San Diego, CA
Judge adds protections for San Diego Rodeo animals at Petco Park
A San Diego judge issued a mixed ruling this week in an animal rights lawsuit concerning rodeos staged at Petco Park, finding that pregnant mares should no longer be allowed to compete and that onsite medical equipment must be adequate and “comprehensive” enough to provide care for the large animals.
The 21-page statement of decision issued Tuesday by San Diego Superior Court Judge Joel Wohlfeil does not end the rodeos, which have been controversial. The judge noted that the purpose of the suit was to prohibit practices that “allegedly subject the animals to ‘needless suffering’ or ‘unnecessary cruelty.’”
Wohlfeil’s ruling comes after he presided over a bench trial earlier this month. Two animal rights groups had sued C5 Rodeo and the Padres, alleging unfair business practices. The groups pointed to what they said amounted to animal cruelty. Two horses were injured or died following performances at the events.
The judge said that he “largely agrees” with the defendants but found “a limited number of practices” needed to be changed or stopped.
Wohlfeil’s decision noted that between the 2024 and 2025 rodeos, the rodeo management team adjusted the rules to not permit the use of electric prods — which had drawn criticism — and also to bar the use of mares known to be pregnant.
“(H)owever, more can and should be done to minimize the risk of ‘needless suffering’ by or ‘unnecessary cruelty’ to the animals, while, at the same time, preserving the sanctity of the rodeo,” the judge wrote. “It is the balance that the court has strived to accomplish in this (statement of decision).”
He said the two plaintiff groups, Animal Protection Rescue League and Showing Animals Kindness and Respect, met their burden to show a need to address the use of pregnant mares — one died after performing in a 2025 rodeo — and to require the presence of adequate medical equipment, which was not on hand when a horse threw its rider and rammed into a fence in 2024, leaving the animal badly injured. The horse later died.
The judge’s decision also said C5 Rodeo and the Padres issued a “false” press release following the 2024 horse injury.
The parties are due back in court in March for the judge to hear objections, if any, to his decision.
Attorney Bryan Pease, who represented Animal Protection Rescue League and Showing Animals Kindness and Respect, said the judge’s decision was “a definite victory and benefit to the public” as well as for his clients.
“The specific cruelty that was exposed and that occurred at both the 2024 and the 2025 rodeos are going to be prohibited from happening again,” Pease said.
Pease also said it’s “not surprising that the court didn’t kind of go out on a limb and issue a broad sweeping injunction against typical rodeo practices.”
Attorney Michael Healy, who represents C5 Rodeo, said in an email: “We are pleased with the order where it reflects that ‘the Court largely agrees with Defendants’ and C5 Rodeo is grateful San Diegans will continue to have the opportunity to be exposed to rodeo, our western heritage, and ranching traditions.”
A Padres spokesperson declined comment, citing the still-active litigation.
The rodeos at Petco Park, which is largely owned by the city of San Diego, have been controversial, prompting not just litigation but protests from animal rights groups and calls to ban rodeos within the city limits.
Proponents of such events point to their competition, heritage and cultural traditions, and critics say the events can be cruel for the participating animals. An effort a few years ago from City Councilmember Kent Lee to place restrictions — such as banning calf roping, team roping and steer wrestling — failed to generate enough support among fellow council members.
The January 2024 rodeo at Petco Park was the first within the city limits since the 1980s. It has since been an annual event — and, coincidentally, the bench trial (only a judge, no jury) was held in the days leading up to a rodeo C5 staged at Petco in mid-January.
The statement of decision highlights two incidents. The first was in January 2024 when a horse named Waco Kid threw its rider and collided with a wall. It collapsed immediately and stayed down, unable to stand without help.
According to Wohlfeil, some witnesses knew the horse was seriously hurt, including an on-site veterinarian who saw the incident and assumed — correctly — that the animal had fractured its cervical spine. But the equipment on hand was too small to X-ray the horse.
The judge ordered the rodeo management team to provide veterinary care that includes “onsite competent, comprehensive medical equipment” that can “adequately x-ray, scan, diagnose and treat the livestock” regardless of the animal’s size.
“The cost to the rodeo seems to be a small price to pay to avoid a repeat of Waco Kid’s debacle,” he wrote.
Wohlfeil also pointed to a press release issued the day of the incident, which stated: “Initial exam performed by the Veterinarian team did not reveal any obvious signs of fracture or instability.”
The judge said the press release “was false and intended to mislead the public.” He also said it was issued to “minimize the public’s perception” of the horse’s injuries, “knowing, at the same time, that the chances of Waco Kid’s survival were ‘thin.’”
