In just a few weeks, an unthinkably cruel annual event that celebrates torturing and killing innocent animals will take place once again in the US state of Texas.

During the event, children participate in decapitating animals, dipping their hands in blood, and adding their own tiny grisly red handprints to a violent mural in celebration of this annual atrocity. This is not science fiction, but a real festival that takes place each year and leads to the deaths of thousands of native wild animals.

This annual event, held in the small West Texas town of Sweetwater, sees thousands of rattlesnakes rounded up and put on display before they are killed in a gruesome public festival. The event includes a beauty pageant where teenage girls contend for the title of  “Miss Snake Charmer,” with part of the competition involving decapitating pinned-down live rattlesnakes.

The snakes that are beheaded during this sick festival often remain alive for extended periods and continue to writhe while being skinned by festival goers, who pay a fee to take part in the activity.

Snakes are intelligent, sentient beings as well as crucial parts of their ecosystems, and this festival, beyond being unbelievably cruel, is also causing widespread environmental damage. The most common method for collecting the snakes involves pouring gasoline into their dens and catching them as they flee the toxic fumes. This practice causes environmental pollution that can harm a wide variety of wildlife in the surrounding areas. The festival is also putting a strain on Western Diamondback rattlesnake populations that are critical for maintaining ecological balance.

Subjecting children to violence against animals has also been shown to cause psychological harm and has been linked to mental health issues, desensitization to violence, and a higher risk of those children engaging in violence against other humans throughout their lives.

This festival is a shameful, archaic, and inhumane spectacle that has no place continuing in the modern world.

Take Action Now

Please join Species Unite in calling on the Texas State Legislature to prohibit the mass capture and killing of rattlesnakes and shut down the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup for good.