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The rhetoric was plentiful but mostly one-sided at the Woodside Town Council meeting Tuesday night as the public weighed in on the future of the pig scramble, a controversial element of the annual junior rodeo held July Fourth and hosted by the Mounted Patrol of San Mateo County at their Kings Mountain Road grounds.
Members of the Committee for a Humane Woodside and other opponents of the event held sway during an hour of discourse as speaker after speaker got up to urge the council to end the spectacle of 30 to 50 children seeking blue ribbons or their equivalent as they chase about a dozen small pigs around the Mounted Patrol’s dusty arena. The event is cruel to the pigs and a disservice to the morals of impressionable children, they said.
“Our cultural values are in question,” resident Donna Calia said. “An inference can be made that Woodside condones the pig scramble. … What we allow to happen in Woodside is a reflection of our cultural values.”
The notion that banning the pig scramble would be an attack on the cultural values of the Old West – as alleged by the Mounted Patrol many times in its statements – is absurd, Ms. Calia said.
Different species should be treated with the kindness they deserve, said resident Julian French.
Kim Hunter of Los Altos, putting herself in the frame of mind of an 8-year-old, said that pig scrambles would be cool, but that she doesn’t now think that way. “What’s happened, folks, is I grew up,” she said. “It doesn’t make any sense anymore. What we condone for our children, we condone for our society.”
The council listened, but only Councilman Daniel Yost showed an interest in having staff look at options that would place limits on the event. There wasn’t a formal vote, but the other three members present – Mayor Tom Livermore, Councilman Chris Shaw and Councilwoman Anne Kasten – indicated a preference for taking no action, arguing that attempting to ban a legal activity was outside of their portfolio. Opponents of pig scrambles should take up their complaints with the state Legislature, the council members said.
Councilman Peter Mason and Councilwoman Deborah Gordon recused themselves from the discussion before it began, Mr. Mason because the bookkeeper for his architectural firm is a member of the Humane Woodside committee, and Ms. Gordon because she lives near the Mounted Patrol grounds. Councilman Dave Tanner was absent.
Independence Hall could not have held many more people than had gathered there for the 7:30 p.m. meeting, and it was not difficult to tell who was who.
Opponents of the pig scramble seated themselves on the right side, until the seats ran out. Many wore white T-shirts that read, “I am not a toy,” above an image of a pink pig, with the one-sentence manifesto “No animal scrambles in Woodside” running along the bottom.
Opponents spilled over to the left side of the room as well, where Patrol members gathered in their white uniform shirts, a few complemented with red bandannas. Some brought cowboy hats. Nearly all remained silent. The Patrol captain, Victor Aenlle, and one other Patrol member spoke after most of the opponents had had their say.
The pig scramble “is an event the people just enjoy,” Mr. Aenlle said. “We don’t think of it as cruelty.” If the Patrol is not breaking any laws, they should be left alone, he said.
The pig handlers, who are not Patrol members, may treat the pigs roughly – “It doesn’t look good to us,” Mr. Aenlle said – but Patrol members themselves do not mishandle the pigs, and the Patrol admonishes the pig handlers every year to handle the animals gently, Mr. Aenlle said.
(A video of the 2016 event shows pigs chosen for the third round of being chased trying to climb back in their trailer and being tossed back out, sometimes with seemingly little regard for how they land. The video also shows handlers holding the pigs in ungentle ways.)
Another Patrol member — a farmer, he said – told the council that he fishes and hunts and rides a mule, something the mule probably doesn’t like, he said. “You think the fish likes a hook in its mouth?” he asked.
Regulation of the pig scramble would be improper and run counter to “accepted practices,” he said. “If you’re opposed to the rodeo, don’t come,” he said, to scattered applause and whoops of appreciation by pig scramble proponents.
Outside Independence Hall, veterinarian, Woodside resident and co-author of a book on animal cruelty Dr. Bonnie Yoffe spoke with the Almanac. “Progress takes time,” she said when asked for her reaction, adding that she was “deeply disappointed” by the council’s decision.
