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When we mentioned how the Professional Bull Riders were holding an outdoor demonstration of bull riding on the corner of 8th Avenue and 33rd Street (outside of Madison Square Garden where their invitational is being held this weekend), our readers had some strong opinions.
Reader prana came out against bull riding:
These bull riders are little more than animal abusers who torment these bulls so that they will "buck" and create the illusion that they are "taming wild beasts." It's all a complete farce because it couldn't exist without the bulls being provoked.And reader Peter responded:
In order to get these animals to act "wild" they use flank straps which are painfully tightened around the bulls body, the riders wear metal spurs, tail-twisting is common right before rides, and electric prods giving 5,000-6,000 volts are used on the bulls while they are about to leave their chutes to be "ridden."
Bull riding is a disgusting display of animal abuse and torment portrayed as entertainment...
Check out the other comments in the thread here.
You are absolutely wrong, the PBR treats the bulls very well without mistreatment. The bulls try to buck off riders not because of flank straps or spurs or electric prods, but because they are basically wild animals acting according to their instincts. Bulls may be the same species as placid dairy cows but act very differently.
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i was told that the bulls testicles are pulled extremely hard to get them to buck. i think dolan should be put in the ring with his testicles tied and yanked. profiting from animal abuse is terrible. im ashamed to be a rangers season ticket holder when MSG involves themselves in a sport like this.
One of the comments on the prior thread referred to the PBR riders as "macho cowboy dudes." I regularly watch bull riding on Versus, and almost without exception the riders come across in interviews as very modest and unassuming, not macho in the least.
By the way, the strap that goes around the bulls' midsections does not press on their testicles. The bulls are shown in the bucking chutes as the riders get ready, and it's very clear that the bulls' testicles are not pulled and there are no electric prods in use. Think about it: if a bull were given a electric shock in the bucking chute that's strong enough to drive the bull wild, the rider - who generally weighs less than one-tenth what the bull does - would be fried medium-rare.
It's amusing that Peter, the other featured poster, wrote about how bulls are "basically wild animals according to their instincts."
That's nonsense. Bulls are domesticated, docile and calm animals. If these animals naturally bucked then there wouldn't be a need for tormenting straps tightened around their flanks, blasts of thousands of volts of electricity, or metal spurs. I witnessed today's shameful display of violence on the streets of NYC, and once you see past the manipulation of the rodeo thugs, you see bull riding for what it is: a perverse display of domination and control over animals which are provoked to behave in a way which will necessitate said domination.
http://www.mtd.com/tasty
I'm not a fan of this stuff, but I have seen the blooper videos and it always looks like the cowboy gets the short end of the stick. Usually a horn up the ass or a hoof in the face. I think the bull laughs last and laughs best in most cases. The bull probably gets off on beating the crap out of the cowboys.
the bull does not laugh last! typical human refusal to acknowledge animal suffering. the "blooper videos" you watched are designed to make the cowboy looks stupid. they are human bloopers for god's sake.
prana, you're good! lets start a business together.
damn, who got that good picture?
mine are here: clicky
Even domesticated animals who are unaccustomed to straps and saddles will try to remove the straps and riders. It is conceivable that merely the act of strapping the bulls agitates them enough to buck. Most animals resist collars/leashes/restraint until trained otherwise.
Putting the strap on them is enough to get them to freak out. That's how it's done.
You notice that the bull usually eases up once the rider is off his back as well?
Truth be told, having spent some time down south, prize rodeo bulls are treated like cow royalty, akin to studs that are used in beef production. Its in the breeder and the competitions best interest to have the animal in peak operating and reproductive form. A weak and abused animal will not perform in the rodeo.
