Friday, 01 May 2009
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Bullfighting: A Cruelty To Animals?
When I was a kid, I really wanted to go to a bullfight. There was just something cool about watching man go against beast. How many of you out there pretended to be a bull, using your fingers as horns, while your friend held a shirt out yelling, "Ole!" It wasn't until high school did I learn after watching a bullfighting video in one of my classes that bullfighting isn't as glamorous as it seemed. I was shocked to learn that the bull is injured and eventually killed!
Why do they do these to these bulls? Well, bullfighting is a tradition in parts of the world including Spain, Portugal, parts of Southern France, and several Latin American countries, where many people feel that it is a very important part of their culture. Supporters of bullfighting see it as more of an artistic ritual than a sport where the bull is more of a worthy adversary than a sacrifice. Bulls learn quickly and if the matador cannot defeat the bull in a timely fashion, things can turn ugly.
My wife went to a bullfight when she studied abroad in Madrid, Spain. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't shown a bullfighting video in high school. She had went in expecting a bullfight to be similar to a rodeo. She was born in Texas, a lot younger then, and hadn't educated herself on the rituals of a bull fight.
So to say she was shocked would be an understatement. What she witnessed was the matador and their assistants planting razor sharp barbed sticks into the bull's flanks and this eventually led to the matador fatally stabbing the bull with his sword. Sometimes, if the audience felt that the bull fought valiantly, they could petition the owner of the president of the plaza to spare the bull's life. I guess the crowd didn't feel that this particular bull fought bravely. She would later tell me that she had to close her eyes many times throughout and at one point she turned to her friend and asked, "Why are they doing that to the bull?"
My wife would later learn more about this ritual, of course, and learned that bull fighting is a big part of spanish culture. The students she attended the event with wanted to see this aspect of spanish culture, but other students in her school felt like it was cruelty to animals and would not attend.
Have you ever been to a bullfight? Do you think that it is a cruelty to animals?
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Comments (50)
i remember learning about this in my spanish class last year.
to us, yes, this would generally be considered animal cruelty.
but to the spaniards, it's tradition. just like we have our traditions that some people would see as weird or crazy, they have theirs.
we just have to accept the different culture, i suppose.
No I have never been to one nor do I wish to. It is animal cruelty, no question about that, it just happens to hide behind the guise of "tradition". That is not an excuse.Â
Never been, don't want to. Killing an animal for entertainment is cruel.
never been... after five seconds of thought, the verdict:
1 not much of a fight considering matador has assistants...
2 not much of a fight considering that the place of the fight is one-sided in terms of being man-made and man-advantageous (don't hear about the adventurer meeting one in the wild because obviously we all know who 'won'. kind of like elephants and tigers in the wild...)
3 not much of a fight considering one is fighting for survival while the other is fighting for a crowd and pesos.
4 the ricky hatton vs. manny pacquaio... not this is a fight.
Yea I think it's cruel. I love animals, I don't like chicken fights either.
yes
Every culture is subject to animal cruelty every time they slaughter an animal. People kill horses when the horses broke their legs during horse races and they kill animals in numerous slaughter houses. Don't just target my Spanish people and our heritage.
@reckless_eagle@xanga - When a horse breaks a leg it is killed to quickly put out of its misery. The bull's death is prolonged in bullfighting. The bull feels the most amount of pain imaginable. It dies when it can endure no more. I can think of nothing more cruel than watching to see how long an animal can suffer in pain before it dies. I hate for something like this to be apart of my culture.
@thespanishgirl@xanga - i hate it myself but this article is targeting OUR culture. what about the english and their foxhunting huh? why not the rituals in the greeks culture and the muslim traditions of animal slaughterings during certain month of a year? what about the japanese and their whale huntings?
This site is supposed to promote and create awareness of various cultures and boost tourism, not bashing other people's cultures and traditions.
@reckless_eagle@xanga - there have been many great posts about spain on this site. the article is just promoting discussion and awareness of one aspect of a culture that is open for tourists (whale huntings aren't) presenting both sides. it points out that this is a big part of spanish tradition and culture and even points out that the spanish consider the bull a worthy adversary. people can answer the question and as you stated to another commenter, it seems you answered that you hate it yourself.