The council abandoned its responsibilities, she said.
Thinking globally and acting locally failed this time, she said. The next target for protest will likely be this year’s rodeo. Committee members have also talked with the office of state Sen. Jerry Hill, Dr. Yoffe said.
“We have to regroup and see what we want to do,” she said. “We’ll definitely try to talk to local people about not going to the rodeo as long as the pig scramble is a part of it.”
Were the animals in the scramble dogs or cats, it would be illegal, she said. “Pigs feel terror and pain and fear” and have “rich emotional lives,”she said. “The treatment of these animals in this event is far below pork production standards.”
Mr. Aenlle told the council that the Patrol would consider modifications to the event, as urged by the town’s Livestock and Equestrian Heritage Committee. But the modifications would not eliminate the kids chasing pigs, Mr. Aenlle said. One suggestion: have the pigs in a corral before the event, presumably so kids could get to know them.
“A kinder gentler pig scramble is an oxymoron,” Dr. Yoffe said. “If it’s wrong, it’s wrong.”
“We’re not going away,” she added. “The society’s values have been reflected in the outcry.”
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Shame on anyone who shows up with their children at this year’s Woodside Mounted Patrol rodeo. Find something else to do.
liberty wins the day
Liberty! And no gosh durn license plate cameras like in PV!
According to the Mounted Patrol, “People vote with their feet. If you do not like the pig scramble, do not go to the pig scramble.”
Children do not take themselves to the pig scramble. Parents, please do not support this inhumane event. If the pig scramble is not a money maker, the Mounted Patrol will probably stop hosting it.
If you think this is disgusting, then boycott it or protest it. That is how America works. If enough families line the roads to protest the event this year, then no one will come next year.
NO SURPRISES HERE! Tanner too chicken to even show up, Gordon and Mason give chicken-livered excuses to keep from voting, and three other council members vote to take no action!
Much respect to Councilman Yost for his efforts even though once again the council as a whole shows no leadership. Other than Yost, the Woodside Town Council all act is if they fear being accused of having had an opinion on an issue.
It’s absurd to say to people who object to the scramble, “just don’t go”. The animal abuse is still going on, the point of objecting is to stop it, not to not witness it. Not going doesn’t help the pigs.
What a shame! Has anyone checked with PHS to get their point of view? I still can’t believe it is in any way a humane event for the pigs. SO unnecessary!
Why should anyone be surprised? This is Woodside, after all, where they actually think they are a rural community, property values be damned…
This was a shameful night in Woodside – despite all the evidence and great testimony, even from children pleading to protect the piglets, the Council failed to act. Parents and local horse lovers, it is up to you now to boycott this rodeo and most of all, boycott the pig scramble which brings in extra money. Educate your children, talk to your school principals and teachers, join the peaceful protest which is sure to happen at the next Mounted Patrol 4th of July rodeo.
Instead of piglets, let’s put the members of the Woodside Mounted Patrol in the ring and have people chase them and hold them up by their feet!
Just like elephants in circuses and whales in swimming pools, the pig scramble will eventually go away. Too bad it won’t be this year and yet another batch of piglets will be traumatized for “fun.”
History will show that when the Woodside Town Council had a chance to do the right thing, they failed to take action.
“How was your morning bacon”? To all who wanted to ban the pig races. why not just have the kids show up and hand out ‘participation trophies’ with cardboard pigs in the background. Let’s not cloud their little minds with ANYTHING competitive. Life, after all, is not about winning (or is it whining)but just about being involved. Good luck folks with your ‘snowflakes’. Take a look at what’s happening to the little darlings when they get to college. Too much stress that they can’t handle. Get real.
If no one shows up, the scramble could not proceed. Do not go to the rodeo, stand up to the mounted patrol by not going to their events! We do still have a choice as to what we choose to support.
This year I thot SURELY with all the passionate input against this ignorant, inhumane pig scramble, that it would be
resoundingly banned. I was wrong. Disgusting and more than sad.
