A MERSEYSIDE animal rights campaigner yesterdayurged the European Parliament to ban all rodeos across the continent.
Tony Moore, chairman of Southport-based Fight Against Animal Cruelty in Europe (FAACE), flew out to Strasbourg to address MEPs about the "barbaric practices" used in the shows.
He presented footage claiming to prove the rodeos, which organisers are trying to hold in the UK, hide "senseless cruelty" from the public including the use of:
* "Flank-straps" tightened around bulls' and horses' stomachs to make them buck, leaving the animals in severe pain.
* "Wild horse races" in which teams of cowboys tie a rope around the creature's neck and drag it to the ground to force a saddle on its back.
* Blunt spurs, which can lead to bruising under the horse's skin.
Mr Moore said: "These people are pretending to be cowboys, and it's their childish games that are causing animal cruelty.
"They can shoot each other and tie each other up for all I care, but when there are helpless animals involved it's different. The animals don't choose to take part.
"The practices are not obvious, and are hidden from the public. The audiences don't see the straps being tightened around the horses to make them kick, but these can make the animals so distressed, they have been known to fall over and break their necks."
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