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Dozens of animal rights activists with Animal Cruelty Exposure Fund and PETA staged three days of protests at Madison Square Garden as spectators entered the annual bull riding show hosted by the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). While some of the PBR fans took a handout explaining why bull riding is inhumane, most of them either ignored or taunted the activists, encouraging them to “get a job” and “eat steak.” According to the protesters, none of them defended bull riding by stating that the bulls are treated well or that the practice is humane.

“The bulls are stuffed into trailers, hauled around the country and provoked with cattle prods, flank straps and spurs to get them to buck,” said Nora Constance Marino, President of Animal Cruelty Exposure Fund (ACEF), a New York-based animal rights organization. “If they want to partake in bull riding, they can use mechanical bulls.”

According to PETA, animals used in rodeo events, including bull riding, “commonly sustain broken bones, punctured lungs, snapped necks, or torn muscles, and they sometimes die in an arena. Anyone who cares about animals should avoid these spectacles of suffering.”

Bull riders provoke bulls into bucking with cattle prods, flank straps and spurs

ACEF, PETA and other local animal rights groups have been protesting the annual bull riding show at Madison Square Garden for at least ten years. In 2021, their efforts were bolstered by New York State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, who introduced legislation that would prevent bull riding from taking place in the state by banning the tools that bull riders use to make the animals buck. The bill is pending in the legislature’s agriculture committee.

In 2021, NY State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal introduced legislation that would end bull fighting in the state by banning the tools used to provoke the bulls into bucking (click photo to see legislation)

In addition to demonstrating at the bull riding events, NYC activists have staged six anti-rodeo protests at the Manhattan home of Andrew Lustgarten, the CEO of Madison Square Garden. Based on feedback from his neighbors, the activists speculate that the protests led him to move out of his luxury condominium on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

The PBR is sponsored by several national corporations. Its largest sponsor is Monster, the energy drink company.

Professional Bull Riders Corporate Sponsors

Dozens of people in Southern Colombia attacked and killed a bull who was lying injured on the ground in a arena during the annual “corraleja,” an amateur bullfighting festival held each year in several towns in Colombia. During corralejas, spectators are invited into the arena to fight the bull.

Two shots of spectators jumping onto the bull

Video of the incident, which shows dozens of people kicking, stoning and slashing the helpless bull, has generated outrage in Colombia. In response to the outcry, the country’s Ministry of Culture issued a statement describing the ritual as “barbaric” and calling for the attackers to be punished. He has also called for a public debate about whether the festival should be allowed to continue.

The Mayor of Turbaco, the town in which the incident was filmed, defended the attack: “In ‘corraleja’ festivals, there are always injuries, there are always animals beaten and horses killed. These are the kinds of incidents that form part of the traditions and customs of such festivals.”

As more and more people become exposed to the barbarity of bullfights, governments are being pressured to curb the tradition. In Bogota, Colombia’s capital, the Mayor banned bullfighting in 2012, declaring that the city’s arena is for “activities of life, not death.” Bullfight supporters are fighting back in the courts and in the streets.

Hundreds attend pro-bullfight rally in Bogota, Colombia

Barcelona banned bullfighting in 2012. Over the border in France, however, the bloodsport is still legal. In 2014, dozens of animal rights activists stormed a bullfight arena in Southwest France and were dragged away one by one by police officers. In an unexpected development, bullfight fans violently attacked the protesters.

Bullfight protesters in France