Despite public backlash and calls to cancel the event, professional bull riding is set to visit Halifax this spring.
Over 68,000 people have added their names to an online petition urging the Scotiabank Centre to cancel Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Canada’s Elite Monster Energy Tour scheduled for May 26.
Tony Payzant, an HRM based editor, started the petition after she heard the event was headed to Halifax. She said support so far has been “incredible.”
“I’ve been against animal cruelty of any sort since forever. It’s always disgusted me watching rodeo action,” Payzant says.
According to the petition, published on March 2, forcing animals to perform is unethical. It claims PBR’s bulls are mistreated by handlers, fitted with painful flank straps and abused with electric prods.
A spokesperson for PBR denies that electric prods are used to aggravate their animals. Kacie Albert says the bulls, each worth up to $500,000, are cared for “just like star athletes.”
“There is tragically a staggering amount of animal abuse in the world. None of it is happening in the PBR, where we celebrate our animal athletes and give them a great, long life,” writes Albert in an email statement.
Professional Bull Riding has grown from American cowboy roots into an international company and a money-making machine. Professional cowboys attempt to ride harnessed bulls as they buck and jump for arena audiences and fans on TV.
Branded by car companies and energy drinks, PBR has awarded $180 million of prize money and built a multi-million dollar entertainment empire on the backs of bucking bulls.
But animal welfare activist Hugh Chisholm says the focus on overpowering animals is still unethical, especially when the people doing so have become superstars and millionaires.
“To me, the message bull riding gives to kids is that it’s OK for men to ride on animals and try to overpower them,” says the retired Halifax veterinarian.
Chisholm says it’s the appearance of pain that matters—and watching aggravated bulls try to buck off riders seems to be a strange and unhealthy form of entertainment.
“What message does that kid leave with when they go home and interact with other animals?” asks Chisholm, who says he plans to voice his concerns with provincial minister of agriculture Keith Colwell.
This is the first time since 2011 that PBR has come to the city, however, Halifax isn’t the only place where the sport has been criticized. Bull riding competitions in Montreal, Vancouver and Winnipeg in the past few years drew protests as well.
Local animal rights groups like the SPCA are publicly opposed to Bull Riding events as well—especially in regions like Halifax where rodeos aren’t a cultural tradition.
In an email statement sent on February 5, Scotiabank Centre representatives said they are aware of the controversy but have no plans to cancel the bull-riding event.
“We are aware some of our customers have expressed disappointment with this event; we have also had a fair amount of interest in the event. We will certainly take any feedback into consideration for future planning as we continue to evolve our approach to event attraction.”
This article appears in Apr 5-11, 2018.
Didn’t know this was happening. Can’t wait!
If anyone would like to see the actual truth about this. That the bulls don’t just buck on command, so in order to provide an entertaining show, some very inhumane/cruel things are done to these animals… have a look at this video, shot in Halifax the last time this event came here…Shown are the electric prods, the straps around the bulls abdomens, and the tail-twisting.
People won’t pay if their not entertained.
Bulls abused during bull riding event in Halifax, Nova Scotia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnA_zK7gk08
Unleash all your pets then. You are making them do things that are unnatural. Like sit in your lap and ride in your car or your purse. Oh and putting them in a cage, uh…er kennel.
Humane handling of animals is the foremost issue in animal welfare. If bulls will buck without the routine application of pain in the form of cattle prods, tail twisting, excessively tight abdominal straps, raking with boot spurs, etc., then great, ride away cowboys. The problem is they don’t. Stick a mechanical bull on a moving trolley in the ring if watching a person making spasmodic, jerking movements for a few seconds at a time before slamming into the ground floats people’s boat. It could be the beginning of a glorious 21st century testosterone-infused Western tradition.
Uh…er Jerry…unnatural??? Dogs Looove to sit on their family member’s lap…also Looove to ride in the car and Looove to jump into their bag so they can be as close as can be to their family members and be a part of their daily life! As for uh… er…cage or uh… er kennel… they also go in on their own to sleep! ALL very very natural!
How you could even think of comparing these is simply disgusting and uneducated.
LOVING our four legged family members who we treat with pure love, care and kindness…
VS. TORTURING bulls…
with electric prods, and who are fitted with Painful flank straps, and tail twisting for the so-called “amusement” for sub-humans who enjoy seeing innocent and helpless bulls be victims of torture and abuse is barbaric, backwards thinking and clearly these sub-humans haven’t evolved into kind and caring people!!! Then again, will they ever???
Upsetting and so so very sad, there will always be sub-humans who enjoy abusing and torturing innocent and helpless sentient beings who have no choice nor any rights at the moment!
BELIEVE in KARMA!!!
Jerry Long,
How can you possibly compare electric prods in their underbelly and more sensitive parts, twisting their tails, etc. to a dog sitting on a lap or riding in a car????
It’s a barbaric form of entertainment.