A Brazilian bull rider has been killed in California. The 22-year-old’s flank strap that was wrapped around the animal was fatal.
A fatal accident overshadows the Professional Bull Riders Pendleton Whiskey Velocity Tour in the USA. There, 22-year-old Amadeu Campos Silva died in hospital in Fresno, California on Sunday after he had previously been trampled to death by a cop.
As the organization of the Professional Bull Riders announced, the bull had thrown the young rider after 5.31 seconds. When it fell, its spur caught in the flank strap, which is wrapped around the bull’s lower body to encourage it to buck. This resulted in Silva being pulled under the bull and the animal’s hind legs landing on his chest. He was later pronounced dead in a hospital. The Fresno County Coroner’s Office has confirmed the death, but the exact cause is not yet known.
Amadeu Campos Silva wanted to earn money in the USA
“It was clearly not an act of aggression,” a Professional Bull Riders spokesman later said, according to the Associated Press. “The bull bucked in its normal behavior pattern”.
The young man died just three days before his 23rd birthday. Amadeu Campos Silva was considered a rising star in the scene. Silva, who grew up in a small community in Sao Paulo, began to mount bulls at the age of 16. He had inherited the passion for it from his father, a former bull rider who quickly introduced his son to western sports. His later dream was to go to the United States and earn enough money as a bull rider that he could buy his family a ranch in Brazil. His parents followed him to the United States and took a job on a ranch in Texas to help their son pursue his dream, which came to a terrible end on Sunday.
Bull riding in Germany classified as a violation of animal welfare
While bull riding is the supreme discipline of rodeo in the USA and the PBR alone holds around 200 events per year, according to the Animal Welfare Association, around 20 rodeo events in various disciplines take place in Germany every year. Bull riding was classified in 2005 by the Veterinary Association for Animal Welfare (DVT) as a violation of animal welfare, as was the use of flank straps and spurs. Different federal states then issued different edicts which, among other things, prohibit bull riding and the use of flank belts and spurs. In some cities, rodeos are completely banned. However, there is no uniform stance in all federal states. Animal welfare organizations such as the German Animal Welfare Association or Peta therefore call for such events to be avoided.
An aggressive bull takes a car by the horns in India. Fortunately, nobody is injured in the incident. However, accidents with cattle are not uncommon in India – and there is a simple reason.
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I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