The second incident the judge pointed to was in January 2025, when a 17-year-old mare by the name of Pearl Necklace died shortly after competing in an event. A necropsy determined the mare’s likely cause of death was a ruptured uterus and/or uterine artery, and the horse “appears to have bled out internally,” according to evidence the judge pointed to in his decision.
The judge pushed back on the notion from some trial witnesses who said they either did not know Pearl Necklace was pregnant or was as far along as she was. Wohlfeil wrote that he watched a video of the horse performing at the rodeo, “and even from the Court’s untrained eye, Pearl Necklace was obviously pregnant.”
Wohlfeil found the mare’s death was “both foreseeable and preventable,” and that the mare was subjected to “needless suffering” or “unnecessary cruelty.”
He also said it was not enough for a mare’s owner to declare the horse is not pregnant, and ordered the burden to be on the rodeo management team to verify that no pregnant mares compete in the rodeo.
San Diego, CA
Sir Mohamed Mansour brought a global movement to San Diego, and nearly won MLS Cup in Year 1
As Sir Mohamed Mansour was finalizing a deal with the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation to invest in San Diego FC in 2022, he reflected on their combined history. The Sycuan said they’d lived in the San Diego region for 12,000 years. Mansour looked to his own Egyptian culture’s 7,000-year existence.
“If we have 19,000 years of history we can’t lose,” said the 78-year-old.
When San Diego FC finally lost in the 2025 MLS Cup playoffs, it was in the Western Conference finals, capping the best debut season in the league’s history. Mansour spoke about the experience Thursday morning during the Business of Soccer conference at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“The first game, to me, meant everything. That night was a sleepless night because I’m very passionate about soccer,” he said.
Mansour would have settled for a respectable loss; they were playing defending MLS Cup champs L.A. Galaxy. But San Diego FC scored twice unanswered, winning the opener. And another sleepless night ensued.
Mansour discussed early life health issues, including being hit by a car when he was 10 years old, which left him bed-ridden for three years. He read American comic books and studied. His family’s wealth was confiscated by the Egyptian government during a 1965 revolution, and he later beat cancer as a 20-year-old while studying in the U.S.
Now the billionaire chairman of Mansour Group, an Egyptian conglomerate owned by his family, Mansour is also chairman of the Right To Dream Academy, which has made San Diego its fifth outpost. San Diego FC’s $150M Sharp HealthCare Performance Center includes residences and a school for Right To Dream participants in the club’s academy system. Mansour mentioned his plans to construct 100 pitches for underprivileged kids in San Diego.
“We are more than a football academy. We’re a global movement, built upon the belief that everyone has the right to dream,” said Mansour. “We’ve been rewriting the rules of talent development for over 20 years, guided by our core belief that excellence can be found anywhere.”
While creating hundreds of opportunities for children in underdeveloped countries, Right to Dream has generated tens of millions of euros in transfer fees for clubs within the network.
Mansour, who graduated from N.C. State in 1968 with an engineering degree and then earned a Masters’ from Auburn, differs from many MLS owners because he is a native soccer fan, he had extensive soccer business experience, and even an idea of how he’d like his team to play (possession-based).
Asked which he’d prefer — for Egypt to win the World Cup or San Diego FC to win MLS Cup — Mansour answered the United States (to win the World Cup) and San Diego FC to win MLS Cup.
“I tell you why. I’m a businessman too,” he said, grinning. “And if the US does well in this World Cup, soccer is going to grow.”
Rapid fire with Sir Mohamed Mansour
Comic book hero: Superman
Kryptonite: Worrying
Favorite athlete: Michael Jordan
Favorite soccer player: Mohamed Salah
Childhood hero: His father
The San Diego State Aztecs are bracing for some possible serious turnover this offseason and it’s not all going to be via the transfer portal.
Leading scorer Reese Dixon-Waters is out of eligibility, as are Jeremiah Oden and Sean Newman Jr. Newman can petition for another season based on his junior college years, but it’s anyone’s guess if he’d get it.
Obviously, San Diego State’s roster movement is far from complete and the transfer portal doesn’t even open until April 7, the day after the national championship game.
The Aztecs’ once-promising season ended when they were left out of the NCAA Tournament following their loss to Utah State in the Mountain West Tournament championship game.
There are some players we know will not be on the squad next season, which will be the Aztecs’ first in the new-look Pac-12:
Guard Reese Dixon-Waters
After missing all of the 2024-25 season with a broken foot, Dixon-Waters returned for his final season of eligibility and led the Aztecs in scoring at 13.1 points per game. He was a second-team All-Mountain West pick. He scored his 1,000th career point at UNLV on Jan. 24 and finished his career with 1,220 points.
