Isn’t it fascinating that the symbol for financial confidence and strength, the animal totem the world economy is so desperate to once again court and have lead us from the global crisis…is the very animal that is brutally tortured in the name of entertainment in dusty rings in several Western European cities.
Bullfighting is unspeakably cruel, on par with dogfighting and yet the odds aren’t as good. The bull is guaranteed to suffer and die—there is no chance for victory, the results are predestined. Even if a bull were to inflict an injury to the matador or picadores (fight assistants who, usually on horseback, also stab the bull with spears, gradually weakening him with blood loss and fatigue…the horses, by the way, also regularly suffer great injuries), the bull still ends the match dead, in a pool of its own blood, every time. I’m not a complete pie-eyed optimist. I know that many of these bulls would be slaughtered regardless of the spectacle, and their bovine kin are killed by the jillions for our burgers…I even love me my Hemingway, and he aspired to becoming a matador (the word matador, by the way, translates as “killer”)…but the drawn out suffering required for a “good” match is beyond the pale of any definition of “entertainment” or “sport” that I can wrap my head around. I understand the category of combat as sport, but usually…in boxing, fencing, ultimate fighting, wrestling, there is at least some possibility of either party being victorious—impossible in bullfighting—and rarely in other one-on-one match games is one opponent killed as part of the design.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals is working to bring an end to bullfighting. With ultimate respect for culture and tradition, it remains an issue I can’t reconcile. Ricky Gervais has done a Public Service Announcement to help get our international support, via petition, to encourage the Catalonian government in Spain to bring a ban to bullfighting. Cataloina is one of the main centers of the practice, and they are close to a decision that the gory bloodsport is best left to history books. If this matter resonates with you, consider adding your name to the petition here.
Change by Doing 