City Council authorizes rodeos in North Las Vegas

By April Corbin

Thursday, March 2, 2017 | 12:18 p.m.

The effort to diversify the North Las Vegas economy just received a boost from an unusual place: an amended animal cruelty ordinance.

The City Council on Wednesday unanimously voted to allow sanctioned rodeos in North Las Vegas. The city has never hosted a rodeo. With the ordinance change, equine tripping is still banned and steer tripping is only allowed under certain conditions that have been deemed humane.

“There will be a positive economic impact,” said Councilman Isaac Barron. “Residents will be proud of trying to move the city in new directions, filling the niches that are available to our city.”

Barron pointed out that Clark County is already host to the National Finals Rodeo. He said he could envision North Las Vegas someday hosting regional rodeo competitions that attract people from California, Utah and Arizona.

“And I’ll be right there at the front watching people’s butts get kicked by the bulls,” he joked. “I root for the bulls.”

Wednesday’s vote puts to rest more than a year of back and forth among the city, rodeo groups, animal activists and local businesses. Only four people spoke during the public comment portion of the agenda item. All were in favor of welcoming rodeos to the city.

Hugo Gutierrez of Katy, Texas, told the council that his rodeo organization is interested in bringing events to North Las Vegas. He stressed that animal welfare is a priority and that industry standards have been set that balance the valued tradition of rodeo with the safety of animals.

“We believe we are caretakers of our heritage and tradition,” he said.

Councilman Richard Cherchio praised the potential but stressed that the overarching goals of the ordinance changes were not about money.

“This whole thing in part is about protecting animals,” he said. “It’s not necessarily about economic development. That is all very important, but we want to make sure for the people that I represent who are very passionate about the protection of animals that regardless of what the event is, the animals are treated well.”

In addition to the clarification regarding rodeos, the ordinance changes also expand the definition of animal cruelty to include animal hoarding and require pet shops and outdoor markets to sell animals from shelters or nonprofit rescue groups.

The city does not have any indoor pet shops that will be affected by this change.

Broadacres Marketplace, a popular outdoor swap meet, curtailed animal sales years ago after issues were raised regarding the condition of animals. Cherchio said the Broadacres owner was cooperative during the process of the new changes.

“We don’t have any places that sell animals,” he added, “but we did want to be proactive.”

The new animal hoarding ordinance does not specify the number of animals a person can have, instead stating that it’s unlawful to own “a number of animals in a quantity such that the person or owner fails to provide each animal with adequate care necessary to sustain each animal in a state of good health.”

First-time hoarders are subject to a fine of up to $500 and six months in jail. Courts may also order a psychiatric evaluation and impose specific limits on the number of animals allowed during a two-year maximum probationary period.