Instead of attending any bull riding events this year, gather other humane, like-minded folks and picket the events instead of paying to watch mayhem.
Bull riding and rodeo event promoters will try to hide behind meaningless claims of family values, the flag, patriotism, and, oh yes, honoring the troops in order to try to wrench support for a horribly cruel exploitation of otherwise gentle farm animals. They will try to gain attendees by elevating their self-created pedestal for the American cowboy.
The truth of the matter is that cowboys NEVER rode bulls. They understood cruelty, and they didn’t need to prove their manhood with such arbitrary and contrived animal abuse. We can only hope that citizens will not be suckered into all the phony hype and rhetoric that is used to mask the inhumane treatment of animals.
Communities are now recognizing the suffering these types of animal exploitation events inflict on innocent livestock and are rightfully forbidding them from taking place within their boundaries. Contact your city council; write your letters to the editor: Bring dignity and integrity back to your community and region, instead of being bullied into holding such obnoxious events. If it’s the bull ride they want, then get mechanical bulls and spare the unwilling participants.