From the moment the bull enters the ring, he is destined to die. His death will be slow and painful, and the last moments of his life will be full of terror and confusion as he hears the sounds of a jeering crowd. For the bull, bullfighting is no “competition”. It is simply slaughter for human entertainment.
During a typical bullfight, the bull is first taunted by picadors – men who ride on the backs of blindfolded horses and thrust metal lances into the terrified bull’s back and neck, twisting and gouging the lances in order to impair the bull’s ability to move and ensure that he loses as much blood as possible.
Next, banderilleros run around the bull and plunge banderillas – brightly coloured harpoon sticks – into his already bloodied and mutilated back. The harpoons tear the animal’s flesh, adding to his torment. When the bull is significantly weakened, the banderilleros run in circles around him until he is too dizzy and weak to continue.
Then the matador appears and provokes the exhausted animal into charging once more. The matador often doesn’t succeed in killing the bull, which adds to the animal’s suffering. If the matador doesn’t kill the bull, an executioner is called in to sever the bull’s spinal cord with a dagger. In a final act of degradation, the bull is then dragged from the arena by his horns. The bull is often still conscious and twitching as his ears and tail are cut off and held up as “trophies” before the jeering crowd.
The slaughter and torment of an animal should not be cause for celebration. This barbaric blood sport must end. There is perhaps no better example of the suffering endured by bulls used for this cruel sport than the annual “Running of the Bulls”, in which terrified bulls – who will eventually be killed – are forced to run through the streets of Pamplona while spectators hit and goad them.
Bullfighting is a cruel, abhorrent blood sport that should have been relegated to the history books a long time ago. We need your help today to stop the torment, mutilation and death of these magnificent animals.
What You Can Do
Please e-mail the prime minister of Spain, His Excellency José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and urge him to make Spain a country known for its compassion for all beings by putting an end to bullfighting.
