Bullfighting is an horrendously cruel sport. A traditional bullfight involves the matador (bullfighter) taunting the bull with a cape so it becomes angry and frustrated when it cannot get the cape. The bull is then stabbed by other men with metal rods, in its back and shoulder which means it can't lift its head to defend itself. The bull is in a considerable amount of pain at this stage and becomes more and more exhausted as it tries to escape the torture. It also has lost a lot of blood from the wounds. Then it is attacked with colourful darts, called banderillas. The matador makes a reapperance for the "finale", in which he stabs the animal with a vicious death blow. If he fails to kill the animal, a trained executionor comes in to finish the job. This prolongs the bull's suffering.
This blood sport is popular in Spain, Portugal, France and some Latin-American countries. In these countries it is seen as part of the culture and tradition, but that in no way justifies the cruelty. Sacrificing humans was a big part of South American countries in history, and has been stopped. Why should murdering animals for entertainment be any different?
On average, a quarter of a million bulls are slaughtered in bullfights each year. This must be stopped.
In September 2011 it was announced that a ban on bullfighting in Catalonia, Spain, would be put into effect on the first of January 2012. This sparked anger in Barcelona, where bullfighting is part of the culture, and fans of this barbaric sport held up signs saying "RIP" at the final fight in Barcelona's Monumental arena, which resulted in the murder of six bulls by Spain's top three matadors. This video talks about this recent news and I got it here.
It is hoped that this ban will spread throughout the world in the near future.
