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.