The mayhem at the rented home of the California Rodeo Salinas was not bull-riding, steer-tailing, or even bullfighting as done by the rules
SALINAS, California––If the Jaripeo Baile held on August 1, 2026 at the Salinas Sports Complex in Salinas, California had been an authentic exhibition of Mexican culture, the participants who kicked and jumped up and down on a tied, prostrate bull named Maximo might have been expected to know a downed bull from a piñata.
If the Jaripeo Baile had even been an authentic charreada, the steer-tailing participants should have known that jerking the bull’s tail is supposed be done from horseback, while the bull is running for his life, not when the bull is tied down and essentially immobile.
If the Jaripeo Baile had even been a bullfight, the participants––and the crowd––should have known that the bull is supposed to be dead before anyone tries to cut off his ears.
Where were the clowns?
If the bull-riding event at the Jaripeo Baile had been conducted according to either Professional Bull Riders Association, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, or Mexican American Classic Charrería Organization rules, no bull would be released from the bucking chute into the arena before the bull rider had a firm grip with one hand on his saddle horn, the bull rider would have worn some head protection under his cowboy hat, at least one rodeo clown would have been standing by to intervene after a fall, and an ambulance would have been standing by in event of a human injury.
None of that appears to have been done at the Jaripeo Baile held on August 1, 2026 at the Salinas Sports Complex in Salinas, California, an event not to be confused with the California Rodeo Salinas, held two weeks earlier, an annual event at least since 1911 with origins around a century earlier.
(From Angelo Ortiz video, posted by Chris Cerney.)
What is a “Jaripeo Baile”?
A “Jaripeo Baile” is traditionally a combination of an afternoon charreada, or nine-event Mexican-style rodeo, with an evening dance.
The rodeo part, these days, is usually whittled down to just one or two events held for tradition’s sake, usually bull riding and/or steer tailing.
Advertised the Salinas hosts of the Jaripeo Baile held on August 1, 2026, “Get ready for an unforgettable day of live music and exciting bull riding featuring [bands named] Los Farmerz, Cornelio Vega y Su Dinastía, Banda Zeta, Banda R-15, Banda Exclusiva, Banda Menguarense, and more!”
The well-attended dance was obviously the main event. But at least one participant in the preliminary bull riding missed the dance, having apparently never had either hand on his saddle horn when, according to bull riders and former bull riders who commented online, the bull was released prematurely. Bucked forward, the rider hit his head. Bucked backward, the rider fell off, again hitting his head before being briefly dragged and then possibly stomped.
Rider hurt; bull was attacked
Commenters differed as to the exact sequence of the bull rider’s injuries, but agreed that he was severely hurt. Several commenters claim the fallen bull rider, apparently unconscious with head and neck injuries, was not properly secured in a stretcher before being carried off.
No information appears to have been released about the condition or identity of the bull rider.
“After the rider was off the bull,” narrated KSBW television news digital content manager Ricardo Tovar, “several people appeared to lasso the animal to the ground,” repeatedly slamming the bull bodily into the arena fence. The video then shows several individuals kicking and stomping the bull, while another person stomps on the downed bull after pulling its tail.”
The Tovar version was significantly understated.
Monterrey citizen newscaster Chris Cerney posted video taken by spectator Angelo Ortiz, at https://www.facebook.com/reel/1371083435210592.
An uncut version is posted at https://www.facebook.com/reel/1005748455620127.
(From Angelo Ortiz video, posted by Chris Cerney.)
Jumping, cutting, kicking
The video shows two men jumping up and down on Maximo the bull while a third man hacks at the bull’s ears with a knife, several others kick the bull, and still others look on.
Assessed Beth Clifton of ANIMALS 24-7, as a former vet tech with extensive large animal experience, “I watched the video multiple times. In a failed attempt to remove the bucking strap, the men lassoed the bull around his neck. They forced him down with the bucking strap still around his girth. As the bull fought with them, the lariat noose tightened and eventually cut off his airway.
“The bull went limp and the men tried to revive the bull by jumping on him to get his heart going.
“These men did not have a clue about what they were doing and the bull was suffering for it.
“Stupid as they all were,” Beth finished, “I don’t believe they were intentionally trying to harm the bull. Of course they did, because of their incompetence! I would like to know how the bull did despite the clueless idiots!!!”
Responded the California Rodeo Association in a prepared statement, “We recognize that the incident occurred at a facility we manage and that many people associate with our organization.
“We take that responsibility seriously.
“The California Rodeo Association does not condone animal abuse or the mistreatment of livestock under any circumstances.
“The actions depicted in the videos are inconsistent with our values and with the standards we expect of anyone using our facilities.”
Barred from Salinas Sports Complex
This raises the question of what degree of difference the California Rodeo Association perceives, other than the level of public outrage, between what the Jaripeo Baile participants did to the bull on August 1, 2026, and what California Rodeo Salinas participants do to steers and horses every year in roping and bucking events.
Does a steer suffer less from being roped and dragged than a bull from being jumped on?
Sidestepping that question, the California Rodeo Salinas said the Jaripeo Baile promoters violated their rental agreement, “and will be barred from hosting future events at the Salinas Sports Complex.”
That is likely to be the full extent of any consequences for the Jaripeo Baile promoters.
The Salinas Police Department, with no known history of responding to alleged rodeo animal abuse, issued a media statement saying it “is aware of the video circulating on social media regarding an incident that occurred at the rodeo grounds this weekend. We want to assure the public that the incident is being actively investigated in conjunction with the SPCA,” the Salinas Police Department media release said.
Witnesses referred to SPCA Monterrey County
The statement directed anyone who “witnessed the incident, has additional information, or captured different videos that may assist with the investigation” to contact the SPCA Monterey County.
Ricardo Tovar of KSBW affirmed on August 3, 2026 that “SPCA Monterey County has taken the lead” in the investigation.
“Good luck with the Monterey SPCA,” scoffed Showing Animals Respect & Kindness investigator Mike Kobliska, experienced in documenting alleged cruelty to animals at the California Rodeo Salinas that the Monterey County SPCA found pretexts to ignore.
Founded in 1905, the Montrey County SPCA, or SPCA Monterey County as it now styles itself, like the Salinas Police Department, has no discernible history of having ever taken action against rodeo animal abuse.
Abuses documented for decades
Alleged California Rodeo Salinas abuses have been thoroughly documented for decades.
Action for Animals founder Eric Mills tallied 16 fatal injuries to animals occurring at the California Rodeo in the 12 years 1983-1995.
The Monterey County SPCA did nothing about any of them.
Showing Animals Respect & Kindness founder Steve Hindi videotaped three calves suffering broken legs at the California Rodeo in 2009.
The SPCA Monterey County did nothing about that.
In 2013 Hindi videotaped a performer spraying glitter into the face, including the eyes, of a trailered bull. Again the SPCA Monterey County did nothing about it.
Bull baiting
Said Hindi after viewing the video posted by Chris Cherny, “We’ve recorded things worse than this at the Salinas Rodeo itself, including bull baiting. We will be calling them out.”
On July 19, 2029, Hindi and Kobliska videotaped an unofficial event in the California Rodeo Salinas main ring differing little, if at all, from bull baiting as practiced when first documented at Stratford Bridge, England, in 1209.
The 109th California Rodeo Salinas had nearly ended on Sunday, July 19, 2019. The loudspeaker was still announcing the last “bullfighting” events, in which “rodeo clowns” tease young bulls who are already agitated by bucking straps cinched tightly around their waists.
Attendees, however, were filing out of the Salinas Sports Complex.
(From SHARK video)
Mixed pack
However, as documented by the Showing Animals Respect & Kindness video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prgX7QtdrvA, hundreds of spectators remained in their main arena seats, far from the awards ceremony for the winning “bullfighters.”
Six bulls who had just been run hard by the rodeo clowns stood at bay near the center of the area, charged repeatedly by a mixed pack of five dogs.
Among the dogs were at least one boerboel, a Catahoula leopard dog, two probable boerboel mixes, and a small terrier who tried to push the bulls toward the big dogs.
The big dogs, especially the boerboel and the Catahoula, lunged again and again at the bulls’ faces, biting and sometimes drawing blood.
Bulls tried to run
The bulls tried to push the dogs away with their horns, attempted to turn away and run, occasionally kicked at the dogs, and conspicuously refrained from goring and tossing the dogs.
This was the one evident difference between the 10 minutes of video that Hindi and Kobliska collected, taken from multiple angles, and centuries-old depictions of obviously more experienced bulls throwing some of their harassers.
The bulls approached the gate through which they would later be herded to trailers, but the men at the gate did not open it to let them escape the dogs.
When an apparent black boerboel/border collie cross tried to quit the violent harassment of the bulls, a man standing in the ring ordered the dog to resume.
Showing Animals Respect & Kindness later collected video of bull-baiting with dogs after night performances.
No one did anything about it
Yet, predictably, neither the Salinas Police Department nor the SPCA of Monterey County did a thing about it.
(See SHARK video shows dogs baiting bulls at Calif. Salinas Rodeo 2019 and District Attorney will not prosecute alleged bull-baiting at Salinas rodeo.)
Bull-baiting at Monterey rodeos is nothing new. Visiting Monterey in 1834, U.S. Army officer, explorer, and fur trapper Benjamin Bonneville (1796-1878) described witnessing bull-baiting in which bears were set on bulls rather than dogs, as well as traditional Spanish-style bullfighting.
The California Rodeo Salinas under the present name began in 1911. Media releases distributed by the California Rodeo Salinas itself promised bull-baiting and bullfighting, along with all the other standard rodeo events, at least as early as 1919 and as late as 1948.
The “bullfighting” may have been the same event called “bullfighting” today.
(Beth Clifton collage)
The bull-baiting very likely was exactly what SHARK videotaped in 2019, since nothing else has ever been called “bull-baiting.”
California did not actually outlaw bullfighting and bull-baiting until 1957.
But both are illegal now. So, presumably, is treating downed bulls like piñatas.
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