped bulls were captured several hours later and the last was recovered 24 hours after the incident. First responders and wranglers with a neighboring rodeo operation, New England Rodeo of Norton, assisted in recapturing the animals; Rep. Scanlon praised that operation’s response but said statewide standards are needed.
The bill would require rodeo events to operate under the safety standards of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) or equivalent professional standards, creating a regulatory floor for participant, audience and public safety and clarifying animal welfare expectations. Rep. Scanlon said the PRCA was historically formed after a 1936 walkout at the Boston Garden and that PRCA standards are widely used elsewhere.
Committee members asked about how many rodeos operate without professional oversight; Rep. Scanlon said there are no statewide rules, making it difficult to quantify noncompliant events without an established standard. The committee accepted testimony and did not take a vote.
