Kinship Circle | Letter Campaigns

ATTN: Mr. Jim Donald, CEO
Starbucks Corp., P.O. Box 3717
Seattle WA 98124
ph: 206-447-1575; fax: 206-447-0828
Starbucks Retail Customer Relations: 800-235-2883, press 0
email: info@starbucks.com
web email: http://www.starbucks.com/customer/ contact_forms.asp?nav=3f

CC: Starbucks at Dell Range Marketplace
3610 Dell Range Blvd.; Cheyenne, WY 82009-5448
ph: 307-634-3433

Dear Mr. Donald,

I commend Starbucks for its goal to contribute positively "to our communities and environment." Certainly you'll agree there is nothing socially or environmentally conscientious about animal abuse. Yet Starbucks was a prominent advertiser with extended hours for fans at the 2005 Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo in Wyoming.

Please end your endorsement of horses, calves, steers and bulls abused for entertainment. I urge you to seek the truth as a "guiding principle."

"Without torture, there can be no rodeo," claims Peggy W. Larson, DVM, MS, JD, a former bareback bronco rider. Handlers bully domestic animals with electric prods, straps, spurs and tail twisting to make them appear wild. Graphic documentation from Cheyenne's annual rodeo attests to its inherent cruelty.

One photo depicts a horse forced to perform despite a bloody hoof injury. More splattered blood inside the chute indicates this horse is not the first battered animal. A steer is unnaturally contorted into a C-shape during "steer tripping," a contest in which a rider lassos a running animal in a 180-degree loop that pitches him to the dirt. A photo captures a horse slammed head first into the ground. Another horse lies dead in the ring during the "wild horse race."

Their eyes bulge in terror. They wheeze and tremble. Some linger in pain for days before sent to the slaughterhouse. While the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PCRA) and International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA) claim to uphold animal welfare regulations, cruelty investigators continue to record a high incidence of grievously wounded animals.

Animal welfare groups worldwide denounce the rodeo's trail of busted bones, shattered skulls and severed spines. Still, Starbucks is a longtime supporter. I understand the company also backed Miss Rodeo Washington in association with Ellensburg Rodeo, Kitsap Stampede, Colville Rodeo, Othello Rodeo, Beard Rodeo Company, and the Washington State Trappers Association.

At the very least, I ask you to view the evidence. If Starbucks executives are confident abuse does not exist, certainly they are comfortable meeting with SHARK, an animal protection organization with ample photographic proof of rodeo cruelty.

Please do not compromise consumer confidence in the Starbucks brand. I strongly encourage you to cease your sponsorship of rodeos.

Sincerely,