Dixon-Waters played his first three seasons at USC before transferring to SDSU, where he started 23 of 37 games in 2023-24. He was a preseason All-Mountain West pick the next season before breaking a foot. He was so highly regarded that, despite missing all of last season, he was named to the preseason All-MW team in October.
One of his notable accomplishments was attempting more free throws (43) without a miss to start the 2023-24 season than any player in the country.
Forward Jeremiah Oden
Oden started 15 games and played in 30 of 33 games in his final season of eligibility after transferring from Charlotte, where he redshirted in 2024-25. He averaged 4.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 13.8 minutes.
Oden scored his 1,000th career point on Feb. 3 against Wyoming, where he played his first three college seasons. He finished his career with 1,024 points and 495 rebounds.
Oden didn’t play at all in a blowout home win against Utah State on Feb. 25, when Dutcher shortened his rotation from 11 to nine players. He had started the previous nine games.
Oden also played one season at DePaul.
Guard Sean Newman Jr.
The transfer from Louisiana Tech played in all 33 games and made four starts, including Senior Night in the regular-season finale against UNLV and all three games in the MW tournament, when freshman Elzie Harrington was out with an injury.
Newman averaged 3.3 points, 2.4 assists and 15.4 minutes.
Here is what you need to know in the March 25, 2026, Streamline newsletter:
This morning, we’re tracking San Diego Unified School District’s decision to rename Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the wake of serious allegations against the civil rights icon.
We’re also following the City of San Diego’s search for a new operator to reopen Tecolote Canyon Golf Course — and the neighbors pushing to safeguard and restore the surrounding natural space.
Plus, consumer reporter Marie Coronel shows why brand loyalty might be costing you more on your cell phone bill.
THE STREAMLINE
WATCH — ABC 10News brings you The Streamline for Wednesday, March 25 — everything you need to know in under 10 minutes:
The Streamline: Wednesday, March 25
TOP STORY
The San Diego Unified School District board voted Tuesday night to begin renaming Cesar Chavez Elementary School following allegations of sexual abuse against the labor leader.
The process will start with school leaders meeting with parents, teachers, students, and community members to select a new name.
While renaming a school typically takes several months, district officials said the timeline could be expedited in this case.
San Diego Unified usually limits itself to one school name change per year — in February, Clairemont High School’s mascot was changed from the Chieftains to the Captains.
However, board members said they would make an exception for this situation.
San Diego Unified initiates renaming process for Cesar Chavez Elementary over abuse allegations
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MICROCLIMATE FORECASTS
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BREAKING OVERNIGHT
(AP) — Iran received a 15-point proposal from the U.S. to reach a ceasefire in the war, two Pakistani officials said Wednesday.
The Pakistani officials described the proposal broadly as touching on sanctions relief, civilian nuclear cooperation, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program, monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, missile limits and access for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The Trump administration reportedly offered the plan to Iran as the U.S. appears to seek an end to the war even while more troops head to the Middle East.
The plan was submitted to Iran by intermediaries from the government of Pakistan, which has offered to host renewed negotiations between Washington and Tehran, a person briefed on the plan’s contours but who was not authorized to speak publicly told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The U.S. military is preparing to deploy at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days, according to three people with knowledge of the move who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.
Any talks between the U.S. and Iran would face monumental challenges. Many of Washington’s shifting objectives, particularly over Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs, remain difficult to achieve, and it is not clear who in Iran’s government has the authority or would be willing to negotiate.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s office said he has been discussing the war this week with several counterparts, but Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, denied Trump’s claim of direct talks and an Iranian military spokesperson declared that the fighting would go on.
Alluding to progress in talks, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Iran shared an oil- and gas-related “present,” a day after telling reporters that the Middle Eastern nation is eager for a deal to end the war.
Story by The Associated Press
CONSUMER
While loyalty is usually a good thing, it’s possible it could be costing you money when it comes to your cell phone bill.
WATCH — Consumer reporter Marie Coronel goes over the simple checks you can do right now to make sure you’re not overpaying:
Comparing cell phone plans to save money on your bill
WE FOLLOW THROUGH
The City of San Diego is seeking proposals from companies to lease and reopen the Tecolote Canyon Golf Course. While golfers welcome the move, some nearby residents argue it could harm the environment.
WATCH — Reporter Dani Miskell spoke to some neighbors about their expectations for whoever comes in to run the golf course:
Concerns grow over future of Tecolote Canyon Golf Course
RELATED COVERAGE:
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