Now if you're talking about Spanish bullfighting..well that's a different story. That IS gore and pain.
animals shouldn't be abused & these bulls shouldn't be held captive for entertainment but people shouldn't lie in order to make things seem worse.
if you shocked a bull with "thousands of volts of electricity" in that tiny metal chute the rider & others would get shocked too. looking at that (still uncredited) photo you can see that my belt is tighter around my waist than that rope is around the bull. is the 2nd rope in the back tied to it's balls? nope.
when an animal rights activist says something outrageous like "Bulls are domesticated, docile and calm animals." then they lose a lot of credibility. bulls are wild animals. so are horses & cats & dogs. they should all be free in the wild.
You folks that think bulls are domesticated calm farm animals are not very wise.
True some bulls are very gentel and calm but not all i raise cattle and my one bull would run you over if you got in to the field with him and so would some of my cows and i do not hurt them in anyway to make them do this it is just natural for them to do it.
As for grabbing their testicals to make them buck that is ieligal in most countries if you ask me i think it is called beasteality and we are not in to that.
And cowboys are not trying to tame them or break them to ride they have just a rope around them that there are holding on to they have nothing controling where they go or what they do.
For the electricity are you kidding me where the hell have you ever heard of anything surveing that kind of voltage that would kill them and if you did that to a prized bucking bull you would have a stock contrator hanging you from the nearest tree handy.
Keeping an animal locked up for the sole purpose of irritating it all to hell so you can then jump on it with metal spurs and "ride" around on it sure sounds like a form of abuse to me. It's impressive, sure, and takes talent but that doesn't make it right. Same goes with horse racing. Beating a horse so it runs faster than the other horses is disgraceful. Same sort of thing applies here.
That being said...the people on here talking about how thousands of volts of electricity would fry the rider, kill the animal, and conduct through the cage, really should take a basic physics course. Simply because a "shock" is thousands of volts does NOT mean it will kill you. On a dry day, if you get shocked by your doorknob when your finger is about an inch away, you've just been shocked by over 1000 volts of electricity. The reason you aren't dead is because the current from the electrical discharge is ridiculously low. Do that about 50 times and you'll end up with little more than a tiny burn. The reason your household current is dangerous (potentially lethal) is not the 120 volt average potential is puts out, but the 60 amp current that is literally millions and millions of times greater than the current in your doorknob shock, which shocked you with 1000's of volts. In conclusion, they most certainly can shock the bull with 1000's of volts, the rider wouldn't feel anything, and the bull would be perfectly fine except for being pissed off.
Keeping an animal locked up for the sole purpose of irritating it all to hell so you can then jump on it with metal spurs and "ride" around on it sure sounds like a form of abuse to me. It's impressive, sure, and takes talent but that doesn't make it right. Same goes with horse racing. Beating a horse so it runs faster than the other horses is disgraceful. Same sort of thing applies here.
That being said...the people on here talking about how thousands of volts of electricity would fry the rider, kill the animal, and conduct through the cage, really should take a basic physics course. Simply because a "shock" is thousands of volts does NOT mean it will kill you. On a dry day, if you get shocked by your doorknob when your finger is about an inch away, you've just been shocked by over 1000 volts of electricity. The reason you aren't dead is because the current from the electrical discharge is ridiculously low. Do that about 50 times and you'll end up with little more than a tiny burn. The reason your household current is dangerous (potentially lethal) is not the 120 volt average potential is puts out, but the 60 amp current that is literally millions and millions of times greater than the current in your doorknob shock, which shocked you with 1000's of volts. In conclusion, they most certainly can shock the bull with 1000's of volts, the rider wouldn't feel anything, and the bull would be perfectly fine except for being pissed off.
you all are wrong i am a bull rider and the spurs we wear are pretty much rounded off the dont cut or enter the bull at any time and the flank rope isnt that tight sometimes it will come off during the ride the cattle prongs they use arent 5,000 - 6,000 volts try 500 maybe 1,000 and with their hide being leather they barely feel it the bulls get fed right every day and are even washed some places trust me they have good homes and us cowboys are just good old amercian boys keepin a sport that invented before baseball alive bull riding is the real american sport