Not a sport, but animal abuse

I was horrified to read the puff piece glamorizing the sport of bull riding [“A lot of bull at this school,” NWTuesday Nov. 13]. This is not a sport but a showcase for cowardly men to demonstrate the inhumane torture of innocent animals

To be teaching this abuse to young people should be outlawed (as well as the spectacle itself). The only reason the bulls buck is not to throw the riders off their backs, but a futile attempt to escape the pain caused by the bucking strap or flank strap, a device tightened around their testicles or abdomens.

— Nancy Pennington, co-founder, Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants, Seattle