Countless Rattlesnakes Slaughtered in Cruel Events Across the Country—Speak Up!
Update March 25, 2024: The San Patricio Restoration Society canceled the 2024 rattlesnake races and said that it has no plans to host any rattlesnake-related events in the future! Now please take action to end “rattlesnake roundups” being held across the country below.
“Rattlesnake roundups” are barbaric, misguided events that are sometimes held at carnivals, beauty pageants, and festivals. They typically involve forcing rattlesnakes out of burrows using gasoline fumes and hooks, dumping them into cramped crates or pillowcases without food or water and keeping them in there for a month or longer leading up to the events, and hauling them to an arena where tens of thousands of onlookers watch as they’re whipped against the floor, bludgeoned, decapitated, and skinned. Attendees can eat the snakes’ flesh and buy products made of their skin.
Rattlesnakes can feel pain, fear, and stress, making these mass-slaughter events unspeakably cruel. These reptiles have such a slow metabolism that they can suffer for up to an hour after decapitation. The “roundups” appear to have originated as misguided attempts to eradicate rattlesnake populations, which is wholly unnecessary and ineffective, and today it seems that the only excuse for them is a lack of compassion coupled with a desire to cling to outdated traditions.
Please politely let the event organizers and officials in the following cities know that you’re appalled by their support of this carnage. Urge them to scrap the events and leave these animals in peace.
Opp, Alabama, Rattlesnake Rodeo
E-mail Mayor Becky Bracke at [email protected]
Apache, Oklahoma, Rattlesnake Festival
Call the festival organizers at 580-588-2880.
E-mail the festival organizers at [email protected].
Mangum, Oklahoma, Rattlesnake Derby
Call the city at 580-782-2250.
E-mail the event organizers at [email protected].
Call the event organizers at 580-954-7227 and 580-853-3720.
Okeene, Oklahoma, Rattlesnake Roundup
Call the event organizers at 580-822-5392.
E-mail the event organizers at [email protected].
Waurika, Oklahoma, Rattlesnake Hunt
Call the town at 580-228-2713.
Call the event organizers at 580-228-2838.
E-mail the event organizers at [email protected].
Waynoka, Oklahoma, Rattlesnake Hunt
Call the event organizers at 580-554-0768.
E-mail the event organizers at [email protected].
Freer, Texas, Rattlesnake Roundup
Call the town’s chamber of commerce at 361-394-6891.
E-mail the chamber of commerce at [email protected].
Oglesby, Texas, Rattlesnake Roundup
Call the event organizers at 469-450-4973.
E-mail the event organizers at [email protected].
Sweetwater, Texas, Rattlesnake Roundup
Call the event organizers at 352-235-3484.
Walnut Springs, Texas, Rattlesnake Roundup
E-mail the event organizers at [email protected].