POLITICAL BETRAYAL – OF PIGS AND CONSTITUENTS ALIKE. Shame on the gutless Woodside Town Council for not taking an ethical stand, and for passing the buck. The pigs and the Woodside residents deserve better than this. I smell CORRUPTION and major conflicts of interests. The Mounted Patrol had NOTHING to offer, except the tired old “tradition” argument, and that other dead horse, “Western lifestyle.” Some “traditions” deserve to die. The scrambles is one of them.
A County Ordinance is in order, and a likely sponsor would be the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA, Ken White, president; email – kwhite@peninsulahumanesociety.org Let him hear from you!
People should be meeting with the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. And speak at the weekly Tuesday meetings, beginning at 9:00 a.m. PUBLIC COMMENT is 1st thing on the agenda. Go often!
CONTACT THE GUILTY:
Mayor Tom Livermore & Town Council, email – council.members@woodsidetown.org
Captain Victor Aenlle, MPSMC, email – victor@aenllefamily.com
I can’t believe that the council refused to budge on this issue. Clearly the community does not want this nonsense to continue. It gives Woodside a bad name.
Regardless of how you feel about the pig scramble, animal cruelty laws do not belong at the town level for the same reasons we don’t have our own DMV. So before you claim that “think globally, act locally” didn’t work, try actually thinking globally. The council did the right thing: animal cruelty is not in their scope.
Just because you want to stop someone from doing something you don’t like doesn’t mean you should go to the town council first. They have enough to do already. Go to the level of government that normally regulates your issue.
If the people who want to ban the Woodside Pig Scramble lived in Palo Alto, they would be the leading advocates for dropppng the names of the Jordan and Terman middle schools.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” – Mahatma Gandhi. Obvious Woodside is not great.
Stunning – the hue and cry, for piglets that are returned to the farm for you-know-what purpose.
Look around at the tent encampments in our Bay Area, folks. I’m okay with being against this, but a little human perspective, please. Thousands of views for the piglet threads, of course.
I sat (stood actually) in the back last night and listened to speaker after speaker demand that their opinions be heard/considered. Many also claimed expertise at understanding the emotional/mental make up of pigs. Many also insisted that children will be forever scarred by the experience of participating in a scramble.
The irony of course is that the same group (anti-scramble) are particularly quick to deny/insult the opinions of the scramble supporters. Someone pointed out that how could the Mounted Patrol Captain have any idea what the pigs were thinking/having fun (assumption being that only an anti-scramble person can know what pigs are thinking). When the Mayor said that his daughter was a psychiatrist who participated in the scramble as a child – someone yelled from the audience “you should recuse yourself!” as an epithet. Nice crowd those anti-scramble folks.
Just because you disagree with something, doesn’t automatically make you right or them wrong. Leave that sort of intellectual thought to our national government.
It is easy to make statements.
Those little piglets who will be the victims in this year’s pig scramble are probably being born about now.
There are several more months in the school year. Many of thechildren who participate in the scramble probably attend local schools. This is the time to ask the the schools to focus on their anti bullying curriculum that is part of the State’s Education Code. If you have a child in a local school, you as a parent could ask the school principal if you could come talk about the inhumane treatment of animals in the pig scramble. Once the children are aware and discussing this at school and at home, maybe they and their parents will boycott the scramble.
Time for action.
Good for Woodside!
This is fun for the kids and no harm done.
Save your energy for real issues, people.
Enuff: “This is fun for the kids and no harm done.”
Good. Grief.
But I guess there are those who think chaining up a bear and making it dance is okey-dokey as well…
For a different perspective I suggest reading the book “The Pig Scramble” written by a mother/school teacher.
https://g.co/kgs/O2GKFU
Having grown up on a farm I am reminded that chasing pigs is NOTHING compared to the brutality of slaughtering them (along with cattle).
For any of you that think your in-n-out burger came from a cow that ‘volunteered” to jump up on that butchers table…..grow up. Unless ALL of you give up meat, chicken, fish, you need to understand how that protein came to your table.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxFs6Yw6iQA
That is a video of a “normal” pig slaughter (using electric) vs a cattle slaughter that uses the prod we all saw in “no country for old men”
Trust me, none of you wants to be on the receiving end of either device.
In the meantime I will just LOVE my in-n-out double-double, and that bone in pork chop at the Village Pub.
@Yet More Of The Same – do dogs like being chained (leashed) and told to dance (sit, come, stay, etc.)? is that inhumane too? where does this slippery slope end?
pvrez: Right…because a bear and a dog are the same exact sort of creature.
Try again.
And while you’re at it, say hello to the Mounted Patrol for us.
The portion that was removed from my other post. shows that we live in a VERY liberal urban area with little or no sense of what “farming” looks like. Or how your basic food is brought to you.
we as a society vote with our pocketbooks (and feet). Quite frankly what is offending most of you is that the council disagreed with you. That is something you are NOT used to in your world (someone telling you no, you are wrong).
You have the ability to simply walk away and NOT support the rodeo. it is your right, but please check your holier than thou attitudes at the door (or the gate)
Farm Boy
Uh, “Farm Boy” (as if!) — the Almanac website can decide what goes and what gets removed. Don’t like it? Then don’t post here.
And don’t multiple-post the same post from differing locations. Sure sign of a troll right there.
@Yet More Of The Same – i’ve made no argument, just asking questions. bears and dogs are clearly not the exact thing, but both are certainly animal ‘creatures’. does humane treatment for one animal look different from one to the other? i have no affiliation with the mounted patrol, but do enjoy their rodeo on the 4th. oh and especially enjoy double cut pork chops too – mmmmm.
Wow. The Woodside Town Council should be deeply ashamed. There is no good argument for the pig scramble being positive whatsoever. And the argument that it keeps kids away from drugs and video games! Bah! That is the lamest argument ever, considering this is a 5 minute event. Pigs getting injured is obvious cruelty. The town of Woodside has just been pushing these poor folks around. Come on, Woodside, step up to the plate and do something about this now! Do you want Woodside to be a place where animal cruelty takes place? Well it will be until this event gets stopped. And Mounted Patrol, are you saying that the only way to entertain kids these days is to have them chase and mistreat kids? Wow… This is flat out sad. The town council should be ashamed.
Also, I’ve been to this event before, and lots of kids hate it! Some stand around crying asking their moms and dads to help save the pigs.
@Anonymous Woodside Glens Resident – it’s legal. no argument needed.
@Wow – perhaps the families/kids who ‘hate’ the pig rodeo could find other things to pursue which they like instead. if a child cries at the sight of lima beans, is that cause for banning legumes from the town of woodside?
So tell us, pv — stupid analogies all you have? Oh wait…
And as for “it’s legal. no argument needed” — a LOT of things were legal once. Really bad things. Want to make them legal again?
@Yet More Of The Same – it appears you’ve taken the ball and run out of the stadium. safe travels.
Farm Boy,
Your writing and testimony worry me you may be in favor of AgGag.
I refer you to Joel Salatin’s books wherein he describes farming methods without cruelty to animals. He admits one bad day, but otherwise animals are well cared for through their life cycles.
Mew works by Joel and his followers show compassion based farming is a workable, better way. Humane farmers who bring meats to local farmers markets have longest lines.
All beings know suffering and long for relief from suffering. This might even include you if you look deeply enough. Hierarchal dominance is not the only way. When one truly “grows up” then this is a rewarding realization.
@4compassion
My point is that there are LEVELS of cruelty. Putting down an animal for slaughter is NEVER gentle. it’s not like a “pig” whisperer can talk a pig into killing itself for your bone in pork chop or breakfast sausage.
like I said in an earlier post, all the offended people need to take a step back and think about how there in-n-out burger got to that bun. This land of liberals is without a conscience about “their” issues, and has complete amnesia about what other constituencies find important. If the last election taght us ANYTHING it is tat the “Left” coast is different…..
