Suburban 'backyard rodeos' feature steers being chased, knocked down and, at times, stripped of their tails
<p>A man on horseback in a corral rides feverishly alongside a fleeing steer while reaching for the animal’s tail, which he quickly but skillfully wraps around his right cowboy boot while maintaining a grip on the appendage.</p><p>As intended, the maneuver causes the steer to twist and tumble to the dirt.</p><p>The rider — part of a “backyard rodeo” in the far northwest suburbs last summer — gallops off, holding something grotesque in his hand: part of the steer’s tail, which was ripped free.</p><p>Called “degloving,” the injury is common at these types of events, according to local animal rights activists who have been trying to stop “steer tailing” in Illinois for years, saying it amounts to animal abuse that’s clearly illegal under state law, though not enforced nearly enough by local police and prosecutors.</p><p>An exception is in McHenry County, where three men were sentenced Wednesday to a year of conditional discharge, similar to probation, on animal cruelty charges stemming from last summer’s event in unincorporated Woodstock. Imposed by Judge Justin Hansen, the sentence included $250 fines and barred the men from "intentional contact" with animals, with some exceptions, during the term.</p><p>The men were prosecuted, at least in part, based on drone footage of the rodeo taken by the animal advocacy group SHARK, which stands for Showing Animals Respect and Kindness.
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<p>A man on horseback in a corral rides feverishly alongside a fleeing steer while reaching for the animal’s tail, which he quickly but skillfully wraps around his right cowboy boot while maintaining a grip on the appendage.</p><p>As intended, the maneuver causes the steer to twist and tumble to the dirt.</p><p>The rider — part of a “backyard rodeo” in the far northwest suburbs last summer — gallops off, holding something grotesque in his hand: part of the steer’s tail, which was ripped free.</p><p>Called “degloving,” the injury is common at these types of events, according to local animal rights activists who have been trying to stop “steer tailing” in Illinois for years, saying it amounts to animal abuse that’s clearly illegal under state law, though not enforced nearly enough by local police and prosecutors.</p><p>An exception is in McHenry County, where three men were sentenced Wednesday to a year of conditional discharge, similar to probation, on animal cruelty charges stemming from last summer’s event in unincorporated Woodstock. Imposed by Judge Justin Hansen, the sentence included $250 fines and barred the men from "intentional contact" with animals, with some exceptions, during the term.</p><p>The men were prosecuted, at least in part, based on drone footage of the rodeo taken by the animal advocacy group SHARK, which stands for Showing Animals Respect and Kindness. The organization has documented similar events in far south suburban Will County and areas downstate, including Ogle County.</p><p>Court records say one of the men in McHenry County, Alfredo Magallanes, “participated in a rodeo steer-tailing event” at which he “knowingly pulled the tail of a live steer with sufficient force which caused a degloving injury that was captured on drone video.”</p><p>“The act caused pain and exposed the animal to further harm and infection, constituting cruel treatment of the steer, contrary” to state law.</p><p>A 24-year-old Marengo resident, Magallanes pleaded guilty, as did two other men similarly charged, records show.</p><p>Each apologized in court Wednesday and portrayed the tail injuries as unintentional, with their attorney Garrett Fisher telling Hansen: “These were all accidental events" in what's “a very physical and demanding sport” that "in no way rewards or encourages” harming animals.</p><p>Prosecutor Joe Creager responded: "To call this a sport or even a demanding sport is offensive to rodeo . this is punishing cows for sport."</p><p>A juvenile from Lockport was also initially cited, but that case was dropped.</p><p>A fifth person, 68-year-old Socorro Barrientos, already went on trial but a judge hasn’t yet rendered a decision, according to court records that say the defendant kicked “a steer in the head over 10 times” at the same event as the others “while it was on the ground and not posing a threat.”</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-900000" name="image-900000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5020f0c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1172x658+0+76/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F3a%2Fdc%2F1769da3b44199ecb98a1cab8c63d%2Fscreenshot-2026-08-04-at-4-53-36-pm-copy.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d502f2d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1172x658+0+76/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F3a%2Fdc%2F1769da3b44199ecb98a1cab8c63d%2Fscreenshot-2026-08-04-at-4-53-36-pm-copy.png 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5408884/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1172x658+0+76/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F3a%2Fdc%2F1769da3b44199ecb98a1cab8c63d%2Fscreenshot-2026-08-04-at-4-53-36-pm-copy.png" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="In a scene captured by an animal rights group on drone video in McHenry County last year, a man on horseback chases down a steer, grabs and tears away the tail, and the animal limps off." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5408884/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1172x658+0+76/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F3a%2Fdc%2F1769da3b44199ecb98a1cab8c63d%2Fscreenshot-2026-08-04-at-4-53-36-pm-copy.