Corey Oates Takes On PETA Over Broncos Rebrand Bombshell

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
iHeart podcasts, hear more Kiss podcasts, playlists, and listen live.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
On the free iHeart appe.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Robin Kidd Now with Correos the podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
If you've been to a Broncos game since twenty ten
at Suncorp Stadium, you would have seen. Any time the
Broncos score a try, we celebrate by Buck. The mascot
rides around. It cuts a lap of the oval. And
sometimes we have big games, you know, when Broncos put
on fifty points Old Buckle, they have a few runs.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yes, there's a fair few runs.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
And so the news which is over the last twenty
four hours is that Peter, the People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals, have said that that is not fair
on Buck. It's not fair on the horse.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
So we have Sasha, who is from Peter, on the
phone with us.

Speaker 4 (01:03):
Hey, Sasha, Hi, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
Sure, just want to understand why you don't want Buck
to be part of our Broncho celebrations.

Speaker 4 (01:14):
Well, yeah, I understand it's a bit of a quirkier
request with people going like what is wrong with this? Yeah,
but actually we have two sort of messages here. First
of all, horses and animals overall just don't belong in
sporting arenas. No matter how much effort and training is
put into getting a horse used to these environments, there's
still prey animals. They have a strong fight or flight

(01:36):
instinct that's nearly impossible to desensitize. Too often, even horses
very well trained can become spooked and run and injure themselves.
You know, it's an environment with cheering crowds, loud noises.
Horses can become startled and it can be really stressful
on them. And then there's the other side of the message,

(01:56):
which is the bucking Bronco imagery overall, which is imagery
that glorifies rodeos, which is really cruel and backwards undertaking.
There have been eyewitness reports, video footage revealing animals being
provoked with electric prodding, kicking, hitting, tail pulling, and the
animals are far from willing participants in these spectacles. So

(02:19):
we believe it's time to retire anything that glorifies the
sort of violence.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
I'll let you go.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
Let's let's start with point number one, Corey, because Corey,
you're about to hear Sasha I played for the Broncos
for twelve years, so it was at all of these
games and has an intimate knowledge of Buck.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, you would have. Well, I can tell you it's
nothing like a rodeo like I've Yeah, I've been there
for twelve years. That's That's all I've known is Buck
the Bronco. And I can tell you right now he's
he is very, very well trained. And I've actually been
standing next to him after he's done a lap from
when someone scores. When I'm not playing, you know, you

(02:53):
do some walking around stuff. And I always wanted to know,
you know, just how the horse was because I grew
up on a farm, so been around horse, has been
around animals and everything my whole life. So I actually
even sat there and waded got back and as soon
as she got back with Buck, he was calm, he
was chilled. I was pattning him, he was great, he

(03:14):
was I was pretty much giving him a cuddle. And
I actually even asked said, how do you how do
you do it or how do you keep him so calm?
And they just said, it's it's purely trust between me,
myself and the horse. Constant training constant. You're like you
pretty much live with the animal that they spend so
much time, they go through all the steps, they speak,
and you know, with the club management, with the stadium management,
they make sure it's safe and and all of that.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
And what do you see, Like the kids love Oh, the.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Kids love him. Even my two kids, they they love it.
They hucks your little boys. It's an icon.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
So Sasha, like you're saying one thing, and you're saying
it across the board. So this is what can happen
to horses. Clearly that is not what is happening to
our horse who goes in Sun Corpse Stadium every time
there's a home game.

Speaker 4 (04:03):
Well, of course it's I'm sure it's all very well
meaning and cheerful, but you know that it's not possible
to know how a horse might react in situations.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
But it's never reacted badly ever, ever, in twenty twenty years,
ten years staying around.

Speaker 4 (04:18):
Never Well there's also the other side of the message,
which is the rodeo connection, which is perhaps one of
our main points with this, is that it's time to
retire all connections to a sports where animals are abused
this way just for nothing but human entertainment and thrills.

(04:39):
And I think that's.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
Lost in translation because we're not we're not the Bucking
Broncos were then, which is the name of a whole
like a top horse. We're the Broncos. We're not the
Bucking Bronze and it's Brisbane Broncos and our logo is
a horse's head. It's not as no one riding the horse.
Like I just don't think that that's.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
It feels like it feels like you guys have just
picked something to get upset about without actually understanding what's
going on.

Speaker 4 (05:04):
Well, you know, the reports and video footage speaks for itself,
and the images that people have of Bucking Broncos in
their mind is connected to rodeos.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
But he's not a Bucking.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
Bronco I wanted to bring.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Isn't a Bucking Bronco. That's that's not what Yeah, his
image is. He's Bakia mascot, the Brisom Broncos, the rugby
leag team, the ones that fans come to see just
just trotting around the stadium and giving, you know, bringing
cheer and happiness to the kids and the fans every
time game.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
Like would would Peter like people not to ride horses
at all? Is that is that the end goal? Like
they should they all just be out pasturing in the wild.

Speaker 4 (05:42):
Well, if there is you know, any kind of horse
riding that is sort of industry related and something that's
done at events and something like this, then yes, we
would be against any kind of events such as horse
racing or once again rodeos. Anything that uses horses as
entertainment is what we are against because in this way,

(06:03):
the human entertainment takes priority and the horses well being
is often put you know, takes a back. Sigh.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
I just think this is I highly recommend that Peter
come and watch a game and see what Buck does,
because it sounds like you're just you've kind of gone, let's.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Focus on the one to bring up a different conversation.

Speaker 3 (06:24):
We do have to move on. Thank you very much
for joining us this morning, Sasha.

Speaker 4 (06:27):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
Appreciate it.