It hardly sounds like something a modern society would deem
acceptable.
Yet, incredibly, just a couple of borders away in Spain this
goes on year after year. And because we
are told it is part of Spain’s cultural heritage, many people turn a blind eye
and do accept it.
This week, some sixty bulls will be killed in this brutal
and shocking way as part of the annual Pamplona Bull Run.
The event runs from 6 to 14 July and involves bulls being chased
for one kilometre down cobblestone streets and being whacked with electric pods
by the chasing hordes.
Stored in holding pens, they are then subjected to cruel
mutilation to further disorientate them before they are exposed to the
bullring. The mutilation can include
damaging the vision and cutting neck muscles to prevent the animals from
raising their heads.
Matadors on horseback then antagonise and confuse the bulls,
repeatedly stabbing them in the neck and back with wooden stakes during an
arduous routine before a final stab in the neck with a sword for the pleasure
of the cheering spectators.
The lucky ones die at this stage. The unfortunate survivors are then repeatedly
stabbed until they are paralysed, later bleeding to death behind the scenes.
It is absolutely disgraceful and horrific.
Worryingly, British people are subsidising and supporting
this cruel activity. The European
‘Common Agriculture Policy’ contributes more than £110m per year to Spanish
farmers rearing fighting bulls.
That means British taxpayers are indirectly contributing
around £13.5m a year.But I’m afraid there is a far more direct subsidy for which the British public is responsible too – in the form of tourists deciding to taste the bullfighting experience for themselves.
Tour operators romanticise and glorify the Pamplona Bull Run, and it has become a recognised location for tourists including stag parties.
That despite the fact that the most recent study suggested nearly 80 per cent of people in Britain have not attended a bullfight and would not consider doing so.
Perhaps those that do are carried along by the enthusiasm of others. Perhaps they justify it in their own minds by convincing themselves it is just part of the culture. Or perhaps they are appalled but don’t have the courage to say so.
It isn’t acceptable and no amount of excuses can convince me that it is.
Some advocates will play the economic card, telling you that Spain’s jobs market depends upon this blood sport. It is nonsense. Fewer than 400 people are employed full-time by the bullfighting industry.
Compare that figure with the 13,300 bulls killed in this unimaginable way every year.
And of course there is the old chestnut about it being part of Spain’s cultural heritage.
What a ridiculous argument. We hear it deployed in this country by the prime minister and other British blood sports apologists who want to reintroduce foxhunting. But to the vast majority who subscribe to British decency and fair play are singularly unconvinced by these advocates of cruelty.
Blood sports cease because society moves on, takes a look at itself and says: “This is not acceptable any more”.In fact, bullfighting has been banned in Spain on several occasions, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries, but subsequently reintroduced. It has been banned in the Catalonia region since 2012, although even that common sense decision is, incredibly, under threat.
I can’t directly influence the Spanish government and nor can the British public at large.
But what we can do is play our part by joining those who object to it and refusing to contribute to its existence by attending these activities while visiting Spain. Hopefully the rest of Europe will do the same.
For more information, visit the League Against Cruel Sports web page and video about the Pamplona Bull Run here: http://www.league.org.uk/content/764/Pamplona-Bull-Run
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