‘He didn’t seem scared to me’: Australian motocross rider explains why he chucked his pet goat Tilly in the air ‘like a basketball’ as the RSPCA launches an investigation
- Motocross star Harry Bink has apologised over video uploaded to his Instagram
- Footage showed Bink hurl his pet goat Tilly metres into air before catching it
- Despite insisting he’s not cruel to animals, an RSPCA investigation was launched
- The RSPCA said ‘nobody should be using any animal like a bloody basketball’
A motocross rider who came under fire after footage of him hurling his pet goat in the air was shared on social media has defended his actions.
Gold Coast-based extreme athlete, Harry Bink, removed the controversial footage from his Instagram account shortly after it was posted to his 129,000 followers last week.
The Nitro Circus rider defended the stunt, saying he loves his pet goats, named Billy and Tilly, and was only ‘mucking around’, imploring critics to ‘give me a break’.
But despite his insistence that he’s an animal lover, Bink is now the subject of an RSPCA investigation into animal cruelty.
Gold Coast local Harry Bink (pictured) removed the controversial footage from his Instagram account shortly after posting it last week for his 129,000 followers
In a remorseful post to social media, Bink reiterated that he loved his pets.
‘I love my goats, I spend a lot of time with them, so I find it pretty offensive when everyone is saying that I am a goat abuser.
‘I was playing with my goats and I was mucking around, I threw it in the air, I caught it, I put it on the ground. It wasn’t harmed.
‘Obviously, I appreciate all your comment and feedback guys, I apologise not to you guys but to my goats.’
Between his explanations, Bink (pictured) pleaded for activists to stop tagging his sponsors Redbull and Monster Energy
Animal rights activists slammed the post, repeatedly calling him abusive and threatening action.
RSPCA Queensland’s Michael Beatty confirmed to Daily Mail Australia and investigation was underway, though he didn’t view the act as ‘serious’ animal cruelty.
‘It was just a pretty stupid thing to do,’ Mr Beatty said.
‘It’s a shame because he’s obviously a role model to a lot of people.
Another clip later and Bink (pictured) threw his pet goat metres into the air – in spite of the fact one of his arms was in a sling
The 24-year-old Bink (pictured) promptly apologised through a series of videos published online
‘I don’t think he was setting out to be cruel or anything, just a stupid thing to do,’ Mr Beatty said.
‘Nobody should be using any animal like a bloody basketball.’
The video itself is a compilation of Bink’s escapades and often dangerous stunts with his two pet goats.
In one clip, a goat is squeezed into a bucket on the front end of a bike as it is cycled down a road.