Spain Called Out for Unsporting Bullfighting Ahead of European Championship Final
On the day before the European Championship final, in which Spain will face England, PETA Germany protested Spain’s unsporting bullfighting industry. The final match will take place the same day Pamplona’s San Fermín festival closes – but that’s where similarities end. Whilst football is a well-loved sport generating excitement around the world, bullfighting is a gruesome bloodbath causing its unwilling participants fear and agony.
Football, Bullfighting, and Speciesism
Football is a sport – animal slaughter is not. In the case of the European Championship, there is strict fair play – anyone who repeatedly fouls or even becomes violent is kicked out, and in the end, the best team wins. On the other hand, bullfights are anything but fair – bulls never win, and death is their only escape. If a footballer were stabbed for “sport”, the match would be stopped and the police called.
What Happens During a Bullfight?
In the bullring, assailants on horses drive lances into a bull’s back and neck before others plunge banderillas into his back, causing acute pain whenever he turns his head and impairing his range of motion.
Eventually, when the bull becomes weak from blood loss, a matador appears and attempts to kill him by plunging a sword into his lungs or, if that fails, cutting his spinal cord with a knife. The bull may be paralysed but still conscious as his ears or tail are cut off to be presented to the matador as a trophy and his body is dragged from the arena.
Sadism, Not Sport
More than 125 Spanish towns and cities have rejected the torment and butchering of bulls for entertainment.
Bullfights, like gladiator combat and bear baiting, must be consigned to the history books.
Help Stop Spain’s Bullfights
Please sign our petition urging Spain to shut down the bullfighting industry now:
