The same bulls that slip and slide down Pamplona’s cobbled streets will be stabbed to death in the town’s bullring later that day. Tourists who take part in the run are contributing to the carnage. This is the sobering message in a new video created by Platform Torture Is Not Culture, sponsored by Animal Guardians and supported by Europe’s largest animal protection groups including CAS International, World Animal Protection, PETA, HSI, just as other members of the International Anti-bullfighting Network, which unites 110 animal protection organisations around the world. The video, available here, will be translated and distributed throughout the Europe, North America and Asia as a means to put an end to the bloody spectacle.
Dirk Jan Verdonk of World Animal Protection in The Netherlands says:
“Many of the thrill-seekers who come to Pamplona to run with the bulls have no idea that they are participating in a festival that celebrates the torture and death of these magnificent animals, and if they did, most would undoubtedly run the other way.”
“Putting an end to animal torture in Spain is not only a matter for Spaniards. The EU subsidises bullfighting with more than 150 million Euros per year, and this, along with the curiosity of tourists from all around the world, allows this cruel spectacle to continue,” states Marius Kolff, director of CAS International, and founding member of the Spanish Platform Platform Torture is Not Culture (LTNEC).
As shown in the video, each bull used in a fight is repeatedly speared and stabbed before the matador attempts to sever the exhausted animal’s spine with a dagger. Sometimes, the bull drowns in his own blood before the dagger comes into play. Other times, he’s still alive as his broken, bleeding body is dragged out of the arena and left to await slaughter.
Bullfighting has been on the decline for years, with attendance decreasing and bullrings closing across countries that permit bullfights. The industry survives only because of huge subsidies and tourists who unwittingly fuel the abusive events. A recent poll showed that 76 per cent of Spanish people have no interest in bullfights.
Fonte: CAS