Bucking bull is euthanized

Friday, Dec. 13, 2002 | 10:10 a.m.

Tragedy visited the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo on Thursday, when the bucking bull Freeloader fractured his spine in a spill out of the chute and humane euthanasia was chosen to put the animal out of its misery.

Dr. Garth Lamb, the official Wrangler NFR veterinarian, immediately diagnosed the seven-year-old bull's injury and determined the course of action.

According to Dr. Douglas Corey, serving as an on-call veterinarian in a capacity the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association adopted in recent years from the thoroughbred industry, Freeloader was given a lethal dose of pentabarbitol.

Corey said he had never seen a bull put to sleep during a 26-year professional career in which he estimates to have seen at least 1,000 rodeos. A veteran rodeo reporter also told the Sun it was the first time he had witnessed such an incident.

"The likelihood of that happening is a hundredth of a percent," said Corey, citing a statistic that was relayed to the Thomas & Mack Center crowd of more than 17,000 by announcer Boyd C. Polhamus.

Colby Yates of Arizona had been riding Freeloader as the 10th participant in Thursday's go-round, and Yates was unharmed as the bull hit the dirt not long after leaving the chute. Freeloader's left rear leg appeared to get crushed by the weight of his body, but Lamb said the injury was much more severe.

"Freeloader was the kindest bull that ever walked the face of the earth," said Don Kish, the owner and breeder of the three-time NFR bull. "Every time they rode him, he was in the 90-point range."

Lamb and Wesley Shurr were the on-site veterinarians who immediately tended to Freeloader. On-call vets, like Corey, are not associated with the event but are valued as outside observatory agents.

"It's extremely unfortunate for the fans and for the people who owned the bull," Corey said. "People become attached to those animals."