Bullfighting Foes Warm Up For Pamplona With Naked Demonstration In Madrid

PETA Joins With Local Activists to Expose and End Cruelty Behind Bull Run

For Immediate Release:
28 June 2005

Contact:
Yvonne Taylor +44 20 7357 9229 ext 405

Madrid, Spain – With opposition to the annual “Running of the Bulls” and the ensuing killing of the bulls in bullfights mounting throughout Spain and around the world, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will warm up for its fourth annual “Running of the Nudes” in Pamplona, Spain, on 5 July with a similar naked demonstration – this one in Madrid. Waving signs that read, “Stop the Bloody Bullfights!” and wearing nothing but plastic bullhorns, sneakers and the traditional red scarf, PETA supporters will converge on Madrid to urge the public to join them in Pamplona to voice their opposition to the cruel “Running of the Bulls”:

Date: Wednesday, 29 June
Time: 12 – 1 p.m.
Place: Puerta del Sol, intersection of Calle Arenal and Calle Mayor

The Running of the Nudes has exploded in size from 20 brave souls the first year to an estimated 600 participants this year. The festive event promotes a humane alternative to the cruel Running of the Bulls, where the bulls are riled into a frenzy prior to the run, using electric prods and sharp sticks, and tortured and slaughtered in the bullring afterwards, every single day during the weeklong event. In bullfights, bulls are often debilitated with tranquilizers or beatings and blinded with petroleum jelly rubbed into their eyes. Spanish opposition to bullfighting is mounting. The Barcelona City Council declared Barcelona an anti-bullfighting city in April 2004 in an effort to eventually ban this primitive blood sport – seen by many as a shameful part of Spain’s past and not reflective of a progressive European country.

“Tormenting and butchering animals for entertainment is something straight out of the Dark Ages”, says PETA Director of European Campaigns Sean Gifford. “Tourists flocking to Pamplona are looking for a thrill, and our Running of the Nudes aims to give them just that – without harming a hair on a bull’s back.”

Other naked “warm-up” demonstrations will be held around the world, including in Barcelona, France, Germany and Austria and at the Spanish Embassy in Washington, DC.

For more information and to view footage of last year’s Running of the Nudes, please visit RunningOfTheNudes.com.

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