Stop all bullfights in Spain

Each year, approximately 250,000 bulls die in bullfights, an inaccurate term for events in which there is very little competition between a nimble, sword-wielding matador (Spanish for “killer”) and a confused, maimed, psychologically tormented, and physically debilitated animal. It is concidered to many animal walfare organisations, the most cruel "sport" involving animals to this day. It's unacceptable that even in the 21st century, events like these are still being practiced and authorized by the goverment! Help us now!

Ritualistic Slaughter
Most bullfights are divided into three parts. First, a bull is forced into the arena and taunted by a matador with a cape. The bull is then approached by picadors (men on horses), who drive lances into the bull’s back and neck muscles, impairing the bull’s ability to lift his head. They twist and gouge the lances to ensure a significant amount of blood loss.Then come the banderilleros on foot, who proceed to distract and dart around the bull while stabbing the animal with brightly colored darts called banderillas. After blood loss has weakened the bull, the banderilleros run the bull in more circles until he becomes dizzy and stops chasing. In the final act, the matador appears. After using his cape and sword (the faena) to provoke a few exhausted charges from the dying animal, the matador tries to deliver the death blow, or estocada, with his sword. If he misses, succeeding only in further mutilation, an executioner is called in to stab the exhausted animal to death. If the crowd is happy with the matador, the bull’s ears and tail or a hoof may be cut off and presented as a gift. A few minutes later, another bull enters the arena and the sadistic cycle starts again.

Opposition to Bullfighting
Pope St. Pius V decreed that “spectacles” such as bullfights are “removed from Christian piety and charity.” He wished that “these cruel and base spectacles of the devil and not of man” be abolished and he forbade attendance at them under penalty of excommunication.

Barcelona has declared itself “an anti-bullfighting city,” and 38 Catalan municipalities have followed its lead; the last bullring in Barcelona closed in 2006 because of poor attendance. As of January 2012, Catalonia becomes the first Spanish mainland region to officially ban bullfighting, although the final bullfight occurred there in September of 2011 when the "season" ended. The Spanish state broadcasting network, RTVE, no longer broadcasts bullfights because it does not want children exposed to violence against animals.

According to a 2006 Gallup survey, 72 percent of Spaniards show no interest in bullfights, up from 31 percent in the 1990s. Interest in bullfighting has also declined in Mexico and Portugal, and according to one report, officials in Beijing, China, decided not to build a bullring at a popular tourist destination for “fears of the country’s image.” Unfortunately, there are still more than 1,200 government-funded bull ranches and dozens of state-sponsored bullfighting schools in Spain. In France, bullfights are held in the cities of Nîmes, Arles, Dax, Toulouse, and Bayonne.

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