Sharpy

Model protests against bullriding

SHE is known for getting nude to support animal rights, but even with her clothes on, model Imogen Bailey turns heads.
The Canberra-born lads-mag model was in Brisbane today to protest against a World Cup bullriding event to be held on the Gold Coast this week.
Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan "No One Likes an Eight-Second Ride", Bailey appeared in Queen Street Mall to organise a petition urging sponsors of the event to stop supporting what the group says is cruelty to animals.
And she attracted as many admirers as signatures.
Organised by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the petition will be presented to the sponsors of the Professional Bull Riders World Cup.
The event begins at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday.
It wasn't the first time Bailey had given her time to PETA.
She has twice posed nude for the group - once in a campaign against the treatment of elephants in Thailand, and in 2005, she appeared naked in front of Buckingham Palace to protest against the fur caps worn by the Queen's guards.
The palace stunt almost got her arrested.
"That was a bit of a crazy one," Bailey admitted. "That was one that I had to explain to my parents.
"The guards still use real bear fur, which is absolutely disgraceful."
Also disgraceful, said Bailey, was the treatment of animals at bullriding events.
PETA claims bulls are frequently injured, and sometimes must be euthanased after suffering broken legs.
Bailey's love of animals developed as a child, when she spent time on a farm on the NSW South Coast.
It was also there that she learned about bullriding.
"I know how cruel these events are," she said. "I know there are cowboys who say it's a tradition ... but it's completely unnecessary.
"It's about tormenting bulls into a frenzy, there's no other way to get a bull to buck."
But bullriding event organiser Tim McGregor said the animals were bred and trained to buck, "in the same way Makybe Diva is trained to win the Melbourne Cup".
"These are thoroughbred bulls, the very best in the country, and they want to buck," Mr McGregor, Dainty Consolidated Entertainment's chief operating officer, said.
"They are worth thousands and thousands of dollars, so keeping them healthy is absolutely premium."
PETA's actions are likely to have little impact, as the World Cup event on the Gold Coast is almost a sellout.
Around 15,000 people are expected to witness the spectacle at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from Friday to Sunday.
Leading bull riders from Australia, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and the US will compete for a cup and prize money of $100,000.
Event promoter Dainty Consolidated Entertainment has invited Hollywood actor Russell Crowe, Australian Test batsman Matthew Hayden and boxing champion Anthony Mundine to the contest.

(returners)

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