Animal rights group PETA has launched a campaign calling on the Brisbane Broncos to retire their live horse mascot, Buck. 

The Broncos have responded, stating, “We have no plans to retire Buck.”

PETA Asia-Pacific Campaign Manager, Abigail Forsyth, told Gary Hardgrave on 4BC Drive, “It’s really simple that just live animals don’t belong at sporting events. And forcing a horse like Buck into a stadium full of bright lights and screaming fans, loud noises. It’s a terrifying and distressing experience for that animal.”

“Our main ask is to retire Buck. But there are also other things that the team can do and the name and imagery that the team uses glorifies rodeos. And rodeos are an industry built on animal fear and pain and we’re simply asking them to leave the rodeo imagery behind.”

“Why not embrace a new name that has no animal cruelty attached?” Ms Forsyth continued.

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Image: Brisbane Broncos/Facebook

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