Farm Boy
Disgusting vote. #BoycottWoodsideJuniorRodeo
Ah… The arrogance of self-perceived “objective correctness”… Don’t like the scramble? Don’t go. I’ll be there. With my kids. They can go as long as they do their chores (mostly feeding the discarded dogs we foster at our own expense)… It’d be interesting to know how many of the “compassionate” protesters “walk the walk” by living a completely vegan lifestyle, or if not, at least only eat what they raise (humanely), catch or kill. Reminds me of the prius-driving outspoken “environmentalist” who sees no incongruity in buying chinese-made goods from Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel and Resto Hardware or ordering from Amazon twice a week.
It does not feel good to be a Woodside resident.
I am ashamed of having any association with Woodside through my address.
Thank you Councilman Yost. You are the youngest representative but you demonstrated that you are the most compassionate and evolved human being on the Town Council.
Woodside: Pig Scramble Capital of the World a newspaper called Woodside.
I wonder if Council members Livermore, Kasten and Shaw will have any peace? By siding with the Mounted Patrol they stained the reputation of Woodside as a place where families entertain themselves by watching their kids terrorize baby animals much like a dystopian society.
“Woodsider”, as a 48 year resident of the area I can assure you that in spite of the best efforts of disconnected newcomers, the “reputation of Woodside” is that of a rural town where rodeos, 4H, horsemanship and animal husbandry are still proudly practiced by our youth. I, and many others, are proud of that.
To mountain resident
No longer is Woodside reputation as you describe after highly qualified experts spoke strongly to Council against the scramble and news reports spread far of tales and pictures of animal abuse.
Farm boy—-
I am in agreement about levels of abuse. There are also levels of empathic response. While you enjoy your pork chop I will be loving my salad bar even more knowing I didn’t contribute to obvious systems of cruelty..we can create a world of sharing or violent domination. Humans carry the potential for both.
The scramble is a microcosm of larger systems of violent control prevalent throughout the world.
The Woodside Rodeo could easily transform into a model of kindness and nurturing care. So could your farming. So could your hunting be changed.
Mayor Tom Livermore along with Shaw and Kasten disregarded their responsibility to the residents of Woodside. We residents have to live with the reputation that our Town condones the abuse and exploitation of piglets for entertainment. This is the Town we live in and this what we are. Animal abusers !!!
Amazing how people believe in killing baby humans, but chasing baby pigs is abuse. Hypocrite anyone?
I applaud the decision of the town council. My daughters will proudly participate and hopefully win the scramble. There are no second place prizes in our family. Make the pig scramble great again!
The Town Council, except Daniel Yost, is incapable of representing the constituents without getting blindsided by their connections to the Mounted Patrol. The reputation of our beloved Town has been damaged. A recall of Livermore, Kasten and Shaw is overdue. If they had any character they would have resigned after seeing the coverage of Woodside in local news.
My heart goes to the piglets who will get abused at the next woodside rodeo. Woodside Town Council is a bunch of sycophants to the Mounted Patrol devoid of any compassion or conscience. Their victims in this case are helpless piglets.
If the kids chasing piglets slipped on or got splattered with pig poo, that might discourage the scrambles. That substance is somehow smellier than the discharges from horses & cattle, in my experiences on a family ranch when I was a kid.
The whole time I was reading this I just thought about how instead of having the kids chase off the pigs they could play around with them or become acquainted with them. They get to spend time with them.
To “SantaCruzMtnRez”:
1) Three of the people who signed the petition opposing the scramble as inhumane are actually former mayors of the Town of Woodside – not “disconnected newcomers” as you falsely claim with no first hand knowledge of who the actual signatories are.
2) Animal “scrambles” do not demonstrate animal husbandry skills – in fact, they demonstrate the opposite. No one releases 50 kids to chase piglets and grab them every which way in the actual practice of farming or animal agriculture.
3) There are no “first place” winners at the scramble – everyone gets a trophy for catching one or a ribbon for participation. Since you’ve lived here for 48 years and bring your girls, you should know this.