@reckless_eagle@xanga - Well, you've got to admit that this post is a nice warning to people who have considered bull fights. Many people wouldn't be able to stomach it.
As for the actual post; I've never been to one. I've never actually wanted to go to one, I'd be too busy staring in horror the entire time to get any entertainment value out of it. No way would I be anywhere near an angry bull. Even in the stands.
Should be YES!
@julie -
@pillowpixies@xanga -
for the record i have a friend who actually died in a bullfight. i am fully aware of the consequences to humans and animals in bullfights, as i have seen deaths on both sides first hand.
@reckless_eagle@xanga - You don't have to make any records or anything of that form with me, I'm not attacking you or anything. I was just saying.
@julie -
@pillowpixies@xanga - Yes, the bull suffers in a bullfight, but when a man is gored by a bull, he doesn't die instantly. Humans don't have as much muscle mass as a bull's, and a single thrust from a bull's horn can do more damage than several thrusts from a spear to a bull. My friend died after a prolonged agony after his bullfight, in a career not of his choice but to fulfill his family bullfighting tradition.
@reckless_eagle@xanga - But it was his choice. He did have free will to say no. I am sorry that he was killed but you have to admit that if the tradition was abolished then your friend may still be living.Â
Humans and animals die on both sides. Shouldn't that be reason enough to just stop?Â
You seem to be defending the practice by pointing out other atrocities that humans have afflicted onto animals. Are you saying that because Japan likes to kill thousands of dolphins and America is obsessed with slitting the throats of still living animals for food is makes it okay to torture and kill bulls in Spain? I am having a hard time understanding your point.Â
Yes. It's horrible.
This is absolutely horrible. There's no way I'd ever go. Do they still do this in America? Because it needs to stop all over the globe.
It's a meaningful part of the Spanish culture, so it's not my place to condemn it, but that said, I wouldn't want to encourage bullfights.
Yes this is animal cruelty. However it is also tradition. Perception and the ability to determine between right and wrong is often in the mind and the upbringing. To them it's nothing and a way of life. Who are we to say that what they do is wrong just because it doesn't coincide with our beliefs. Wouldn't that make us hyporcrites? It's their country, their culture, we should have no say in it.
Where's PETA?
@reckless_eagle@xanga -
@TornadoChaser@momaroo -
The issue we should focus in a site like Tripcrazed is about culture and not about the animal cruelty. If these people want to post something controversial like animal cruelty and animal rights, why don't they just go and create another stupid ~ish site. As if we all Xangans aren't so divided already.
I know reckless_eagle personally and I know he's not that narrow minded as you think, because he knows what he's talking about and because he was talking as a witness to events we all could only imagine and talk about but never experience in real life.
In a bullfight, it is the crowd who will make the ultimate decision if a bull's life is worth sparing. A bullfighter doesn't have to kill it. Bullfight hardly ends in a death as there are cases where the bulls were spared and get to live another day. Go back and do your cultural and historical studies before you attack on people's beliefs and their traditions.
@FairyNAngel@xanga - Bravo.
Personally, I dislike this tradition. I am Portuguese. I have never gone to any big bullfighting events. I've been to smaller ones and have watched bigger events on television.
Look, folks, tradition does not make it wrong or right.
People kill animals all the time. Lets not point the finger here saying that the Bullfighting tradition is a cruel act upon the animals. Is not killing in itself cruel? Do the animals we eat every day not suffer?
There is far worse out there than this in particular. Humans use animals everyday for the "betterment of human kind".
Nonetheless, yes, it is seen as an art form.
The events I've gone to involved young calves where young boys and girls were allowed to run with the calf, play a game of leapfrog with it...and where the drunkards of the event were pushed over by the young animals.
Sometimes it is just seen as harmless fun, other times it is serious.
I myself cannot watch the slaughtering of any animals in any manner. Does not matter the purpose of the killing to me. It is not something I can watch.