Manny Rutinel Doesn’t Deserve to Wear a Cowboy Hat

From Insult to Real Injury

Colorado's livestock industry has spent decades investing in environmental stewardship, animal care, water conservation, and production efficiency. Today, Colorado agriculture contributes approximately $47 billion annually to the state's economy and supports nearly 200,000 jobs. Weld County, Colorado, is one of the nation's most productive agricultural regions and is home to major beef, dairy, and food-processing operations. Against that backdrop, a known animal rights and environmental extremist, most recently from the East Coast, who has lately been seen wearing a cowboy hat, is running for the Congressional seat in District 8, which includes Weld County.

What Manny Rutinel doesn’t want people to know and has glossed over in recent interviews is the years' worth of work he has invested in attacking animal agriculture. The list is long and egregious.

The Insult

The cowboy hat is a sacred badge of Colorado’s western heritage, livelihood, and cultural community. It is not just a fashion choice. The cowboy hat is deeply tied to unwritten codes of honor and mutual respect, as well as to agriculture and the American West. Wearing the hat signals that you understand, respect, and are part of the West’s heritage. When an individual adopts the iconic headwear while simultaneously backing policies, founding NGOs, and pushing an ideological agenda that threatens the very survival of livestock production, farming, and ranching, it is deeply insulting. Using the symbol of a trade to dismantle that trade is a form of cultural mockery or deception. It feels as though the wearer is exploiting the positive, hard-working imagery of the American cowboy to gain trust while actively undermining the very people who created that legacy.

A Chronology of Animal Rights Ideology

The following chronology summarizes Rutinel’s publicly documented activities and statements related to animal agriculture, clearly demonstrating a deep commitment to animal rights ideology:

University of Florida 2014 -

• Participated in a campus demonstration shirtless wearing a PETA shower curtain falsely maligning beef production
• Opposed Gainesville, Florida’s Grilled Chicken Week. According to The Independent Florida Alligator, “Manny Rutinel, the vice president of UF’s Student Animal Alliance, said he does not support coupons for animal products. Rutinel, a 21-year-old UF microbiology and economics senior, said he believes animal products are bad for people, animals and the environment.”
• Member of the on-campus animal rights group, UF’s Student Animal Alliance
• Protested near the University of Florida Beef Teaching Unit on World Day for Farmed Animals in Gainesville, Florida. His sign read, “Animal liberation is human liberation.

Humane Society of the United States – Intern During Undergrad

Humane League – Campus Coordinator – During Undergrad

Yale Law School LEAP CAFÉ and Law and Policy Lab Report – 2020

Rutinel's actions are not only insulting to those he's trying to impress but also openly undermine their way of life.

• Belonged to the animal rights club at Yale Law School, LEAP which stands for Law, Environment, and Animals Program
• Rutinel was quoted in a Yale publication describing animal agriculture as "a horrific, exploitative industry," while discussing the farm transition to shut down animal agriculture proposal he co-authored
• Co-authored From Animals to Plants: Financing Farm Transitions Through Carbon Markets, proposing carbon market incentives to transition farmers from livestock production to crop production.
• The report specifically recommends that supported projects "move farmers from raising animals to growing plants." It repeatedly emphasizes that carbon funding should be reserved only for producers who leave animal agriculture.
• Throughout the report, animal agriculture is characterized as a major environmental problem. It states:
• "...the only supported offset projects should be those which specifically move farmers from raising animals to growing plants." Among its assertions are that livestock production:
• Creates a "tremendous strain" on the environment
• Contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions
• Increases water use
• Increases land use
• Creates air pollution, and should be replaced with plant-based production whenever possible

Animal Legal Defense Fund Intern – 2020 – During Law School

Brighter Green Intern – 2020 – During Law School

• · “in the animal and environmental space”

Popeyes Petition - 2020

• Started a petition on Change.org encouraging Popeyes to offer plant-based protein options.

Connecticut Legislative Testimony 2021

• Testified in support of policies encouraging a shift toward plant-based foods, citing climate-related concerns. “The globe must dramatically shift away from animal products and toward fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts.”

Climate Refarm 2021

• Co-founded and served as CEO of Climate Refarm, an organization promoting the transition of livestock producers away from animal agriculture to solely crop production. According to reporting, the organization signed letters encouraging policies including greater consumption of plant-based foods

Rutinel Quotes from Yale Law School Article Q & A – 2021

• “As it stands now, animal agriculture is a horrific, exploitative industry.”
• “Many factory farms maintain lagoons of feces that get sprinkled out into the air, so neighbors down the road cant picnic or spend time outdoors because whenever they go outside, the noxious gases hurt their lungs”
• “Laborers are going to be better off because now they’re going to be working on crop agriculture, which isn’t a panacea, but it’s better than working with tortured animals.”

Open Letter to C40 Mayors – 2022

• This letter blamed climate change on animal agriculture and encouraged mayors of C40 cities to press a global shift towards plant-based diets and moving away from animal products. The letter falsely claimed that the consumption of animal products contributes “3/4 of our emissions from food” and that consuming less red meat could save 170,000 deaths per year.
• The letter also criticized the C40 Mayors Summit for offering meat and dairy on its menu and advocated that these cities implement a variety of methods to force their inhabitants to follow their ideological agenda

EarthJustice – Environmental Attorney– 2023

• Rutinel stated, “My whole job was to take on large meat corporations and sue them for all they’re worth.”

ClimateCon Podcast 2023

• Rutinel was featured in a podcast as the founder of Climate Re-Farm. In the podcast he shares his negative views of animal agriculture

Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Convention – 2024

• Rutinel was listed as a speaker on the opening panel
• He gave a shout-out to Just Egg (vegan egg substitute)
• He advocated for Trojan Horse tactics, infiltrating meat companies, obtaining seats on committees, and more to push the animal rights ideological agenda

Backed the Fur and Slaughterhouse Bans in Denver – 2024 Colorado HB24 – 1338 – 2024

Rutinel wasted no time once obtaining a seat in the Colorado State Legislature. He sponsored HB 1338. While the legislation is written as an environmental justice measure, it creates a new regulatory framework that could have significant implications for agriculture in Colorado.

Speech at University of Denver Law School – 2025

· Rutinel told law students that he became involved in politics in part due to how animals are treated in agriculture

· Called the 2024 ballot initiatives to ban fur sales and processing, “really awesome”

· Co-taught an animal law course at the University of Denver law school

Colorado Sun Article – August 2025

· “There are bad apples, and I’ve spoken out against those bad apples that cause extreme and unnecessary animal cruelty in parts of the food industry and against the environmental cost of unsustainable food practices… I think that cruelty and environmental harm is concerning to many Coloradoans…”

Endorsed by Jane Fonda’s Climate PAC - 2026

The Real Injury

Rutinel’s campaign website omits any reference to animal agriculture and his ideological agenda. When questioned about his long history of attacking animal agriculture, he has skirted the issue. It is quite telling that he has not directly refuted his past claims; instead, he fully ignores the fact that the very people he is vying to represent are the ones he disparaged with misinformation and very real actions. It cannot be ignored that he is seeking to fool voters by cosplaying in a cowboy hat. In recent years, Colorado has faced some very real threats to our agricultural way of life, from ballot initiatives to predator introduction.

Given Rutinel’s background and his willingness to mislead voters, it calls into question whether a person who has lived in the state only a few years and has spent so many years immersed in animal rights ideology is the right person to represent Colorado in Washington, D.C. Make sure your family, friends, and neighbors know about his history.