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/20e228d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1172x658+0+76/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F3a%2Fdc%2F1769da3b44199ecb98a1cab8c63d%2Fscreenshot-2026-08-04-at-4-53-36-pm-copy.png 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5408884/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1172x658+0+76/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F3a%2Fdc%2F1769da3b44199ecb98a1cab8c63d%2Fscreenshot-2026-08-04-at-4-53-36-pm-copy.png" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>In a scene captured by an animal rights group on drone video in McHenry County last year, a man on horseback chases down a steer, grabs and tears away the tail, and the animal limps off.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Showing Animals Respect and Kindness</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>Chicagoan Jodie Wiederkehr, SHARK’s campaigns director, doesn’t believe steer-tailing and backyard rodeos are necessarily becoming more common in the region, but rather more attention is being paid to them because activists are highlighting the maltreatment that often occurs.</p><p>“The reason it’s going on is because there’s a lot of money being made,” Wiederkehr says, noting tickets to attend the private events can run $50 apiece and they are fashioned to be festive, with “dancing and drinking and having fun” in addition to the rodeo displays.</p><p>She says the treatment of steers amounts to torture, even when their tails aren’t torn away.</p><p>Another SHARK video from a backyard rodeo there shows a steer limping off with an apparent broken leg after being taken down by a rider on horseback.</p><p>Wiederkehr says the animals are sometimes poked or hit with sticks, shocked with cattle prods, worked until exhausted and even bitten on their tails by rodeo participants in an apparent attempt to stimulate the creatures.</p><p>“These animals are often left to suffer for hours without veterinary treatment or pain relief,” says Wiederkehr, who was instrumental in getting the City Council to vote in 2020 <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2020/3/11/21175331/horse-drawn-carriages-ban-chicago-brendan-reilly-brian-hopkins" target="_blank" >to ban horse-drawn carriages in Chicago</a> over concerns about their well-being.</p><p>Illinois’ Humane Care for Animals Act says: “No person or owner may beat, cruelly treat, torment, starve, overwork or otherwise abuse any animal.”</p><p>Animal owners must provide "veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering.”</p><p>SHARK president Steve Hindi, who’s based in Kane County, said that too often authorities in Illinois don’t enforce the law, even in the face of clear evidence.</p><p>One argument Hindi’s group has heard: The statute doesn’t specifically ban steer tailing.</p><p>To which Hindi says: “There’s no law that” explicitly “says you can’t throw a puppy out a window,” but the anti-cruelty statute would clearly cover that.</p><p>“We shouldn’t need a new law,” he says.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-ae0000" name="image-ae0000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ba0e817/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1136x638+0+47/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F4e%2Fb6%2F7f95b3104dccb688554e9af310a1%2Fscreenshot-2026-08-04-at-6-56-24-pm.png 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/> <img class="Image" alt="SHARK's Steve Hindi, at left, and Jodie Wiederkehr." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f530de3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1136x638+0+47/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F4e%2Fb6%2F7f95b3104dccb688554e9af310a1%2Fscreenshot-2026-08-04-at-6-56-24-pm.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/adcb6b3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1136x638+0+47/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F4e%2Fb6%2F7f95b3104dccb688554e9af310a1%2Fscreenshot-2026-08-04-at-6-56-24-pm.png 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f530de3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1136x638+0+47/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F4e%2Fb6%2F7f95b3104dccb688554e9af310a1%2Fscreenshot-2026-08-04-at-6-56-24-pm.png" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>SHARK’s Steve Hindi, at left, and Jodie Wiederkehr.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Provided</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>Even so, a bill was introduced by state Sen.
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- <p>A man on horseback in a corral rides feverishly alongside a fleeing steer while reaching for the animal’s tail, which he quickly but skillfully wraps around his right cowboy boot while maintaining a grip on the appendage.</p><p>As intended, the maneuver causes the steer to twist and tumble to the dirt.</p><p>The rider — part of a “backyard rodeo” in the far northwest suburbs last summer — gallops off, holding something grotesque in his hand: part of the steer’s tail, which was ripped free.</p><p>Called “degloving,” the injury is common at these types of events, according to local animal rights activists who have been trying to stop “steer tailing” in Illinois for years, saying it amounts to animal abuse that’s clearly illegal under state law, though not enforced nearly enough by local police and prosecutors.</p><p>An exception is in McHenry County, where three men were sentenced Wednesday to a year of conditional discharge, similar to probation, on animal cruelty charges stemming from last summer’s event in unincorporated Woodstock. Imposed by Judge Justin Hansen, the sentence included $250 fines and barred the men from "intentional contact" with animals, with some exceptions, during the term.</p><p>The men were prosecuted, at least in part, based on drone footage of the rodeo taken by the animal advocacy group SHARK, which stands for Showing Animals Respect and Kindness.
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Suburban 'backyard rodeos' feature steers being chased, knocked down and, at times, stripped of their tails
Sources1TypeCoverageChicago Sun-Times