In an idealized vision of America, the youth competitions at the National Western Stock Show have traditionally ranked with apple pie and baseball. Many a boy or girl has paid for college by raising and selling animals under the aegis of 4-H clubs or the Future Farmers of America. The animal husbandry skills transmitted by parents and teachers in those programs carry invaluable lessons about life, hard work and responsibility. The best of these young stewards can win honors and major financial rewards at the Stock Show.
Last week, however, the odor of cheating wafted through the stockyards when officials announced that 18 of the top 35 lambs in the Junior Market Lamb competition last January were disqualified after they were found to have been injected with a substance that caused inflammation and swelling of tissue. That made the lambs appear more muscular and appealing to judges.
It’s not the first time such chicanery has besmirched the competition. But the scale of this scandal, tainting more than half of the winners, and the youth of the cheaters makes this a sad day for a venerable Western institution.
The biggest victims are the other young men and women who played fair and lost their chance for recognition and money by falling behind the competition. The nature of the judging process makes it all but impossible to pick new winners from those who originally finished out of the money.
Pat Grant, president of the National Western, swiftly pledged, “Everything in our power to uphold our commitment to honesty and fair showmanship is being done.” Meanwhile, the Denver District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the cases for possible prosecution of such crimes as cruelty to animals, tampering with livestock and attempted theft and conspiracy.
Actually, given the spreading scandal over use of illegal steroids in professional sports, maybe our original comparison of the Stock Show and baseball is sadly valid.
